The Lost Shinigami
by makoto x chelia
Summary: Takumi Urahara, believing himself to be a human who could see spirits yet with no real powers within the crazy world of Shinigami's, and Hollows, went through life trying his best with what little he had to work with, but that changed when he met a certain Shinigami, the same for Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki, and their adventure began, digging into his past, to fight for the future.
1. Prologue

**Hello, and welcome to the new Bleach story! For those who hadn't seen the poll on my profile, this might come as a shock, but its been something I've been wanting to do for a while after rereading Bleach again, and this could be considered a rewrite of my old Bleach story, though things will be different obviously.**

**For more about this story, check out the AN's, but I will say here for those who want to know, Ichigo isn't in this story with Karin and Yuzu taking his place with splitting his powers. Why that is is revealed at the bottom. Otherwise, please enjoy the chapter.**

**Disclaimer; I don't own Bleach, or any of its characters, only my own Oc.**

* * *

**Prologue!**

"I'm so tired..."

A young man spoke lazily while yawning his head off.

The young man in question was around the age of 15-16 years old, appearance wise he had creamy blonde hair that came down to the bottom of his chin, with it being rather messy, his bluish purple eyes shined brightly despite his sleepy state, around his neck was a deep blue sparkling star shaped necklace. He was quite built for a young man his age, not overly muscular, but had some muscles of a teen who did regular exercise.

He wore a school uniform, typical of a teenager of his age group. The tie was undone and hung around his neck, his shirt was mostly open, and untooked though his pants were fixed, and ready to go, his shoes were on as well.

A slightly panicked expression appeared on his face when seeing the time.

He was...late for school.

He usually was.

That was due to him inventing things often so he stayed up late at night and early into the morning.

Even now, as he went into the kitchen at the Urahara shop, he was late.

A young boy with red hair stood in the kitchen, and his toast popped out.

He went to grab it, but before he could the blonde haired boy grabbed it instead, and shoved it in his mouth with a vacant expression on his face, the red haired boys eyes turned fiery like his hair, glaring at the older boy.

"Hey! That's mine!"

Roared the young boy, wanting his toast back.

He tried to grab it from his mouth, and hit the blonde haired boy, but he merely just stared at him curiously, then snapped his neck in that direction, the boy falling away from him.

"Sorry Jinta-kun, got class, speak later..." He rushed out of the kitchen, Jinta grabbing an overly large bat. The blonde boy stuck his head back in and chuckled softly. "Oh, don't try and attack me, it might not end well for you."

"Ah...okay."

Jinta froze his body, and put down the bat.

The blonde boy rushed for the exit, but before he could make it, he saw a young girl standing with a box in her hand, a small nicely wrapped box. He paused his actions, turned towards the permanently blushing girl, patted her head and took the lunch.

"You don't have to make me anything Ururu-chan, I'm okay with begging others for food, they usually are light hearted about it~"

Ururu, gently shook her head, tipping her head to the side so her pigtails fell down from her shoulders.

"N-No, I don't mind making such a thing for y-you Takumi-san..."

"Well, thank you very much Ururu-chan." She smiled very timidly, something the boy liked. He patted her on the head again. "Good girl. Got to go, be good~"

Ururu giggled a little bit, then the boy had to leave so he waved his hand and left.

The young man rushed for the exit, bypassing a large man named Tessai, and a sleepy blonde man named Urahara Kisuke.

"It seems you're in a rush this morning."

Kisuke calmly noted, almost sleepily.

"Usually am! We all can't wake up whenever we want."

The young man expressed happily, jumping over a sleeping cat, and grabbed his bag, rushing out of the door.

Kisuke lazily waves his hand at the young man.

"Remember..."

"No dealing with Shinigami. Don't worry, I know what to do if I see a Hollow, and Shinigami, let them deal with it all."

"Alright then, also..." The boy rushed out of the room. "...and you're not even listening to me anyway...why do I even bother..."

The cat lifted her up off the ground.

Kisuke turned back to the door, and then looked at the clock on the wall.

"Three...two...one..."

Just as the blonde countered down, and as he thought, the blonde haired young man came back in, grabbing the cat off the ground and placed her on his shoulder.

"Forgot my pussy. Bye Dad! Tessai-chan! I'll do my duties later on!"

Kisuke's lips turned upwards, and when he left, he began laughing to himself. Tessai looked on casually, then began doing his duties for the day, Kisuke however fell onto the ground and held his stomach with laughing too hard.

* * *

The young man rushed down the street, heading for the school.

He bolted down the street, bypassing walking on by people.

He waved to a few of them, and one of them he saw an apple on display so within a flash, he took out some money and switched it for the apple, and disappeared down the street, and then took a bite of it.

"I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late! I'm gonna be late!" He chanted, his eyes turning to the cat. "Hey, Yoruichi-chan, there."

The cat looked at the boy, reaching his hand above his head, where the cat was, offering some apple. The cat moved her head forward, biting into the apple, and then he brought it back down again so he could have a bite.

"Thank you." The cat spoke with a prominent male voice even though the boy very well knew that it was a female. "According to Kisuke, a new Shinigami is going to be appearing in this town at midnight, a replacement for the previous one, and we should avoid them, after...well, after everything that has gone on."

"I get it, he's over cautious, it's not like I can do anything anyway..."

He turned a corner and school was in sight.

"Don't worry about those things, leave it to the Shinigami's. That's their job after all."

He jumped and hopped over a few people, and even lightly used peoples heads as stepping stones so he could get there faster.

Making it to the gates, his classroom was a stones throw away, so he looked around, seeing that no one was there.

"Is it supposed to be this quiet at this time..."

"Get your butt moving Takumi."

The newly named Takumi ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"Ugh...fine, whatever you say Emo."

"I know what that means."

Rather than mess with Yoruichi, he rushed through the school at light speed.

Through the halls, and to the classroom, he burst the door open and announced "I'm not late!" while yawning...but then realized that the classroom was empty.

He blinked, and then looked at his phone, which said 9 o'clock, but no one was there, or rather, very few people where there. The class should be full, but it wasn't. Only a few people where there, and they weren't people that he wanted to talk to.

"Huh, what's going on?"

"It's only 8.30 Taku-chan~"

A beautiful voice came from behind him, and as if by magic, answered his inquiry.

He paused his body and quickly turned around to see a large chested young woman with long burnt orange hair. She was rather curvy, and her chocolate brown eyes, stared into his bluish purple eyes, and then raised a finger.

"Taku-chan's bare chest..."

She muttered, her cheeks turning a little red.

"Bare chest?"

Takumi tipped is head to the side.

He then looked down and saw that his shirt was still opened, so he chuckled an awkward "Sorry~" and then fixed himself.

"Is that better Orihime-chan?"

Quizzing with a carefree smile, she didn't know how to answer that properly, so she decided to not answer it at all.

"Taku-chan is very early~ I didn't think you'd be here yet~"

"Are you sure it is 8.30 Orihime-chan?"

He asked with uncertainty, so she got her phone out and showed it him.

"Well, it is 8.31 now, but yeah. Why? What time did you think it was?"

Takumi looked at his phone again and wondered what the heck was going on, though some conclusions were coming to his mind.

"Eheh, ooh yeah, I set my phone half an hour fast so I'd wake up and freak out...yeah, it's all coming back to me." He looked up at Yoruichi who held an innocent expression on her face. He didn't have to say it aloud for her to know what he was thinking. "Well, I'm here Orihime-chan! And I have to say, you're looking adorable as always~ I'm surprised Tatsuki-chan isn't with you."

Orihime grasped her hands together.

"When I was walking home last night, I saw you stood by yourself, having a conversation, alone! Who were you talking too Taku-chan?"

"Aah, I was speaking to my ghost friends again~"

He joked, or what sounded like a joking tone to Orihime anyway.

"Ooh Taku-chan, talking with the 'ghosts' again, you shouldn't do that. It'll affect your mental health."

"Ah, I lost that years ago Orihime-chan~"

Orihime offered a giggling sound, while students began coming in.

Yoruichi jumped off Takumi's head, landing on the table, and then she jumped into his shirt from the open bit at the top.

"Taku-chan, is she going to be okay in there?"

"She'll be fine~ Besides, if Sensei finds out, she'll flip out, and then tell her to go, and then she wouldn't be happy, would you my adorable Yoruichi-chan~"

Takumi reached into his shirt, and scratched behind her ear, making her groan out.

Orihime tilted her head, but let it go not long afterwards.

"Yo, what's going on? Oh, Taku, you're here early."

A young woman came in, a girl named Tatsuki, with her shirt untucked and unbuttoned at the top.

"Yeah, I'm here early, for a change."

Takumi hummed to himself as he rubbed the lump in his shirt.

"You're not flirting with Orihime, are you? It isn't enough that the pervert Honsho does it, now I have to be worried about you as well?"

"Nice to see you too Tatsuki-chan, and a good morning to you as well. And no, I'm not flirting with her, she's flirting with me~"

Orihime 'confirmed' this while nodding her head.

"It's true Tatsuki-chan, I was flirting with Taku-chan in the hopes that we would one day become husband and wife."

Tatsuki's head was put into a spin, making her feel a little bit dizzy.

"Ooh God please don't...your children would be very weird..."

Takumi and Orihime shared a look and then relieved their friends worries.

"Don't be worried Tatsuki-chan~ If it happens, we're still gonna be friends~"

That didn't exactly fill her with hope, she looked like she was being dragged down to the depths of despair.

As that was happening, two girls came through the door. One girl had light brown hair, tied into twin tails that came down just past her shoulders, and a small bust, yet had a cute face. Her name was Yuzu Kurosaki. And then another girl came in, with a bigger bust, though not much as Orihime, had black hair that came down to her shoulders, though she had it tied into a long high ponytail at the back of her head.

Karin's dismissive eyes went towards Takumi who gave her a smile right back.

"Good morning my favourite twins."

"G-Good morning Takumi-kun!"

Yuzu gushed out, while Karin just stared at him.

"You're here early. Don't you usually sleep in until like, twelve?"

"I got woken up by loud noises Karin-chan, so I decided to come in."

He let out a small yawn while Karin rolled her eyes.

"Yuzu, lets go before you catch the weirdo disease."

Karin pulled Yuzu towards the back of the class. Takumi waved as Yuzu walked past, Yuzu waved back while Karin rolled her eyes at the sight of Takumi.

* * *

As the lesson began and went on, Takumi's head laid on his desk, catching up to some sleep he had missed.

Karin stared at him from behind, and just shook her head at the sight, while murmuring "Lazy." though when she said it, Takumi's head rose up, looking back towards Karin who gave him a defiant stare right back.

As their eyes locked, Takumi suddenly felt an intense power, so he stood up, catching the notice of Karin who also felt something off about something.

"Is something wrong Taku-chan?"

Takumi chuckled, waving his hand at Orihime who was giving concerned eyes.

"Of course not, just felt like I should stand up~"

Orihime released a small giggle, but then he felt a dark power coming from outside somewhere.

Then from the window, he saw that red energy was going for his face, so Takumi casually took a small circle like device, stuck it to the window which he was sat right by, and a barrier extended outwards from the device, blocking the shot of red energy, causing the window to shake a little bit.

"_Sorry Hollow, science prevails._"

Takumi smiled out happily about what he thought.

"A Hollows presence...this feeling is..."

Yoruichi murmured, while Takumi noticed something.

Takumi's eyes went back towards Karin, feeling the dark pressure going towards her.

From the window, he saw a shadow that was coming towards it, so he leaped into action, jumping across the desks, surprising the other students, a student named Keigo yelled "What are you, a ninja?!" as the glass shattered near Karin, and a small blast of energy came through it, Takumi stuck his hand outwards, and caught the energy blast just before it could pierce Karin's head, but it stabbed into Takumi's hand and made it bleed.

"Damn it..."

"W-What the hell was that?!"

Karin yelled, looking at Takumi's hand, and saw a small droplet of blood coming out of his hand.

Yuzu also noticed the blood coming out of Takumi's hand, and gasped.

"T-Takumi-kun! Your hand is bleeding!"

"Hehe, yeah. A piece of glass pierced my hand, that's all, don't worry Yuzu-chan~"

Karin thought more of what he said, while Orihime rushed back, and looked at his hand.

Karin noticed the reddish energy, while the others didn't even seem to register it.

"Wow, Taku-chan. You were totally a Hero then. You went leaping across the desks, and flipped like a ninja. Tell me Taku-chan, are you secretly a ninja...?"

Orihime leaned in curiously, Takumi gave a dramatic flick of his head.

"You caught me out, I am apart of an ancient ninja clan that-" Takumi saw another energy ball coming from outside, so he pushed Karin's chair back with his foot, the energy blast going by the front of her face, impaling the wall thankfully not catching anyone else, and caused it to shake with a dent appearing there. "-can detect when glass is going to break, so using my awesome ninja skills, I leaped to Karin-chan's defence, and protected her. But, I'll be fine~"

Karin's widened eyes looked at the energy impaling the wall, while Takumi noticed the beast, and looked down at Yoruichi who looked on with worry.

"Heheh, I always knew Taku-chan was apart of something amazing. So Taku-chan's a ninja, I'm so glad I worked it out~"

Karin sweat dropped, while thinking "_Are we really supposed to buy that load of crap?_" while Takumi peered outside.

Karin wondered what he was looking at, and saw that he was peering at the sky, and she saw something their.

Covered in shadows...yet, she saw a white mask peering at her.

Takumi then waved his hand towards the teacher.

"I'm going to the infirmary! I'm bleeding, might die, who knows~"

"O-Okay-"

As she was speaking, he was already out of the room, while Karin was left flabbergasted by what was happening.

Her eyes went outside once more, and saw the retreating form of whatever it was staring at her.

"Karin, are you okay?" Yuzu asked with concern, Karin merely nodded her head. "It was a good thing that Takumi-kun came in and protected you, isn't it? You could of been stabbed by the glass."

"But, how did it even break?"

Tatsuki wondered, while a certain young man pushed up his glasses, glancing outside, and wondered what was happening.

Half a minute later, Orihime's eyes caught the sight of Takumi running out of the school, and she wondered what he was doing.

"Taku-chan..."

"Something wrong Orihime?"

Tatsuki whispered from the side of her, making her smile and shake her head.

"No, I am okay." She turned back to the Sensei, though her eyes briefly went out of the window again. "_Taku-chan, what's going on with you...and why are you...what's going on with Taku-chan...?_"

Orihime thought about it, but she couldn't come to a natural conclusion.

* * *

Running through the city, Takumi followed after the Hollow that had tried to attack Karin and him on foot while equipping himself with a few items, Yoruichi came out of hiding.

"Takumi, that Hollow is..."

"What's wrong with it? I need to chase it down, it's got a weird pressure coming out of it. And why was it after Karin-chan? I know she's got a high spiritual power, but it also attacked me so did it go after her when realizing its attacks couldn't get to me..."

"I don't know, maybe it just wanted an easier target since she doesn't have the ability to currently defend herself."

"I guess...either way, I'll get it."

"No Takumi, don't go after the Hollow."

"I can handle a low level Hollow, I don't need powers for that."

He continued to run until he saw a large demonic creature with a white mask. The creature looked to be about the size of a male, only twice that size, a fully formed adult stacked on top of another one, then he saw a spider looking Hollow with large long legs, about the size of a house slowly moving forward, and it made Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

However, since he had his own Hollow to chase, he continued running forward after it, when it turned around and shot off a few energy blasts towards Takumi, however he placed his hand outwards, creating a few barriers with some items he wore on his fingers, and blocked the shots of the Hollow, but when he dropped the barriers, appearing before him was a Shinigami, a young girl with black hair, who was running forward.

"Holy shi-"

CRASH! BANG!

The pair collided with one another, making them groan out in displeasure. Takumi landed on top of the young girl, his body sprawled out. She felt flattened by the young blonde haired young man, she felt like she couldn't escape.

"Owww...I hit a Shinigami..."

Groaned Takumi while laying on top of the female Shinigami.

The smaller body let out a cry as she crawled out from under the boys body.

"Ugh...what the hell..." Her eyes went to Takumi, and pointed at him accusingly. "Wait, you just called me a Shinigami! Y-You're a human! You shouldn't be able to see me! W-What kind of human are you!?"

Takumi moved up off the ground, standing tall, and looked at the young Shinigami girl.

"Oh my God, I thought...Y-Yoruichi-chan, the Shinigami's here early."

Yoruichi hopped onto Takumi's head, looking at the young Shinigami and then shook her head.

"It seems that she's arrived much early than anticipated."

"Who said that!?"

The young Shinigami let out a squeal of surprise, not noticing Yoruichi talking.

"...I'm just going to go and find the Hollow, before I interfere with the newbie and her mission with the Hollow and all..."

The young girl twitched her eyebrows like she was being ignored.

"Hey!" She roughly grabbed his shirt, and dragged him down to her level. "W-What the hell is going!? And who the heck are you!? Are you a kind of human that has the power to see us...you see the Hollow...you know what a Hollow is...how do you know what a Hollow is exactly…? Just what kind of human are you?"

The young girl didn't know where to start with her questions, even as she pushed the long bang that drops down in the middle of her face, tossing it to the side.

"Yup, I do, but I'm not allowed to talk to you so..." He placed his hand out in front of himself and to her body. She flinched and let go of him, wondering what he was going to do. Then, he reached his hand out, and petted her head. "So, are you the professional dealing with the...creatures."

"L-Look at my outfit! I am professional, more so than you!"

She argued with him, trying to make valid arguments, but Takumi didn't see how it was a relevant thing.

But then the girl looked around and saw the Hollow was there, so she rushed forward with her sword.

While she was doing that, Yoruichi whispered against Takumi's ear.

"Best go now."

"Alright, I'll track down that Hollow."

"Takumi wait..."

Takumi began backing away while watching the girl fight against the Hollow.

She slashed at its leg, cutting deep into it, causing it to drop down to the ground. With the deep gash in its leg, the girl jumped upwards, and sliced its Hollow mask, briefly glancing at Takumi who smiled weakly towards her.

But then the spider looking Hollow swiped downwards as the first Hollow was slain, the girl used her sword to block the strike, but the leg strike was strong, and caused the girl to bend her knee at the surprising strength of the creature, and then it swiped against the girls body, but she used her sword to block the repeated strikes, Yoruichi sensed something different about these Hollows.

"Oh no..."

The boy watched as the girl spat out some bile when receiving a gut punch, making him grimace.

But the Hollow walked closer to her body, and raised his legs which appeared sharp at the end to stab her.

"Yoruichi-chan, I gotta help out." The cat furrowed her eyebrows and went to object when Takumi went into his pocket, and pulled out a small sphere with a skull and crossbones on it. "Eat this." He tossed the ball towards the Hollow which when coming into contact with the Hollow, exploded, and forced the Hollow away from the black haired girl. "Heh, didn't need powers to do that."

It allowed her to get up, and get the upper hand against one of the Hollow, leaping upwards, and brought down her sword on its white mask, cleaving it in half, and killed it off.

The girls eyes snapped towards the boy who was already running away.

"Wait!"

The girl yelled, but he didn't stop.

"Sorry, got to go! Good luck!"

"B-But, you didn't even tell me who you are!"

His eyes glanced at her, who was surprised by his smile.

"Takumi, nice to meet you."

The young girl blinked once more.

For some reason...no, she very well knew something was off about this.

All of this seemed mental, it just didn't seem to make sense.

But when looking at him...she felt like she had seen him before.

"My names Rukia...Rukia Kuchiki..."

"You can call me Takumi Rukia-chan! Or Taku, I don't mind~"

"R-Rukia-chan!?"

She was surprised that he would go that far as to call her something like that with just their first meeting.

But he then left, making her cock her head, before looking at the Hollow who by now was recovering from the sphere Takumi tossed at it.

But she then jumped up, swinging downwards, and cut through the Hollows head, slaying it.

Her eyes went back to the place Takumi was, before cocking her head.

"Takumi...that name sounds so familiar...where have I heard it before...?"

Rukia didn't know what to make of him.

All she knew was that he saved her life, so she was thankful to him.

Watching from afar, was Kisuke, his eyes slitting towards Rukia, and then his leaving son, thinking about something deeply.

* * *

Arriving back at school after unable to find the Hollow, and now it was lunch time, Takumi, Tatsuki, and even Orihime had gathered outside together to each their lunches together, while Chizuru stalked them from the outside, her eyes not leaving the males form.

Yoruichi laid in the tree behind them, high up. She looked down at the threesome going on, snickered and then turned her nose away from them all, so she could have her own type of fun, whatever that was going to entail.

As they ate together, and talked about random things, Karin came along with a shy looking Yuzu.

"Ah, my favourite twins again. What are you girls doing~?"

Takumi smiled out, but Karin darkened her expression.

"So, gonna explain about before?"

"Hehe, what about Karin-chan?"

Karin breathed out of her nose harshly.

"Whatever, don't tell me."

"It isn't like that Karin-chan, it's just got nothing to tell really."

Karin wasn't convinced in the slightest.

"Anyway, come on Yuzu. Lets leave the lovers alone."

"Lovers?"

Takumi wondered, Karin pointed between Orihime and himself.

"Obviously."

Yuzu looked towards Orihime, and then herself, and looked slightly saddened.

Orihime blushed slightly, before raising her fingers.

"Well, if I liked Taku-chan, and Karin-chan also liked Taku-chan, then Yuzu-chan also fell in love with Taku-chan, we'd have so much to talk about~"

Karin showed a disturbed face.

"Me and him?! I'd rather not! Besides I wouldn't do that to Yuz...e-ehe, no-nothing!"

While Takumi's lips pursed, Yuzu looked on with a blushing embarrassment face.

"Oh thanks, am I not good enough for you?"

Karin gripped her head in frustration.

"I don't even want to get into the conversation! I'm leaving!"

Karin stormed off, while Yuzu swayed side to side.

"I guess I'll leave too. See you later!"

Yuzu showed a peppy smile, and walked off, Takumi watched the twins go, and thought to himself about the two girls.

While thinking to himself, he looked into the sky, and saw something.

He saw a young man there, looking down on them from the sky.

He knew who this was.

He saw him most days, watching Orihime.

It was her brother, Sora Inoue, and he knew why he was watching her, it was obvious.

However, in the time that he knew Orihime, he saw a decline in the way that Sora looked at Orihime.

At first, it was love, and compassion.

But, as time progressed, it was more and more, disdain and other negative feelings.

"Taku-chan, what are you looking at?"

Orihime looked in the sky, but she couldn't see the thing that he was looking at.

Takumi just chuckled his wild chuckle, turning back to them.

"I'm just admiring the stars~"

"It's during the day, you can't see stars."

Tatsuki shrewdly pointed out.

"Well, if you can or can't be seen, it doesn't matter. They are still there, shining down on us, even if you can't see them, forever watching you from the heavens above."

"W-Wow, that sounded pretty deep for you."

Takumi stuck his tongue out at Tatsuki.

"Shouldn't you be with Ishida-chan and be his girlfriend already?"

THWACK!

"Don't say that again!"

"Ugggh..."

Takumi laid on the ground with a bump on his head, an angry Tatsuki pulling her hand away.

"Tatsuki-chan! You can't do that! Taku-chan has a delicate head!"

"It's delicate because there's nothing but air inside that head!"

"Did you say hair, or air? My ears are ringing from the punch."

Tatsuki became fumed, pulling her hand forward and went to strike him.

He whined, hiding behind Orihime who then turned around and hugged onto his head, petting his blonde hair, Chizuru from afar getting more and more triggered.

"Shhh now Taku-chan, she wont bully you anymore."

"Me, bully him?! He's the one who says crap about me and Ishida!"

"But, I've seen you converse before, I just assumed you'd be together. I heard you and he walked home the other day~"

Tatsuki sighed in defeat, falling against the grass, and made a large sigh. Orihime giggled away to herself, and Takumi showed a nice guy grin and his thumb too, excited for what was to come. Chizuru on the other hand, didn't look pleased in the slightest.

* * *

At the end of the day, Takumi, Orihime and Tatsuki were walking to the park together, Yoruichi hiding in his hoodie he got from his bag. She looked on at the three talking, laughing and other things like that, making her smile.

"You've not lived until you've tried my sour bean paste Tatsuki-chan! After the park, it is going to be the best thing since sliced onion bread!"

"I just don't want to die Orihime."

She quickly retorted, Takumi snickering.

"Don't be silly Tatsuki-chan, Orihime-chan's thoughts and foods are both equally beautiful~ I love her food, and her thoughts too~"

"You're just in love with her."

Tatsuki grumbled, only to make Orihime's face turn a little pink, Takumi however just grinned.

"Like you're in love with Ishida-chan~ Don't deny it now~"

"I am not in love with Ishida-kun at all! You are!"

She deflected, Orihime giggling even more.

"Ooh Taku-chan is in love with Ishida-kun? No way, it seems like the male romance is..."

"Yeah, gotta confess. Ishida-chan is someone I like, because those glasses are a turn on, and I think he'd be a very good conversationalist once breaking through the fact that he doesn't talk much~ And even if he doesn't, then he can just hold me all night and I'll talk~"

""Hahahahaha!""

Tatsuki and Orihime couldn't keep their laughter down as they walked forward.

But then he stopped when he saw something...

He saw that there was Rukia coming towards him.

He didn't know how she tracked him down, but she did.

Maybe she got lucky, he didn't know.

But that's how it was, and now that she was there, he didn't feel good about that.

"There you are! I have been looking for you! I have questions!"

Rukia landed on the ground and spoke to Takumi.

The girls didn't see or hear anything, so he just pretended to not hear her either, he couldn't exactly have a conversation to someone (from their perspective) invisible.

When he ignored her, Rukia's eyes shot open.

"H-Hey! Don't be cruel, and answer me! I have a right to know what's going on, you know!?"

Again, he didn't answer her.

Rukia felt like she was getting triggered right now.

"I know you can hear me, you talked to me beforehand, so do it right now! I've been going crazy all day trying to understand this!"

Takumi's eyes twitched around, trying his best to ignore her.

But Rukia was persistent.

"Nanahahahaha! Look at me, I'm Chappy the rabbit!"

She moved in front of him, and pulled a funny face, sticking out her tongue and pulled down on her cheeks.

Takumi's face turned upwards a little bit, but he still ignored her the best that he could do, it didn't make sense to Rukia though why he was doing this.

"Oh, so continuing to ignore me, huh? Try this!"

Rukia shoved her face in his own and he pulled away, feeling like she was going to kiss him. She wasn't, but she slipped, and continued going further than she wanted. It was lucky that he had sharp skills, or she would have ended up kissing him.

"Geez, some people just don't know personal boundary issues, especially when they are trying to kiss you or something weird like that."

Takumi murmured, Rukia's eyes blazing towards him.

"Was that directed at me!?"

He heard her roar, but he paid no heed, and continued going onwards.

"Who are you talking about?"

Tatsuki demanded, feeling like he was saying it to her.

"Oh, I was talking about a certain girl that is following me, and seems to be quite spirited."

"Honsho...I understand."

Tatsuki nodded and Orihime tilted her head.

"Aww, is Taku-chan bothered by Chizuru-chan? Don't worry Taku-chan, I'll tell her to leave you alone~"

Takumi's eyes watered, grabbed her hands and held them tightly.

"You are an Angel after all! I always suspected that Orihime-chan wasn't a bad girl and cared about me! I just knew it!"

Orihime lightly smiled, Tatsuki nodding her head.

Rukia wasn't having any of it though, and charged.

"I wont be ignored!"

Takumi twitched his eyebrows wildly at what she was doing.

"Taku-chan, something going on?"

Takumi twitched his eyebrows as he felt Rukia hop onto his back, and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He carried her along with him while walking, but Yoruichi looked pissed off, looking into her eyes from her position in his hood.

"No, I'm okay...you know, I just forgot, I had to go and do something. If I can, I'll meet up later. See you later!"

"Wait Taku-chan, we're supposed to be going out later!"

"I'll be there at seven, promise!"

He peeled Rukia off his back, and put her under his arm.

"I'm not a sack!"

Rukia tried to get free, but he ran away with her, leaving the girls behind to contemplate what happened.

"Where are you two going anyway?"

Tatsuki asked Orihime who put her arms outwards, and her face seemingly drained of colour.

"We're watching March on the Zombies..." She held out two fingers to Tatsuki. "Part two. We would've invited you, but you don't like those movies, right Tatsuki-chan?"

Tatsuki sweat dropped.

"I see...alright then, have fun. Yeah, I don't like those films, so weird."

Orihime then began walking around like a zombie, Tatsuki rolled her eyes at the sight.

* * *

Making it a safe distance, he placed her down onto the ground, folding his arms.

"You couldn't do any subtle approach? Do they not teach that in Soul Society?"

Rukia fixed her outfit.

"Hold on for a second. You know about Soul Society?"

"Look, I'm not really supposed to be talking to you, Dad would be displeased. So, I have to greet you and leave you now, so-"

"Okay, no. You can't do that. I can at least ask some questions, right? I wont let you leave suddenly, I could stop you."

"Oh, you could?"

Rukia smirked, and put out her fingers.

"Bakudo 1: Sai!"

Like that, with a wave of her fingers, Rukia released her Kido spell, and bound his arms behind him. He looked towards her with a smile.

"Kido huh, alright then."

Rukia looked on as he clicked his fingers, and from his snapping fingers, a small electrical discharge went around his body, disabling her Kido spell, freeing his arms.

"You broke my Kido..."

"It was only the lowest level Kido, it isn't difficult for what I've got implanted within my fingertips. If you got me with a Kido in the 30's then maybe I wouldn't of been able to break it. But this level doesn't seem to be so hard to break down."

Rukia didn't even know what to think.

Her training gave her thoughts on what kind of tactic she should take, but she didn't have a definitive answer.

"O-Okay, lets say that you know Kido, you wouldn't be opposed to just answer a few things for me, right?"

"Erm...well, maybe...but Dad would..." Yoruichi jumped onto his shoulder, looking at him squarely in the eyes. "E-Either way, I can't speak to you, and I am, sorry about that, so please don't ask about anything more like that."

"Wait, I don't understand...at least tell me one thing...you're not a normal human, are you?"

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"It depends on normal..."

"I knew it! You knew about Shinigami's, Soul Society, that means...you must know of us somehow...a human with knowledge on the Soul Society..."

"Well, I've met Shinigami's before, that's all."

Rukia put on an inspecting kind of face.

"I see, then that makes sense. But still, it seems you have some kind of power."

"Look, don't tell anyone about me, alright? If you don't tell anyone, then I'll happily answer questions in the future, okay?"

Rukia casually looked upon him with his pleading eyes on her.

"It would be highly unorthodox to do something like that...then again, until I understand what and who you are, I couldn't explain it to anyone anyway. So yes, I suppose that I shall comply with you."

"Ooh thank you Rukia-chan! I knew behind your eyes you were a good girl! And since you were a good girl, I'll answer one more question~"

Yoruichi slammed her paw into her face, but Takumi forever shone on with a wider smile than usual.

"Okay, that's fair I guess...let's see, question, need to make it a big deal...I suppose the fact you knew about Hollows would kinda make sense with what I saw you do...do you, slay them? You know about Shinigami, so I presume you know what they can do..."

"Is, that your question? About me knowing about Shinigami?"

He asked politely, Rukia pondering the thought.

"No, the question I have is...do you have powers? I mean, beyond seeing Shinigami and Hollows."

"Powers...no, I don't have powers."

Rukia had more questions than ever.

But, before he could answer anymore, he began moving away.

"Wait!"

"Sorry, I answered, and I have to go...oh, if you happen to come across twin girls, named Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan, don't be shocked if they can see you...well, one of them anyway, one of them might be aware of your presence though~"

"Are they like you!?"

Rukia called as he ran away.

"Maybe, who knows what they really are!"

Rukia couldn't help watch him go.

She didn't even know why but he seemed, interesting to her.

"What a weird guy he is...I don't understand...what the heck he is...?"

"Kuchiki-san."

"Aaah!"

Rukia jumped at the new voice.

She whizzed around to see Kisuke stood there.

"D-Don't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry Kuchiki-san, I didn't mean to frighten you. But, I have come to tell you something."

Rukia folded her arms, wondering who this was, and why he was speaking to her, it didn't even matter that he could, she felt power coming from him.

"And whats that?"

"That boy you met, it would be better if you left him alone and forgot about him."

Rukia raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Whys that?"

"Because, I wont allow him to become involved with Shinigami or Hollows. So, please don't approach him again. If you see him again, turn around and walk away from him. Even if he calls your name. Even if he chases after you, don't interact with my son again."

"Your son...so, you're his Father...why don't you want him to be involved with Shinigami and Hollows?"

Kisuke pulled out a fan, and waved it in front of his face.

"Just because I don't want my baby boy harmed~"

Rukia sensed behind his playful words, there was something much deeper than what he was saying.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Haha, just a friendly candy store owner, and Father~ Now, I've got to go, please heed the words I spoke, and leave my son alone."

Rukia watched as he began walking away.

She didn't understand what was going on, why he was speaking those words to her.

But, there was something more going on there, and she was quite intrigued.

* * *

When he arrived home a few hours later after doing a few things, he already saw the look on Kisuke's face, knowing what he was going to say. He moved forward, and followed wordlessly to the living room. He bypassed Ururu, giving her a pat on the head as he moved forward.

"Don't worry about me Ururu-chan, I'm going to be okay~"

He sang out gently, Ururu tilting her head to the side.

Making it to the living room, he sat down as did Kisuke. Yoruichi hopped off of the boys head, and landed on his lap. Kisuke watched with curious eyes, seeing her pat his crotch repeatedly, and then snuggled against it with her head.

"You already know what I'm going to say."

"I already do Dad. That Hollow attacked me, and I was told that the Shinigami wouldn't be here until midnight anyway, so I thought I should at least stop it."

"Yes, I understand that, but Takumi, you don't..."

"I don't...have the power you guys have, is that what you're going to say?"

"No...well, yeah but..."

Takumi's eyes lowered to the table before him.

"I might not have monster strength like Ururu-chan, or have incredible powers like you and Yoruichi-chan, but I will always do my best if no one else is around. If I can stop it, then I will stop it. I might not be special, but I don't have to be to use my equipment. If people need protecting, then I'll protect them."

Kisuke released a breath.

"I know...but, you are special Takumi, to me."

Takumi gave a weird stare to his Father.

"Wow, you're being sentimental all of a sudden." Takumi lightly pulled Kisuke's cheek, making him chuckle. "Has someone replaced you with an impostor or something? Are you a soul candy and Gigai?"

"Ow, that hurts."

"Don't be such a baby Dad."

Takumi chuckled out, Kisuke released a small laugh.

"Anyway, aren't you going out tonight?"

Takumi raised his eyebrow, looking at the time.

"Oh crap, it's ten minutes till seven! I'm coming Orihime-chan!"

Frantically, Takumi threw many things within a bag that he had, while Kisuke smirked.

"Could it be? Is my son in love with Orihime-chan?! Ooh my! Lovers, from different worlds! One from the good, and one from the evil! It is going to be difficult, but I want this to happen!"

"Which ones good, and which ones evil?"

Kisuke didn't reveal anything, party poppers going off all around him.

"My son is getting married to Orihime-chan!"

"W-Why would I get married now!?" His eyes went towards Kisuke. "There's something wrong with you if you think that's true! Besides, I'm sure Orihime-chan doesn't even like me like that!"

"Don't say that, she adores you~"

"As a friend maybe...ugh! I don't have time for this!"

"Don't worry my boy, I will get you your lady love yet."

"My lady love…? You can't be serious."

Kisuke wasn't having any of it, and looked excited.

But then the large Tessai came into the room.

"Boss, I have prepared the celebratory feast on the news that our Takumi who is engaged!"

"Tessai-chan! I'm not engaged!"

Tessai didn't listen and rushed around the room. Jinta came in with a wild grin, Ururu following with a small smile.

"Hahahahahaha! You that desperate or something blondie to marry the first girl who paid slight attention to you!?"

"Watch it brat or you'll end up on the wrong side of my fist!"

Jinta's eyes blazed, pulling out his large bat.

"Ooh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"Then try Jinta Homeruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

Jinta tried swinging his bat at Takumi, the boy ducked his head, the bat going over his head, then he punched upwards, twisting his fist into his stomach, making him cough up bile, and sent him into the air.

"Wow, he's disappearing upstairs..."

Ururu shyly spoke from the side of him, making Yoruichi rub her stomach.

"Well, he deserved it. Lets celebrate Taku's engagement."

"I'm not engaged!"

Despite him saying that, they all excluding the blonde haired boy began celebrating the 'engagement' and Takumi was sure that Kisuke cried during a speech he had, and Yoruichi grinned from ear to ear, Ururu smiling weakly.

* * *

A few hours later, around nine at night, Takumi was walking with Orihime back to her apartment, and were talking about various things.

"Can you believe it Taku-chan? That little girl was the Zombie master all along..."

"I know, that was a surprise twist. I was so sure it would have been that old man."

"Either way, I can't wait for Marching on the Zombies!" Orihime held out three fingers. "Part three."

"Haha, I can't wait for it either, it's going to be amazing."

Takumi and Orihime continued laughing together, while walking as zombies.

Takumi noticed that once more, Sora appeared above Orihime, and was walking near her.

He waved towards Sora, who watched on with curiosity.

"Taku-chan, where did you go today?"

She asked suddenly, catching him off guard.

"Hmmm?"

"I saw you, after leaving class. You left the school, I was just wondering where you went."

"Oh...yeah, I got called by my Dad, I needed to head home to help him out."

Takumi didn't like lying to Orihime, but he couldn't say the truth.

Orihime was sure that he wasn't saying the full truth, but she didn't pry into it either.

They continued going to her apartment, going up some stirs, and arrived on the floor of her apartment.

Then he walked her towards the door.

"Well, here we are Orihime-chan~"

"Yup, my apartment~" Orihime unlocked the door, and went to step inside when she turned back to Takumi. "Taku-chan, the glass that broke today. Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure...did you do it?"

He teased, Orihime waved her left hand up and down.

"Totally, telekinesis~" Takumi stifled a laugh. "No...honestly...it might seem weird, but I heard a howling sound before the glass broke. Like someone was in pain. It was so faint, that I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl."

Takumi stiffened.

"...A howling huh."

"Yup, but I'm sure that it wasn't anything to worry about~"

"Yeah, I'm sure it isn't~ Anyway, I'm glad we got to go out together~" When realizing how it could sound, Takumi covered up, waving his hands in front of his face nervously. "Hahaha, I mean, going to the cinema together! That's all!"

"Taku-chan, you're so silly~"

"That's me, silly as can be~ Anyway, got to go, goodnight Orihime-chan!"

"Goodnight Taku-chan!"

Takumi turned and ran away from the area.

Orihime watched Takumi run away, and allowed her face to fall slightly.

"Taku-chan feels so sad, but smiles for the world..."

Murmuring that out, Orihime walked into her apartment, thinking about many things.

As Takumi left, he felt a chill down his spine, looking around, but couldn't see anything, and decided to take a shortcut home.

* * *

As that was happening, Rukia walked the darkened streets of the night, and couldn't get Takumi out of her head.

He saw her, something about him was different.

And then there was that warning from Kisuke.

Why was it so important that Takumi stayed away from Shinigami and Hollows?

Just who was he...

Rukia paused, and bit her lower lip.

"Damn fool, seriously. Getting me to think about this..."

Rukia sighed out, stretching her arm.

But then she felt an intense pressure.

"Hollow...no, this Hollows power...this feels different...strong...but I could only just sense it..."

Rukia looked around, and then felt the pressure from down the street, so she ran in that direction.

Going down the darkened street, she paused when it changed direction, and went towards the right, so she shot that way, running past a bus stop with people congregating.

Then she came onto another darkened street, it was long and only was lit by small lights...

That's when she lost the feeling.

"Damn..."

As Rukia murmured that, Karin and Yuzu were walking home together on a desolate night.

"Did we have to go and pick up your weird manga?"

Karin sighed out, but Yuzu put on a cute expression.

"We got your manga too!"

"Yeah, but my manga's cool, yours is all about lovey dovey stuff."

"W-Well, maybe it is about that because I love stuff like that."

"Because you want to be with that idiot Takumi, and getting tips about it. Are you trying to shoot for the stars, and settling at the clouds?"

At the name, Rukia paused, and glanced between the two girls walking together.

"Karin, why are you mean to him? He's really nice. I mean, he saved me once...he stopped people trying to steal from me, and always smiles at me..."

"But he's really weird."

"That's because Takumi-kun is quirky, he's quite funny~ But, why don't you like him?"

"I don't hate him or anything, and it's nothing serious, it's just what we do. It would be weird if we acted normally to one another."

"Even then Karin, he did save you today from that glass."

At the mention of that, Karin paused, and thought about that.

While she did, her eyes drifted down the street to Rukia, who was staring at her.

Karin sweat dropped "Great, a weirdo in pajamas." while Yuzu cocked her head.

"What did you say Karin?"

"O-Oh, nothing. Just talking about Takumi."

"Did you see him though? He was totally being a ninja. Do you think that's true?"

"Heh, if he's a ninja, then I wouldn't be surprised."

Karin smirked out while Yuzu tilted her neck.

Karin's eyes were locked on Rukia, who by now saw that she was staring at her.

Rukia waved her hand to make sure, Karin sweat dropped once more.

"Why is she waving towards me?"

"Who Karin? Is there a ghost here?"

Yuzu looked, but couldn't see who she was looking at.

"Oh, if you can't see then...nothing, it doesn't matter."

As she was speaking, her eyes caught the sight of Takumi who had just left Orihime's place.

Karin's face dropped slightly while his lifted up.

"Oh, my twins, what's going on?"

"Oh great, what are you doing here?"

Karin demanded, Takumi chuckled while shrugging his shoulders.

"Just going home, this is the quickest way for me to get back home."

He explained to Karin who gave a weak smile.

Yuzu however cupped her hands together.

"Takumi-kun, hows your hand? After you got stabbed."

Takumi held up his hand with a watch dangling down, showing her that he was fine.

"I'm alright, glass can't stop me! How are you Yuzu-chan?"

"I-I'm great!" Yuzu became slightly flustered. "W-We were j-just walking home from getting our manga, and eating out! W-What about you?"

"Just finished watching a movie, now heading back home~"

Takumi chuckled out, while glancing to the side, to see Rukia staring at him.

Their eyes interlocked, and Rukia pulled backwards, remembering what Kisuke said.

Takumi found that quite strange, since she wanted to talk beforehand.

Karin also noticed that Takumi was looking at the girl, and had a realization.

"You can see her too then."

"Yeah..."

Takumi didn't even have to lie, Karin could already see him looking at her.

"It's so not fair...even Takumi-kun can see ghosts too?"

Yuzu pouted, Takumi let out a small laugh, when all four of them felt a dark presence.

Like it came out of nowhere, Rukia didn't know how that happened.

But she saw from behind the girls, the abnormal Hollow had appeared.

It seemed to have a mostly human shape yet twice as large as a normal human, yet it had the white mask with the markings on it.

"Move out of the way! Run now!"

Rukia called, noticing that Karin had her eyes on her, and rushed towards them.

"What..."

A roaring sound came out from behind Karin.

Karin turned her eyes backwards, and saw the Hollow's large hands aiming downwards.

"S-Shit! W-What the hell is that thing!?"

"What Karin?"

Yuzu couldn't see spirits clearly, but she could feel something was wrong.

Karin panicked and grabbed Yuzu's hand...but it was too late.

The Hollow's hands came smashing down, only for Takumi to throw a small pebble out of his pocket, which came into contact with the Hollow, causing it to explode, and forced the Hollow backwards, Karin's eyes shooting for Takumi.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Karin-chan, run away right now."

"Tell me, what the hell that thing is!"

"I can't right now, but you have to go Karin-chan! Take Yuzu-chan and run away!"

Karin gritted her teeth, but the Hollow rebounded, and went to grab Karin when Takumi dived in, tackling Karin and threw her, and Yuzu, over his shoulders, and jumped out of the way, though the Hollow managed to cut deeply into his leg, blood shot out of his leg, and the ground turned crimson with his blood.

"Your leg Takumi-kun! D-Did the new ghost do that?!"

Takumi winced at the feeling, and went to move, when the Hollow got close.

"Damn it..."

Takumi went to move, when Rukia came in, withdrawing her Zanpakuto, and aimed it at the Hollow when she got close and attempted to slice it down, but the Hollow retreated backwards, and then used something akin to Shunpo, the ability to move faster than normal, appearing right to her side, and swung his arm out for her body, Rukia crossed her blade over her body, and blocked the arm swing, only for Rukia to be pushed back a good margin.

Takumi placed Karin down, along with Yuzu.

"Karin-chan, please run away. Take Yuzu-chan and run right now."

"A-And what are you going to do huh?!"

"I'll stay back and help her out."

Karin watched with incredulousness as the Hollow to open its mouth, and a small ball of red energy was gathering.

Rukia's eyes widened.

"Cero? No...weaker than Cero but..."

She spoke to herself, and jumped back, but the sphere came out at a fast pace, so she raised her hands, and announced "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" and before her, a shield of yellow energy came about, the attack of the Hollow slammed against the shield of Rukia's, and cancelled one another out.

Karin watched with horrified eyes, while Yuzu kept saying "What's going on?!" but she couldn't get a reply off Karin.

Takumi looks to Karin desperately, who looks into his eyes with worry while he slipped on some gloves.

"Go. Protect your sister."

Karin tightened her hands, and grabbed Yuzu's hand.

"We're going Yuzu!"

"Wait Karin!"

Karin didn't look back as she ran away with Yuzu.

But then the Hollow flashed right before Rukia, embedding a fist into her torso, her eyes widening and coughed up bile, slamming her body into the ground, but as it did, she managed to create a large gash on its left leg, making it bleed profusely.

"Rukia-chan!"

Rukia's body bounced off the ground, where the Hollow came forward, and swung a fist for her.

However, Rukia announced "Bakudo 4: Hainawa!" and a yellow rope came out, wrapping around the Hollow, and she bound its arms together, where it struggled to break free.

Rukia jumped to her feet, and grimaced at the feeling on her stomach, but she didn't stop and rushed towards the Hollow, swinging her sword towards the left, but the Hollow caught the blade in its hand, pulling her upwards, Rukia surprised that it broke through her Kido like it did.

The Hollow pulled her upwards, and tightened its hand to strike her.

Rukia though didn't give up so easily, and placed her hand outwards while Takumi pulled at his watch, and it began to change shape.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

From her hand, a red sphere of energy shot out, exploding in the Hollows face, forcing it backwards ever so slightly.

It dropped her blade, allowing her to return to the ground, where she used Hainawa to bind it once more, giving her some time to move backwards.

"_This Hollow is not normal. It has a great deal of strength and durability, my point blank range Kido only wounded it slightly._" She thought as it broke her Kido spell. "_I don't know what kind of Hollow it is, but it seems to have a great level of power._"

While Rukia thought, she saw the Hollow coming closer.

She went to swipe towards it with her sword, but the Hollow jumped over her sword swing, so she turned towards it.

Rukia noticed that the Hollow was going to charge up a Cero, so she rushed forward, and managed to land a cut against the Hollows arm, but it managed to smash her in the stomach with its fist, then its fingers stuck out, which pierced her flesh in multiple places, flinging her into a nearby wall, breaking it apart, Takumi saw Rukia writhing in pain from the hit.

But there was a Hollow that needed to be beaten so she had to do something.

While being in pain, Rukia went to stand up, only for the Hollow to peer over her, its cold dead eyes that she barely could see locked onto her, and it bent down towards her...Rukia felt afraid...

But then when an arrow came flying at the Hollow, slamming against the Hollows body, piercing into the arm of the Hollow, causing it to howl, and move backwards.

Rukia widened her eyes, looking towards the place the energy arrow came from, and saw that it was Takumi holding a solid silver bow in his hand, only about the size of his hand, drawing back the energy string, revealing another energy arrow.

"Back the hell away from her, right now."

Rukia watched in amazement as he fired another arrow, though the Hollow sped out of the way of it, so Takumi unleashed another arrow towards it, forcing it to jump away once more, allowing him to move closer. He then took out a small ball with skull and crossbones on it, taking out a thin wire so sharp only special gloves could be worn to not cut the skin, and tied it to an arrow he had summoned.

Rukia watched in amazement as he shot it forward, when seeing the Hollow. It went to pull away, when Takumi clicked his fingers, and a small explosive which had been implanted on the Hollow from the first arrow Takumi hit it with, revealed itself.

Takumi whistled a certain tune which exploded against its flesh, distracting it just enough for Takumi's arrow to pierce the Hollow, and the ball exploded right in the Hollows face, smashing its body into the ground.

"H-How in the hell?"

Rukia was baffled, Takumi however gave a smile.

"I scienced the shit out of the Hollow. That should do it, it can take down good sized Hollows with that..."

Takumi gave his bright smile...

But stopped when seeing the Hollow stand up, with only a few wounds appearing on its body.

"For God sake, that should've wounded you more...is it concealing its power...?"

While he murmured it, the Hollow charged for Rukia once more who was down. She went to move, but her body wouldn't respond, so Takumi fired some arrows while running gritting his teeth at the deep gash on his leg, the Hollow batted away the arrows with its large hand, so Takumi stepped between them, receiving a sharp punch to the face, a deep gash appearing on his face, his body went backwards, his head hitting the wall near Rukia, and his body slammed against the ground.

"T-Takumi...w-why did you save me...?"

Rukia winced while seeing the Hollow getting close.

Takumi, despite bleeding from the back of his head, and his cheek, stood up once more, and took aim at the Hollow, but his vision blurred.

"I wont give up...I wont let my lack of power...stop me from saving people!"

Rukia widened her eyes while Takumi fired three arrows. Each arrow had a thin wire on it, and went around the Hollow.

Once surrounding the Hollow, Takumi pulled the wire, which all tightened around the Hollow, and its body, but the Hollow released its power, and destroyed the wires, and came for Takumi once more. Takumi went to move, when the Hollow appeared before him, delivering a swift punch right to the stomach of Takumi, and caused him to cough out blood, dropping him to his knees.

Then the Hollow gripped the back of Takumi's head, peering into his eyes...and stopped.

For a few moments, it just stopped.

Takumi, with bloody lips, used that time to grab a knife out of his back, attached to his pants, impaling it in the body, and kicked it so hard, that it was pushed back.

Using this time, he took out what seemed to be two stakes, throwing them forward, which glowed, and activated a barrier around Rukia, and Takumi who got close by, and leaned down towards her, his body still bleeding.

"T-Takumi...I keep seeing you...it seems like you saved me..."

Rukia let out a cry as her body felt like it was on fire.

"It's fine...you saved me before, I returned the favour." His eyes went to the Hollow which was crawling forward. "Can you fight Rukia-chan?"

Rukia went to move, when she felt pain shooting through her.

Takumi noticed blood was coming out of her body.

"I-I'll do my best...I have to fight."

Takumi watched as the barrier was punched by the Hollow, slamming against it so hard that the barrier shook.

"With wounds like that? Can you even stand?"

Rukia tried her best, but she couldn't move at all.

"I have to...I have to do something..."

Takumi watched as the Hollow was going to break through the barrier, and since no one else was there...he had to do something.

* * *

While Kisuke was at home, casually playing with Yoruichi, he looked at the time, and noticed that the time had gotten late.

"Takumi should of been home by now. Haha, maybe my boy is getting lucky."

"Not everyone is like you Kisuke. Leave the boy alone, let him have fun."

"I am."

"I'm surprised you didn't follow him. Aren't you worried about anything?"

"If I followed him, he would of known, and he'd probably would have hit me for doing it. Haha, my son is quite like that sometimes."

Yoruichi let out a slow meowing sound.

"That Hollow from today, are you worried?"

"Of course, I'm having Tessai search for it, while I do here as well with some Kido along with keeping an eye on that Shinigami. I just hope that Shinigami hasn't gotten..." Suddenly, Kisuke felt a dip in power with some Kido he was using. "...That Shinigami's power seems to have dipped a little bit...she must be fighting...but, I can't sense...wait, damn it!"

Kisuke realized something, and ran out of the room carrying his cane with him, hoping he'd make it in time.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin had mixed thoughts about running away.

She hated it.

She had to protect Yuzu...

But, she couldn't allow Takumi to just do this on his own.

She didn't want him to be killed.

She didn't even know what that thing was but...she saw Takumi looking panicked.

She hadn't seen that before, and now that she had, she knew it was dead serious.

She couldn't run anymore, so she stopped, and placed Yuzu down.

"Karin...?"

"Yuzu, go home. I've got to go back."

"But Karin, Takumi-kun said..."

"I know what he said...but, I'm not going to run away. I wont...if I can do something...then I will do it! I wont be useless!"

Karin turned back around and ran away towards the area Takumi and Rukia was, in the hopes she'd be able to do something, and on the way, she saw a metal pipe, so she picked it up, and went to battle.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Rukia, the pair watched as the barrier continued to break down.

"What is that bow? And those arrows...you said you didn't have powers."

"I don't."

"Then whats that?"

"I've studied various species in these worlds, and ones called, a Quincy, I can mimic their ability with this bow. Though inferior to the real thing, it has the ability to gather Reishi and shoot off arrows. But, this Hollow seems much more powerful."

"Yes...there's something about this Hollow..."

Rukia clutched her side where her blood came out. Takumi leaned down towards her, and took off his shirt, placing it to her wound, so she didn't bleed out so fast.

"I thought Shinigami's were supposed to be tough huh."

"Well, even the best of us can lose."

"If we don't do something...then we're going to be toast Rukia-chan. Got any ideas?"

Rukia looked over Takumi, and the Hollow.

She thought about her experiences that day, how she met him, how Kisuke had said that Takumi shouldn't become involved with Shinigami, yet he saved her life, and was trying his best.

She looked down at her Zanpakuto, then back to Takumi.

"Takumi...I have an idea."

"What?"

Takumi turned with keen interest.

"I...you have the power to see me. You said you don't have the power to fight...but even then, you fought against the Hollow with your intelligence...and your weird gadgets. Most likely, when that barrier is destroyed...we're going to die."

"Yes...I know."

It was a grim truth, but they were out of options at that point.

"Then...if you don't want to die, allow me to give you my power."

"Give me your power? You want...but, if you do that Rukia-chan, the Soul Society would-"

"It's my job, to protect you humans from Hollows...and I couldn't. I couldn't fight it...yet maybe you can. I'm sorry for dragging you into this...but, this is the only way, for us to survive. Short of a miracle coming."

"My Father should've been here by now...unless the Hollow is hiding its power somehow...I could only sense it when it was super close by...maybe he wont come if he can't feel it..."

While Takumi was thinking about it, the Hollow suddenly stopped, and looked towards the right.

Takumi also looked there, and saw Karin stood there.

"Karin-chan! I told you to run!"

"As if I could just leave you here alone with that thing! I'm no coward! Yuzu would cry if you died so I'll fight too!"

Takumi felt a pulse from his heart when she said that.

The Hollow however began crawling towards her, Takumi let out a cry and went to move, but his leg injury, and his head injury forced him to the ground.

"K-Karin-chan! Run away...run away."

Karin steeled herself, and she had a metal pipe in her hand.

Rather than run, she said "I wont run away if I can help out." and moved forward, yelling as she swung her pipe for the Hollow, but the Hollow slapped her aside, making her cry out.

Takumi tightened his hands, watching what was happening to Karin.

What happened to Rukia.

What happened to him.

Unable to fight...

Unable to help out.

He cursed his powerlessness within his heart.

Seeing Karin was going to be harmed...

He looked towards Rukia.

"Give me your power, and I promise to slay that damn thing."

Rukia adopted a light smile, as he dragged his body towards hers. On bended knee before her, he clutched her Zanpakuto with his hands, and she did the same.

"Right...but I have to warn you...this might not work. It has a low percentage."

"It's fine. Either we die like this, or die by the Hollow. I'd rather die trying something, than nothing at all."

"Alright then. By the way Takumi...today has been very strange."

"Heh...yeah, it surely has."

Rukia thrusted her Zanpakuto into Takumi's chest, and a bright light shined out around his form.

Rukia felt her power slipping away from her, and going into Takumi's body.

However, she felt something different.

It wasn't just her powers...

Something else stirred within Takumi, and it felt like something had broken, as a whirlwind of air surrounded Takumi's form.

* * *

Standing there, in his soul form, he was wearing the standard Shinigami outfit with a katana beside his left hip. The katana itself was the standard length, though it has a rectangular tsuba with a vaguely wave-like pattern on the long sides and a straight line on the short sides and it has a bluish purple hilt.

"Takumi..."

Rukia watched on in awe, Takumi looked down at the blade, and withdrew it, looking at the sword...and he felt right.

He felt...more in control than he had been before.

He felt oddly, complete.

Kisuke had arrived to see Takumi stood there, in a Shinigami form, devastation overcoming him.

"No...Takumi..."

Kisuke fell to his knees, and punched the ground, angrily cursing to himself for not realizing sooner, for not making it in time.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Karin let out a cry as the Hollow neared her, Takumi's eyes snapped towards her, and moved forward...

But his speed was more than he expected, and he crossed the distance within a second, drawing his Zanpakuto, and sliced the Hollows body across its torso. Because it hadn't expected it, the Hollow howled, and pulled backwards, Takumi widened his eyes at the sight, the feeling that he had moved...it was incredible.

Takumi lifted up Karin, and flashed towards Rukia, standing beside her.

"I'm fast...wow, awesome."

Karin looked upon Takumi, bewilderment on her face.

"S-So, you're not a ninja...you're a superhero? Alright then...sure, okay." Takumi flashed a cheery smile to Karin who sweat dropped. "I take back superhero, super weirdo makes more sense."

Takumi face faulted.

But then he stood before the Hollow with a grin.

"Hey Hollow, it seems that you've made a wrong decision tonight. Targeting this Shinigami here along with the twins and coming to this town. I'm going to purify you. But, it isn't thanks to me, it's thanks to Rukia-chan here for wounding you and gifting me her power!"

Takumi ran forward with incredible speeds. It was almost too much for him to make sense of, but he managed to get close, and slice upwards, cutting deeply into the Hollow, forcing it backwards.

The Hollow then howled when feeling Takumi's blade cutting into the chest of the Hollow, and sent a punch towards Takumi. Takumi bent his sword and took the impact. He was surprised by the impact of the fist, and he was pushed back slightly, but he held his stance, and he felt good about this now. Finally, the power to help others.

"This is it...yes, I've got this."

Takumi got into a fighting stance with the blade, while the Hollows howl went up into the air.

The Hollow opened its mouth and red energy gathered by its mouth, Rukia widened her eyes in surprise.

"T-Takumi! That's a Cero! Dodge it! If you take it, you could die!"

"What the heck is a Cero?"

Karin asked Rukia who gave a pained expression.

"It's something that those beasts can potentially do, and can be very dangerous. It isn't a Menos Grande or anything but it has access to a Cero..."

Karin watched with worry, while Kisuke went to do something...

When Takumi looked towards Karin.

"Karin-chan, take that bow off my hands, the other me, and fire an arrow with a wire wrapped around it towards the Hollow! The wires in my bag! Put on my gloves that I'm wearing, otherwise the wire would cut you!"

"R-Right!"

Karin took the bow off his hands, and routed around in his bag, finding a thin wire after she put on the gloves. She pulled back the bow strike, an arrow of energy formed, then she tied the wire around it, and took aim while Takumi was using his speed to move out of the way of the Hollow, so it couldn't shoot off an attack, knowing if he got close, it could release its power and take him down, so he had to rely on this plan.

Rukia looked curiously towards Takumi and his speed, thinking about a few things.

Karin then fired the arrow at the Hollow while Takumi distracted said Hollow, which pierced the back of the Hollow and hooked into said Hollow, but it didn't seem to care.

"Now pull Karin-chan!"

"Yeah! Take this you bastard!"

Karin with all her might, summoning unknown strength to pull the Hollow backwards while Takumi dashed forward, and slammed his foot into the chin of the Hollow, losing its balance, and, it unleashed a Cero, which went up into the sky and safely away from everyone while Takumi spun his sword around in his hands, and aimed it downwards.

"Genius, instead of taking it, he redirected the blast all together by using that arrow and wire in such a manner while its guard was down to force its head backwards, giving Takumi enough time to kick its face upwards into the air." Rukia's eyes went towards Karin who looked on determined. "You seem to have worked together quite well. You placed trust in him."

"Well, he might get on my nerves, but he's doing his best, I will too."

Rukia watched on as the Hollow attempted to get up, when Takumi grabbed the wire that was still on its back from before, wrapping it around the Hollows neck, and yanked it, cutting slightly into the flesh of the Hollow.

"Sorry, but this is the end." Takumi pierced its Zanpakuto through the Hollows wound that Rukia created, causing it to scream in pain, Takumi lowered his head. "Time to be purified. This is for endangering me, Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan, and Rukia-chan."

The Hollow looked into the eyes of Takumi, and for a second...just a single second, Takumi saw the eyes of suffering.

It was like...it was suffering through some kind of inner turmoil.

Something that he had seen before.

Takumi cleaved upwards through the body of the Hollow, slicing through its mask, and the Hollow split in half, disappearing into the ether.

Rukia watched on as Takumi came closer, and smiled while panting.

"That's a rush."

"Yeah..."

"It seems that most of your powers gone..."

"I know, I intended to only transfer half, but for some reason nearly all of my power..."

Takumi let out a smile, looking towards Karin with appreciation.

"Good thing you came back. Otherwise this could of ended differently. Thanks Karin-chan."

"No problem, as long as that things gone."

"Yeah, it..." As they were talking, Takumi's face turned sickly, and he fell to his knees, clutching his chest, feeling cold, and hot at the same time, like his skin was on fire, and his insides were freezing, his body breaking down, water gathering by his eyes. "W-What the hell is going..." An eruption of power shot out of his body into the sky, dropped him down to the ground, and he let out a pained cry. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"T-Takumi?! W-Whats going on?!"

Karin asked Rukia who was baffled.

"I...I don't know, this shouldn't be happening..."

Rukia didn't know what to do, and neither did Karin as he writhed in pain on the floor. His chest, and in turn his body, glowed mysteriously, he felt like he was overcome with something...

Something he couldn't control...

But then Kisuke appeared above him, looking down sorrowfully.

"D-Dad...w-what's going on...I-I can't breathe..."

Seeing his son say that, caused pain within Kisuke's heart.

"I'm sorry Takumi, I really am. I wish I had come sooner...but, there's no escaping it now..." He placed his hand in front of Takumi's face, and released a Kido spell. "Sleep now."

Takumi's eyes became heavy, and he fell unconscious, Karin looked towards Kisuke.

"What did you do...?"

"I'm saving his life." His eyes went towards Rukia who looked on curiously. "It seems it can't be helped now. Whats happened, has happened. You better come with me Kuchiki-san, and you Kurosaki-san, you best get home with your sister."

Rukia and Karin looked between each other, and then back to Kisuke who lifted his sleeping son in his arms.

* * *

Two days later, Takumi's eyes opened while Rukia was hovering above him, staring at him creepily.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"Geez! You scared me!" Rukia pulled back, placing a hand over her heart while Takumi sat up in bed, and looked around to see that it was his room they were in. "W-Well, it doesn't matter. You're awake, that's good. I was worried, you've been asleep for about two days."

"Worried, two days...why what happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Takumi went to answer...

But then remembered the Hollow, and getting hurt, and Rukia did.

He looked up and down Rukia, and saw that she was wearing normal clothes.

"Gigai?"

"That's right. Your Father said you made it."

"Y-Yeah, I know some of Gigal technology, though my Father is better at it than me. I'm surprised he gave you one of my creations."

"He said it had good regeneration abilities so I chose this...but Takumi, do you remember what happened? That light shining from you...your Father didn't tell me what that thing actually was. It looked like you were in pain."

Takumi shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just as in the dark as you. I don't know. It felt like...my body was burning, and freezing at the same time. It was like a battle was waging inside of me...but, I feel fine now...Karin-chan! And Yuzu-chan! What happened to them?!"

"Oh those girls. Your Father assured me they were fine, they got home with near no injuries. A girl with orange hair came by about seven times yesterday and thought you were a zombie."

"Orihime-chan...she's so adorably awesome."

Rukia brushed a bang out of her face.

"Anyway Takumi, you have my power now...no, it was more than that. Your power seems to...Takumi, is it possible that you could of been a..."

Rukia stopped when she saw Kisuke threw the door, looking towards her.

"Could of been a...what?"

Rukia shook her head.

"It doesn't matter. But yeah, my powers are gone. Though with this Gigai, they might recover in time for me to not be..."

"The Soul Society. Giving your powers to a human, is considered illegal, right?"

Rukia would've been surprised if she hadn't seen what she had seen.

"Yes, that's right. I realized the risks right away, but I don't regret my decision."

"I see...you risked a lot to help me out that night. Even your own fate hangs in the balance...hahaha, I see. Then, I'll repay the favour."

"Repay it? How?"

"Well, since you gave me your powers, I'll be the Shinigami while you're recuperating. How about it? Us working together, we can take on any Hollow."

Rukia glanced at where Kisuke was, and saw he was gone, or hiding, so she placed a finger to her chin.

"Alright, if we work together, then I'm sure we can achieve many things. Besides, you knew about this stuff...how do you know all of this? Gigal technology, Shinigami know that, humans usually don't."

"I said I knew Shinigami to you, remember?"

"That's right. So, you know some Shinigami's?"

"Hehe, since we're working together, no point hiding it now. Truthfully, I make items for a certain group of Shinigami's that aren't apart of the Soul Society. Gigai's, and other things. My Father tried to hide it from me...but, I found out about it, and practically demanded that I be told what was going on. Just think when I realized my cat could turn into a busty woman, that was a surprise. Especially considering that I have had many naked baths with her...but yeah, I found out about them...and those Hollows kept showing up. Realizing I didn't have any powers to fight, I took to inventing things to better protect myself in case no one else was around. Everyone else here has some unique power...I didn't. But now with this Shinigami power, I can do more than just protect myself."

Rukia gave him a bemused look.

"I see. Say Takumi, whats your last name?"

"Hmmm? Didn't I say?"

"No, and your Father didn't mention his name either."

Takumi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"My names Takumi Urahara."

As soon as he said it, Rukia pulled backwards with wide eyes, her body shook slightly from hearing the name, to the confusion of Takumi.

"T-Takumi Urahara...no, you...Takumi...that's why your name sounded...Takumi..."

"That's right, Takumi Urahara, at your service Shinigami-chan~"

Rukia blinked rapidly while looking Takumi up and down, bewilderment within her.

* * *

Kisuke and Yoruichi watched on as Takumi and Rukia spoke to each other, Yoruichi's eyes going towards Kisuke.

"Kisuke, this might have been the work of that person, that Hollow wasn't normal...in fact, that Hollow was...and thanks to Kuchiki, it has awoken."

"Yes...I know who this was, it was in his plans to force this, even hiding it from me until it was to late, he knew Taku wouldn't allow someone to die so even if it was risky... I guess we'll have to make preparations for if it happens. Since we are limited in options...I'll make sure my sons safe, no matter what."

Yoruichi bowed her head, watching as Takumi and Rukia let out small laughs together, and while she was worried, she also was happy to see Takumi being happy.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, that's the first chapter! ****Yeah, this is a new Bleach story!**

**So, as you read at the top, there's no Ichigo. First of all, I want to say, I like Ichigo as a character, I know some people don't, and some people love him, in terms of protagonists, Ichigo's in my top ten. However, a good friend of mine on here who's supported me for years now asked me to do a Bleach story so I placed it up for a vote about if Ichigo should be in the story as I had ideas if he was, wasn't or Karin and Yuzu took his place, and this came out on top, with Karin and Yuzu's taking the top place by over 50 votes, so they'll be taking up the mantle of being lead protagonists alongside Takumi here!**

**Karin and Yuzu will gain their powers later during this first arc, I was thinking of having Karin have the Shinigami/Hollow powers, she just seems more of the type to fight up close, and Yuzu inherit her Quincy Mother's abilities, since she seems to be a long range fighter. Karin's Shikai and Bankai would be the same as Ichigo's unless someone has any ideas about it being different, and Karin and Yuzu will have some awesome fights through the series with their own opponents.**

**Some mysteries surround Takimi while seeing his intelligence with using different items to recreate things like Quincy powers, though not on the level of an actual Quincy among other things, though for those who think Takumi will one shot everyone...he wont. He will struggle in his fights, he'll use his intelligent to overcome hard challenges like his Father does and be in intense situations, and he wont always come out unscathed.**

**It seems that Kisuke's also keeping a few things from Takumi, but what that is, we'll discover in the future! Along with that mysterious light within Takumi! Though some might have guessed, and if so, we'll discover more why about that in the future. Also, about the Hollow itself, it isn't just something that kick starts the series here, it's going to be something more deep later on down the line.**

**For the pairings, it's gonna be a harem so suggests are always welcome, no one's confirmed besides Orihime, Yuzu and Rukia.**

**As you can see, Karin's not on the list, and that all depends on your votes on what a friend proposed to me. So yeah, Karin could be paired with Takumi as well, or she could be paired with Toshiro, I always thought they had fun banter, they could become rivals turned lovers or something, their personalities would clash quite well.**

**Lastly, about Takumi's Shikai and Bankai, I have a few ideas for what they'd be, and this is where you can all vote on it! **

**The ideas I have are...**

**A Zanpakuto that has the abilities to use vibration energy, think of like White Beard from One Piece with his Devil Fruit, among others with a vibrational type power, being able to release earth breaking powers from his sword, create earthquakes by stabbing the ground, shaking enemies bodies apart by releasing the energy inside of someone's body, vibrating the sword to a point where it's like a chainsaw among other things like that.**

**A Zanpakuto that has the abilities of manipulating wind, with the only known user that is canon, is Kensei, and going non canon with Senna, with the abilities to create wind blades, wind walls, tornado's, sucking the oxygen out of someone's lungs to suffocate them, propelling himself, increasing his speed with the winds, flight among other things.**

**A Zanpakuto focused on the usage of Lightning, since we only had one canon user of that, Chojiro, using it to increase speed by running lightning through the body, like the Raikage from Naruto, shocking the enemies body, stunning an enemies brain by overloading it with electricity, summoning storms to rain down real lightning, among other things.**

**A Zanpakuto focused on the usage of Water, again only Kaien had a sword like that not counting Arrancar's, so Takumi having a water sword that could control water much like Yamamoto controls fire, drain water from other people, scold people with boiling water, acid like rain, maybe make a blood sword with the control of water, and use mirages with water to confuse his enemies among other things.**

**So yeah, those are the ideas I have for Zanpakuto's. Take note that some of the abilities I listed for the choices would be reserved for Bankai only. If anyone has any other ideas, then I'd gladly hear about them and take them into consideration, since he wont be gaining Shikai for a little while yet.**

**Well, thanks for reading, please vote for your favorite ideas, and harem, hope you enjoyed, and until next time!**


	2. Siblings tears part one

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Ragna; Thanks for the votes!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, I've had thoughts about it before, and decided to do it now~ Thanks very much for the votes! Those are some cool choices for the harem, and yeah, I could see that between Toshiro and Momo, I thought that they could be sibling like, or lover like, I'm surprised nothing really came of it in canon in either way. I could totally see Byakuya doing something like that, he wouldn't allow it to happen without a test that dramatic. That would be funny, and I could totally see Nemu doing something like that. Rukia kicking her like that would be funny. Yeah, that would be quite nice.**

**Nirvash Neo; Thanks very much! Sorry about that, that's what won the votes. Thanks very much for the votes!**

**Zane214252; Thanks for the votes!**

**HUNTER with bad grammar; Thanks very much! Yeah, I hope that you do~ They would be nice, and I like Soi Fon as well.**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Nice new user name~ Thanks very much! He's going to try at least~ Thanks very much! She doesn't no, since he's got Orihime's attention. It's going to get pretty deep as we get into his backstory. It isn't Yoruichi, and she doesn't really see him as a son or anything, she's protective over him, but nothing like that. I'd say she's quite fond of him. Thanks for the votes! Yeah, Nemu does suffer a lot, and it's kind of sad what happens to her at the end of the series. Older Nel would be cool. Hanataro is a character that's going to become important during the Soul Society arc, more so than in the manga/anime and maybe beyond, I'm thinking of having Hanataro either be a little brother like figure to Takumi, as Hanataro just seems to be the type, or having Hanataro be a girl and be someone that falls for Takumi during that arc, either one of those, I haven't decided yet. No worries, and thanks!**

**Crenin; They would be pretty cool, and yeah, a thunderstorm would be awesome. Thanks for the votes, and yeah, could be~**

**Derek 23; Thanks very much!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He's quite a unique character, he's got some weird quirks, he can be serious when he needs to be. He has yeah, Orihime and Takumi's relationship will be expanded upon more here, and give an idea why Orihime's attached to him. It is yeah~ Thanks for the votes! He has met Shinigami's before, a certain group he might know of as well. Yeah, it's quite hard huh~?**

**Empyrean Asura; Not really, each have different things that set them apart. It wasn't his lack of power that made him insecure, it's more reasons than that. Thanks for the votes!**

**Guest 1; Thanks very much, and thanks for the votes! I wont spoil it, but Takumi and Mayuri are going to have a very interesting relationship between the two of them. Yeah, I could see Mayuri doing something like that. Nemu would do something like that, since she takes things literally.**

**Guest 2; I'm glad you're happy! Yeah, there's gonna be some beauties in it~**

**Guest 3; Thanks for the votes!**

**Silver crow; No worries about it, it is a good series, and yeah, I hope that it does! I'm glad that you do! Thanks for the votes! Yeah, he only has control over fire, though I do like one of his Bankai moves, with the flaming skeletons. Takumi's quite cunning so he could use such a thing like that. In his own right he would be yeah. By the end of the series he would be yeah. Yeah, it would be like that!**

**Guest 4; Thanks for the vote!**

**Anonymous; Hey! Thanks, and I am~ He is yeah, he's Takumi's Dad, and is quite concerned for him. They have quite the cute relationship with one another. No she didn't, so Karin was probably right about the reason! He does know one, Uryu, and he might have met one of the Sternritters before. Yeah, it would be quite cool huh~? Thanks for the votes! Thanks for the suggestions! That last one caught me by surprise.**

**Kamen Rider W; Zangetsu is a sword I like in Bleach, the designs are always pretty bad ass. Thanks very much!**

**Guest 5; Thanks for the vote!**

**Guest 6; Thank you very much! Thanks for the votes! Those are some cool choices~**

**Guest 7; Yeah, that would be justice for her Mother, and what happened to her. And that would be badass for Yuzu.**

**Skull Flame; He is yeah, and I'm happy about that~ We'll find out more about the Mother in the future. It seems so, what that is shall be discussed more in the future. It seems that he can survive it at least~ She surely will, Chizuru. I'm glad, and yeah, she will have an inner Hollow. Thanks very much! Yeah, he would be able to do something like that.**

**LucasVAMP; No problem! Thanks for the vote! No worries, it wont be huge or anything. They are quite cool elements. It wont for as long as I can go~**

**Andrew123456; Thanks for the votes! Water would be cool~**

**Guest 8; Thanks for the votes! And yeah, that would be pretty cool~**

**Guest 9; That would be pretty funny, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Guest 10; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, their fight would be pretty awesome. And it is water yeah. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**TheLoneHero17; Thanks, I hope you do~**

**Guest 11; Thanks for the votes, that would be a pretty interesting idea.**

**Guest 12; Sure, I don't see why not~**

**Guest 13; Thanks for the votes!**

**Guest 14; We'll get a decent sized one yeah~ Eventually he'll be getting up their in the higher tiers yeah.**

**Guest 15; That sounds pretty awesome, thanks for the suggestion! That would be pretty cool, I could see that happening~**

**Guest 16; Maybe in the future, I'm still catching up with Black Clover. I quite like it, so there are chances I'd do a story about it in the future. They would be quite dangerous together.**

**Guest 17; Soi Fon, yeah she might be~**

**Guest 18; Those are some cool suggestions!**

**Guest 19; That would be quite different.**

**Guest 20; Thanks for the votes. Yeah, that could happen, though they are apart of the same ability for Kyoraku.**

**maxbrevan; Thanks very much, we'll discover more about his Mother in the future. Thanks for the votes!**

**ZA WARUDO; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, that would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Guest 21; Yeah maybe I could do something like that.**

**Guest 22; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, Senna did. I don't see why he couldn't do something like that. Yeah, I'd probably put them in, that timeline would probably be the best way to go about it. Yeah, that would be quite the beautiful way to end the story with how it began, just roles reversed.**

**Sir Guest; Thanks for the votes! Yeah they will, we'll see more of why he's Kisuke's son during the Soul Society arc, where his intellect will shine.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter! Also please check out the bottom for important information for this story going forward.**

* * *

**Sibling tears part one**

**Three years ago...**

"Alright everyone. We have a new student within our class today."

The teacher spoke up to the middle schoolers before them. Out of them, one was Orihime with her long hair shining. Her eyes looked over the new student, seeing him to look quite exhausted, a sleepy expression on his face, and he released a yawn.

The teacher turned towards Takumi, who looked back up towards her.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Takumi glanced at the class, before looking towards the window, to see Kisuke, but only Takumi could see Kisuke, Kisuke himself was giving the thumbs up towards him, causing Takumi's eyebrows to twitch.

Then he looked back at the class once more, and his face lifted up into a smile.

"Nice to meet you everyone, my name is Takumi Urahara! Lets get along!"

Orihime cocked her head, while watching Takumi looking out of the window, and then back to the others.

Some people in the class spoke words such as "Weirdo." and "Haha, he looks freaky~" along with "He looks insane!" but Orihime thought that was really rude, since they didn't even know Takumi at all.

"I-I see..." The teachers words were of nervousness, seeing the sleepy eyes of Takumi on her form despite the smile on his face. "A-Anyway, please go and sit down~ Your seat is next to Orihime Inoue-san. Inoue-san, raise your hand so Urahara-san knows where to go."

Takumi glanced at Orihime who raised her hand.

He slowly moved closer to Orihime, and sat down beside her.

"It's nice to meet you. My names Orihime Inoue, Urahara-san!"

"Nice to meet you Inoue-san! I'm sure we'll be good friends!"

Orihime loved his energy, yet she didn't get why he looked half asleep.

Takumi brought his bag onto the table, and dumped a few items onto the desk. Intrigue came over her, seeing that he dumped even a stuffed teddy on the table, but something seemed off about it.

"That's so cute~"

Orihime sang out, Takumi glanced towards her, and smiled lightly.

"It can dance, I made it myself."

Orihime was intrigued, as Takumi clicked his fingers, the toy rose up, and it began to do the macarena, Orihime looked super intrigued.

"That's so cool Urahara-san, you made that?"

Takumi scratched the back of his head.

"Yup, I made it~ My Dad can do more amazing things, but I like making things that bring joy to people."

Orihime stared at the toy that continued dancing, it was amazing to see it move so well.

Then the class began, and the teacher spoke about the lesson, the math's lesson at that, though Orihime watched Takumi more, interested in seeing what he was building. He even had out a screwdriver, and a weird cone shaped device, she didn't know what it was, but it seemed important to Takumi.

Equations came onto the board, and it was a question about how many people would be on a train if some people got off, then some got on, then some got off, it was quite complicated, something that most of the students all sighed out about as the teacher asked people to solve it, Orihime's eyes swirled.

"I don't get it..."

"The answer is seventeen Inoue-san."

Orihime was surprised by the voice from beside her.

She looked to see Takumi glancing in her direction.

"Is it?"

Takumi nodded, concentrating on his devices more than anything.

Orihime furrowed her eyebrows, while the teacher asked "Can anyone give me the answer? Anyone at all?" so Orihime looked towards Takumi once more, seeing that he wasn't going to say anything as he was seemingly busy with technology he was working on, so she raised her hand.

"Yes Inoue-san?"

"The answer...is seventeen...yes?"

The teacher looked surprised that she got it so fast.

Even the class said things like "Wow, Orihime-san." and "She's quite smart." though some that didn't like Orihime said horrible stuff about her, but Orihime looked towards Takumi who looked down at his table, tinkering away with some device that he had.

"W-Whoa, that was fast Inoue-san."

Orihime scratched the back of her head.

"Actually, it was Urahara-san that got it first. I was just telling his answer to you all."

Orihime, being as kind as she was, wasn't going to take credit for Takumi's answer. She could of, but she wouldn't of felt right to say the answer was hers.

The class looked towards Takumi with amazement and also annoyance, and jealousy that he managed to get it so fast.

It had taken less than a minute for him to get the answer, even Orihime was very impressed, but then she heard other people speaking like "Show off." and "Know it all." among other hurtful things, she herself knew what it was like for people to bully her, so she could understand that it must of hurt for Takumi to be called these names, she found it quite unfair since he actually didn't say anything to the teacher, and only said it to her.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault that they're saying those things to you."

Takumi glanced at Orihime, and shook his head.

"Don't worry, it's fine, it doesn't bother me. Life's too short to allow negative comments to affect you."

Orihime watched carefully as Takumi turned back to his desk, and couldn't help but be intrigued by him, especially by the fact that he didn't let their negative words affect him, like she did get affected by others words and what they did to her, and had to admire that fact about him.

* * *

**Present...**

"Damn this is pretty cool~ Well done Tessai-san~"

Kisuke smiled out as he, Takumi, Rukia, Yoruichi in cat form, Jinta and Ururu, began eating the feast before them. Tessai's eyes went across each and everyone of them, Rukia looked bewildered while seeing Jinta grab a plateful of food, and picked it off other different plates.

Rukia glanced at Takumi who smiled down towards her.

"In this house, you have to act fast, or you'll not get much."

Rukia looked even more baffled, seeing Jinta place more and more food onto his plate, Ururu gathered a modest sized plate, while Kisuke waved his fan in front of his face, somehow his plate had been filled with food.

She glanced at Takumi once more, seeing his plate filled, and the food laid out before them was nearly empty.

"H-Huuuuh?! T-That was so fast!"

Rukia let that out in surprise, and then saw a single piece of food left, so she went to grab it, when Jinta grabbed it instead, Rukia's eyes blazed.

"Sorry, you snooze you lose."

"Oh come on! I'm a guest!"

Rukia argued with Jinta while Takumi gave her a bemused smile.

"Yeah, but you don't do anything around here."

"This is my first day being here...well, second I guess...even then! I was helping Takumi, I don't know, not die!"

Jinta stuck out his tongue towards Rukia who frowned as a result.

Takumi then heard her stomach rumble, so he grabbed her plate, and shoved half of his food onto her own plate.

"There, you can have some of mine."

"Thank you." Her eyes went to Jinta in an antagonistic way. "You're so nice Takumi."

Jinta breathed hard out of his nose, while Takumi waved his hand.

"Of course, don't worry about it. You are a guest here after all."

Rukia brushed her face gently, and began to eat the food, while Kisuke looked towards her. Rukia looked right back towards him, and as if they were having a conversation with their eyes, Takumi sensed some tension between the two of them.

But that soon ended when Rukia's phone pinged.

"Oh damn...alright then. Takumi, we've got a live one."

"Right, lets go."

Takumi placed his food down along with Rukia, and they went to leave when Kisuke raised his hand.

"Wait, wait. Takumi, you've only just woke up today. Don't you want to take it easy?"

"But there's a Hollow, and no active Shinigami around."

Kisuke chuckled nervously, while Rukia gave him a blank stare.

"Y-Yeah, you're right. Then, let me take care of it, and you can get some rest~"

"But, don't I need practice to deal with these Hollows?"

Takumi countered, while Rukia continued looking towards Kisuke.

"Even then..."

"Come on Takumi." Rukia pulled him along, then her eyes shot for Kisuke. "Unless there's something you want to discuss Urahara?"

Kisuke's eyes slitted slightly, but then his face turned cheerful.

"Of course not. Be careful my boy, good luck~"

"Thanks! Come on Rukia-chan, lets do this!"

"Right."

Takumi and Rukia ran out of the room, while Kisuke inhaled slowly.

Yoruichi watched from her position, then her eyes went to Kisuke who turned his head to the side. It seemed like he was thinking about something deeply.

* * *

The next day, Takumi appeared before Kisuke, and had questions about what had happened that night.

"So...gonna tell me what that light was?"

Takumi's demand didn't come as a shock to Kisuke.

He was an inquisitive person, but he was surprised that Rukia wasn't alongside him asking these kind of questions.

"Well, the thing is Takumi….hahaha, does it matter…?"

Kisuke for once was unsure of how to respond.

Takumi was sharp minded.

If he lied, Takumi would know, it would be the same if Takumi had lied about anything. They could suss the other out, so lying to Takumi was hard to even someone like Kisuke.

"Well, it does matter since I was nearly destroyed because of it."

He remained calm, getting angry wouldn't of done anything to help the situation.

"Yeah, it's just...because of the transfer of Shinigami powers, that's all Takumi~"

Kisuke waved a fan in front of his face, only for Takumi to grab the fan and tapped Kisuke's head with it so hard that Kisuke bit his tongue, letting out a small cry.

"We both know that's not true. Even Rukia-chan was baffled by it. What aren't you telling me?"

"Takumi, the thing is...do you really need to be a Shinigami?"

"Well...since Rukia-chan gave up her powers to me so we could stop the Hollow, I'd say yes."

Kisuke gave a sheepish smile.

"But, do you really have to? I could do it for you. I'd kill Hollow's for you so you didn't have to put yourself in danger. Let me do it, I'll get Yoruichi-san to play with you~"

Takumi knew that there was something more to it than what he was saying. Kisuke didn't say random stuff for nothing, so Takumi killing Hollow's must be something he wanted to avoid, but he didn't know why that was.

"I'm only going to do it until Rukia-chan gets her powers back. With the Gigai I made, she will get her powers back in no time! Nothing can stop science mwhahahahahaha!"

"Hahahaha! The scientist laugh is amazing!" Kisuke cheered, only to pause when he remembered what he was thinking about, and placed his fingers together. "But yeah, killing Hollow's isn't that fun."

"It isn't about fun, it's about protecting humans and spirits alike. Isn't it? Didn't you always tell me that keeping the balance is better than allowing it to be tipped?" Kisuke didn't say anything, but he mentally agreed. "That's what I'm going to be doing, keeping the balance, and making sure that Hollows, don't try and hurt people, and make sure their spirits go to the Soul Society...speaking of, now that I am a Shinigami, I'm going to be seeing a certain spirit later on actually."

Kisuke tipped his hat up.

"Oh? Who is that?"

"Sora Inoue-san." Takumi revealed, while brushing a bang of blonde hair out of his face. "He's been hanging around Orihime-chan since his death, so I thought I'd be able to send him off to the Soul Society so he doesn't have to worry about Orihime-chan anymore."

"That would be nice...either way, why don't you..."

Takumi lazily looked towards the clock within the room, and saw the time.

"Holy shit, it's 11.30 already. Where did the time go?"

Kisuke shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, I only just woke up~"

"Well, half the days gone, I guess I should go to school, and catch the rest of the day." A small smile appeared on Takumi's face, rubbing his hands together. "And I get to see my Orihime-chan~"

"Your wife huh~?"

Takumi gave him a strange look.

"Yeah right, she wouldn't want to go out with someone like me." Takumi yawned, stretching and walked towards the door. "Yoruichi-chan, you coming today with me?" His eyes shot for the door, seeing a bewildered cat staring at him. "Didn't think I noticed you? I saw you watching the conversation. Anyway, I've got to go, coming Yoruichi-chan?"

"You've got Rukia Kuchiki now. Why would you need me? You seem to have taken to the small Shinigami quite well, I saw you last night, eating with one another, when that used to be our things."

Yoruichi said with a pout, Takumi's eyes began to water, rushing Yoruichi, hugging her tightly.

"Don't say that! You're always my number one kitten! I'll keep you with me forever and ever!"

Yoruichi wore a happy smile.

"Damn straight, don't you forget it either."

Takumi chuckled, and left, dropping Yoruichi to the ground.

He looked towards Kisuke who smiled back towards him.

It was unspoken, but Kisuke knew he'd have to explain eventually.

Once he was gone, her eyes shot for Kisuke who became serious.

"There's nothing you could have done Kisuke."

Kisuke yawned.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Guilt, is that what I'm sensing from you?"

Kisuke's eyebrows dipped.

"...Yes. He's right, but telling him the truth now would only cause more problems. How could I tell him the truth now?"

"Either way, you might have to prepare him for the future. We can't change the fact that he is a Shinigami now, and if you tried to interfere with that again, it might cause problems, and might end badly. But you'd know that more than me."

Kisuke stroked his chin in thought, while Yoruichi let out a small yawn from her mouth.

* * *

Rukia sat by herself within the classroom, surrounded by classmates. They went along their daily business, and she glanced at the empty seat she was told that was Takumi's.

"_Geez, I should of just waited for him to come with me...I don't know what to do with these humans..._"

Rukia sighed at her thoughts, while Chizuru, a young girl with red hair, and glasses locked her eyes onto the lone Rukia.

Her fingertips felt like they were buzzing, her body heated up from the sight of Rukia, love hearts in her eyes.

Smacking her lips together, Chizuru stood up, and walked towards the unsuspecting Rukia.

Then Rukia felt a hand being placed on her shoulder, freezing her entire body.

She dared to look, and her eyes met Chizuru's eyes.

"A-Ah...hello fellow classmate..."

"Hello, beautiful."

Rukia blinked at the name she was given.

"B-Beautiful?"

Rukia felt fear running through her, Chizuru's eyes displayed lust.

"That's right cutie~ You are just so delectable~"

Rukia's bottom lip trembled.

"I-I..."

Rukia was lost for words which was a rarity for the young woman, Chizuru however leaned closer.

"You aren't my Hime, but your beauty can't be denied Kuchiki-chan. Maybe we could become...closer."

The way she said 'closer' caused Rukia to feel real fear.

* * *

"Orihime, what are you eating today?"

Tatsuki questioned Orihime as they walked through the hallways of the school. Since it had been days now since she had seen Takumi, she was naturally getting worried about her, and what it meant that he hadn't come to school yet.

"Oh, I'm eating fish with curry sauce, and onions on top of them~"

Orihime smiled out, Tatsuki imagined what that would be like and she felt sick to her stomach. The thought of eating something like that didn't sound good to her, in fact she was sure that she was going to be sick from eating such a thing.

As they walked along together, towards their classroom as they had gotten something to eat together, walking across from the other side, rounding a corner at the same time, was Takumi who was yawning slightly, and Orihime bumped into him.

However, Takumi turned, and grabbed her hand just before she could fall down to the ground.

"Ooh my, Orihime-chan. You are here~ I'm so happy~"

Orihime's face became overwhelmed with happiness, jumping into Takumi's arms, while Tatsuki watched on with a tipped eyebrow.

"Taku-chan! I was so worried, I came by, and your Dad said that you had been hit by a car!"

"Hit by a car..." Takumi sweat dropped when imagining Kisuke saying such things. "...ahahaha, it was my fault really, I was helping a young girl cross the street at night, and this car came out of nowhere!" Takumi raised his fist to the heavens, and then held out his fingers in front of him, looking like a ninja ready to perform ninjutsu. "But I used my awesome powers of ninjutsu, I leaped over that incoming car! But then, an ancient race of ninjas that opposed my clan, came after me, and then a huge fight broke out!"

"Ooh my! An ancient ninja clan! Fighting against Taku-chan huh?! I see, I understand! Protecting the world by the moonlight, and attending school by the sunlight! Yes, Taku-chan is the earths defender while everyone else doesn't even know! But we know, don't we Tatsuki-chan?!"

Tatsuki's sweat fell down her face, she wasn't able to even comprehend what was being said at this point.

"S-So...you where attacked by people?"

Takumi's face lowered, and his hand went to his forehead dramatically.

"I was, assaulted by people that were trying to harm a few girls. So, I stepped in and took them out, but I was also injured. I was knocked out for two days, and then I was awoken by the gentle voice of my Orihime-chan who cried out to me "Come back my adorable Taku-chan, I've got snacks for you~" and when hearing the call, I had to immediately shoot out of bed, to eat my Orihime-chan's delicious snacks before anyone else gets the chance!"

Tatsuki continued to sweat drop at the sight of Takumi's dramatic nature, but Orihime was drinking it up more and more.

"Ooh Taku-chan! I am so glad I could wake you up again from your slumber from your ninja fight!"

Tatsuki didn't even want to get into it anymore, so she sighed, and began walking back towards the class once more.

"Are you going to your boyfriend Ishida-chan?"

Tatsuki's eyebrows twitched wildly, shooting her eyes for Takumi...but he was already walking by with Orihime with a passive expression on his face, Tatsuki's hand tightened, and she let out a war cry, swinging her fist for his head, but he ducked out of the way, and slipped into the classroom nearby.

Upon entering, he saw that Rukia was sat there at her desk, and he thought he'd see Karin and Yuzu, but he couldn't see them so he presumed that they were either getting drinks, or were in the school.

Rukia herself looked as if life had lost her, Chizuru behind her was practically massaging her shoulders at this point.

When Rukia saw Takumi, she mouthed "Help me." Takumi sighed and walked over.

"Okay pervert, time to leave the new girl alone."

Chizuru's eyes snapped upon Takumi.

"My enemy! It isn't enough you steal Hime, now you want to steal this girl from me!?"

"I'm not stealing her, I'm making sure you don't harass them pervert!"

Chizuru exhaled harshly out of her nose, while Rukia stood up, and walked behind Takumi, putting distance between her, and Chizuru who was looking betrayed.

"Oh my, you've come Takumi-kun~ Thanks for helping me out~"

Rukia put on a tone that didn't sound like her at all, Orihime's face fell slightly when seeing Rukia greet Takumi casually.

"I'm glad you're okay Rukia-chan~"

"Taku-chan, you know her?"

There was a hint of something within Orihime's voice, but Takumi didn't get what that thing was. But Tatsuki who entered, could tell that Orihime was showing signs of something that she usually didn't show, and it looked like she was serious.

"Yeah, she's...she's someone I've known since...hmmm, remember I said about helping a girl?" Orihime nods, making the connection. "I helped this girl out. To my surprise, she's within our class, hehehehe~ And she's got food..." Takumi's eyebrows furrowed. "Oh crap, I forgot food..." Takumi casually walked closer to Rukia, and gave her a childlike smile, Rukia offered one back, both clearly faking it. "So, my friend...no, partner I should say. Wanna share lunch?"

Orihime noticed the word 'partner' and couldn't help but wonder the relationship between Takumi and Rukia, taking it in a different way than the way that Takumi was actually using the word 'partner'.

Rukia's innocent facade dropped.

"No, I had to make this while dodging bat swings from that red headed boy."

Takumi showed a sly smile.

"Yeah, he can be such a little brat sometimes."

Rukia placed a hand on her face while saying "Ain't that the truth." letting out a sigh, before Takumi sat down nearby with Rukia sitting down near him, pulling her chair to his desk, away from Chizuru who winked towards her, freaking her out.

"Anyway, Takumi-kun, maybe you could give me a tour of the city later~ Since I'm new to this city~"

"Haha, sure Rukia-chan~"

Orihime watched as Rukia glanced at Takumi, and he did the same, and she felt something bubbling up within her, and what it is...she didn't like what it was inside of her, seeing the pair giving each other some weird looks.

Orihime then walked forward, and placed herself near Takumi.

"Taku-chan, want some of my food?"

Takumi's face lit up like a sun, and he hugged onto her, while Chizuru's eyes blazed at seeing that.

"You truly are an Angel Orihime-chan! I can't wait for your food, it is the best!"

Orihime showed a wide smile, while Rukia watched on casually.

Tatsuki saw the way that Rukia was looking towards the pair, and then she moved closer.

"Yo, Kuchiki-san. Welcome to the school, if you need anything, let me know."

Rukia's eyes went towards Tatsuki questioningly, and slightly aggressively, remembering Chizuru.

"Who are you…?"

"She's our classmate Tatsuki Arisawa-chan, Rukia-chan. Be friendly."

Takumi replied while hugging Orihime, Chizuru's face reddened with her rage.

"Ooh yes, how could I forget? Thank you very much~ I wouldn't want to be a burden~" Rukia shined out brightly like a school girl being peppy. "I mean, I've only just come, and if I burden everyone here, then it wouldn't be good. I'll just burden Takumi-kun, he's fine with it."

"Yeah, Takumi's fine with it."

Takumi rolled his eyes sarcastically.

Rukia's eyes shot for him, causing him to flinch.

She then smiled happily, and Takumi turned to Orihime.

"Orihime-chan, Marching on the Zombies, part three has been announced for next year!"

"I know, we'll order our tickets when we can hehehe~"

While Orihime giggled to herself, she felt a nagging thing inside of her, while seeing Rukia and Takumi exchanging glances with one another, wondering what it was between them that they had going on.

But then Rukia's phone began buzzing, so she looked at it, then towards Takumi.

"Hey Takumi-kun. Come with me, I've got to show you something~"

"...You're going to show me you're into hardcore S and M?"

Tatsuki did a spit take while Rukia gave him a strange look.

"What the hell is that?"

"Nothing. So, what do you want?"

Rukia let out a breath, and grabbed her phone, showing it to him. Knowing what she wanted, he waved to Orihime "Gotta show her around the school so she doesn't get lost~" and then ran out of the classroom together with Rukia.

Orihime watched Takumi go with Rukia, while Tatsuki noticed Orihime's face was falling slightly.

"Orihime. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing at all~" She giggled out, while a boy with glasses raised his head slightly. "I was just thinking about those two~ It seems that they are quite close, huh..."

Orihime started off happy, but her face continued to fall when seeing Takumi and Rukia being together.

"Those two?" Orihime showed a sheepish smile. "Probably not, he's probably just helping her out. Don't worry Orihime, he's totally into you. He has been for like years now. Ever since I met you both."

Orihime's cheeks turned slightly red, twiddling with her fingers, and looked down at her table, thinking about a certain incident that happened...

* * *

**Three years ago...**

It had been a few weeks since Takumi first joined her in middle school, and as lunch rolled by, Orihime who had her hair cut down dramatically, was enamored with the amount of things he could create. What caught her eye more than anything was a stuffed teddy that he had made. It looked quite cute with the pink fur, and what not. But what happened next surprised her, when he said "Activate teddy." and from that voice command, the teddy's eyes opened, and it looked towards Takumi.

"Takumi Urahara, hello."

Orihime was blown away with that alone, and budged closer.

"Amazing..."

"Heh, it isn't that amazing." Takumi replied with a chuckle. "It's just a stuffed toy."

"But still, it said your name, and it's moving on its own."

Takumi rubbed the back of his head with a yawn.

"It's the power of science, I've spent weeks on this, perfecting its programs and what not."

Orihime inspected the teddy who bowed its head towards her, making her eyes shine.

"The power of science, it's made something beautiful."

Takumi glanced at Orihime, who seemed to be looking at the teddy adorably.

He shrugged his shoulders, and passed it on towards her.

"You can have this."

"R-Really!? But you said you've spent weeks on this...d-don't you want it?"

"I can make another, it seems like you want it. Keep it, it's one of the reasons I invent, so others can benefit from my work."

Orihime's face lifted upwards...

But then it lowered when three boys came over to them.

Their eyes went towards Orihime's hair, and towards Takumi.

"Look who it is, the Zombie and the girl with ridiculous hair."

"Zombie...me?"

Takumi pointed to himself, the leader of the boys nodded his head.

"That's right Zombie."

"Is this because I look tired most of the time...?"

Takumi wondered while Orihime's face fell downwards.

"Of course! You're like dead man walking!"

"Is that an insult or something?" Takumi countered, to the bafflement of the others. "I'm like this because I stay up most of the night, working on my inventions, and come to class during the day."

The leader scoffed, and looked at the stuffed toy with a menacing grin.

"Awww, isn't it cute? You play with teddy's~"

"So? That teddy's special."

That confused the boys even more, and they went to grab it, when Orihime pulled it away.

"No...don't break it, Urahara-san worked hard on it..."

"So what! Give it me now!"

The leader tried to grab it, when Takumi grabbed his wrist, tightening his grip.

"Don't do that." Takumi pushed the boy away who hit the back of a table. "Did you just try and attack a girl?"

"Hmph, it doesn't even matter, especially with that hair."

Takumi glanced at her hair, and then towards them.

"You cut her hair, didn't you?" Orihime's eyes went downwards. "I thought so. Bullying a girl over the colour of her hair, you should be ashamed of yourselves." Takumi cracked his neck, and casually picked up his phone. "How about I teach you a lesson?"

"A l-lesson?"

Takumi grinned happily, and quickly sent a message.

"Give it a minute."

The boys seemed confused while Orihime tossed her head to Takumi curiously.

About a minute later, the door violently opened, causing the boys to scream "Aaaaah!" and coming through the door, was a girl in a red tracksuit, and blonde hair tied into short twin tails, and a grin on her face, the girls name was Hiyori Sarugaki.

"Yo Baldy! You serious? I scare these loser kids, and I get a free upgrade on my phone and you'll make me something to bug Shinji?" Takumi merely nodded his head. "Alright then Baldy, time to get these idiots frightened!" The girl walked towards the blackboard, and ran her nails across it, the screeching sound, made the boys cry out, Takumi covered Orihime's ears so she wasn't affected. "Mixing together my two favourite things, scaring people, and free stuff hahahaha!"

"W-What the hell is that?!"

The leader asked with slight fear, unable to see the girl.

"I told you, I'd teach you a lesson~"

Takumi sang out, the three boys turned fearfully towards Takumi who grinned even more.

They pulled back slightly, as Takumi spoke up "One two, Hiyori-chan's coming for you~" while Hiyori ran her hands down their backs, sending shivers down their spines.

"W-Who's Hiyori?!"

"W-What touched me?!"

One of the boys yelled, Takumi chuckled even more as he said "Three four, better slam that door~" and sure enough, she slammed the door shut with her foot, causing the banging sound to surround them, the leader screamed, and dropped to his knees.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"I'm scared!"

The smaller one cried tears while Orihime's face lifted up.

"Now, time for the amazing stuff~"

Hiyori smiled out, and Takumi spoke "Five six, throw some sticks~" and Hiyori complied, flash stepped outside, and threw some sticks through the opened windows, hitting the boys while Orihime held a hand to her mouth, trying not to giggle.

Hiyori then came back into the classroom, and Takumi spoke "Seven eight, its too late~" as Hiyori pushed the desks to the wall, all while walking closer to the boys.

The boys let out a collective scream, and ran to the back of the classroom, Hiyori gave chase with the desks moving, because they couldn't see her and only could see the desks moving faster and faster, that made it all the more frightening.

"Nine ten..." The boys looked at Takumi who moved forward towards them. He got before them as the lights flickered on and off, the blinds opened and closed. "Don't be bullies again~"

They began to cry heavy tears while Hiyori burst out laughing at the sight.

"Hahahahaha! Scared boys!?"

Takumi smiled towards them with a tilted head.

"Next time you wanna bully someone, remember this experience." The three boys inhaled and exhaled deeply, while Takumi sat on the desk. "Now, leave that girl alone, don't bother her again. If you don't..." Takumi leaned forward, and his grin became scary. "...I'll come for you."

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! SORRY!]

They dashed out pf the classroom, Takumi let out a little laugh while Orihime's face curled upwards, Hiyori was on the ground in stitches.

"They should leave you alone now Inoue-san."

Takumi gave her a gentle smile, Orihime was in a state of bewilderment.

"Urahara-san...I don't get what happened, but thank you very much!"

Takumi waved his hand.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I don't like people like that anyway, so scaring them is fun. Good thing I had a few friends outside, throwing sticks in, and tied rope to the desks so they could be pulled to look like a ghost coming for them, and someone at the door to shut it violently, and even having people mess with the lights, and the blinds. Wasn't it super convincing?"

Orihime giggled while Hiyori laid on the floor, while muttering "That was fun." as Orihime moved closer to Takumi.

"Urahara-san...thank you."

Takumi gave her a smile, and looked at the teddy.

"He doesn't have a name. Care to give him one?"

Orihime looked at the teddy in her arms, and then towards Takumi.

"A name...yes, he needs a name...his name...erm...how about...Enraku."

"Enraku...sounds great to me."

Takumi and Orihime gave one another a soft smile, feeling their friendship growing.

* * *

**Present...**

Takumi and Rukia were running down the corridor while dodging the students, heading for the stairs.

"So, what's with the school girl routine?"

"Wasn't it obvious?" Rukia went back to her normal sounding tone. "I had to come here just in case a Hollow showed up so we could go together, and I couldn't act too out of the normal for these humans. For a few days study, I think I put on a believable act."

"Besides the fact that you said "Who are you…?" to a classmate in an aggressive voice."

Rukia sweat dropped while running down the nearby stairs.

"Well, either way, it doesn't matter. It worked enough."

Takumi couldn't deny that, as they made it down the stairs, Karin and Yuzu happened to be walking by, and saw Rukia and Takumi. Karin's finger outstretched to Takumi and Rukia while Yuzu placed her hands together shyly.

"T-Takumi-kun. I'm so glad that you're okay!"

Takumi paused, seeing the pissed off expression on Karin's face, and the kind face of Yuzu.

"Thanks Yuzu-chan. I'm alright, I ain't afraid of no ghost~"

Rukia glanced at Takumi curiously, who waved his hand at her, and turned.

"Wait a second, where are you going? After another ghost? Demon? Beast?"

Rukia's eyes went towards Karin, and gave a soft smile.

"Don't worry now, Takumi and I are on the case."

"Yeah, and having just him on the case is what I'm worried about. Idiots don't know how to handle things like this."

Takumi looked offended, while Yuzu placed a hand on Karin's shoulder.

"Don't be mean Karin."

Karin showed a sly smile.

"I'm not, I'm just..."

"Sorry, got to go." Rukia grabbed Takumi's arm, surprising Yuzu, and Karin, and turned away from them. "Lets go Takumi."

"Yeah, lets go."

Takumi and Rukia ran away from the area together, Karin's hands threw themselves up into the air.

"Wait a second! I still have questions! Get back here!"

Karin pumped her feet up and down, and ran after them at top speeds.

Yuzu, worried yelled "Karin!" and chased after her.

* * *

Takumi and Rukia ran towards a park with Karin hot on their trails.

"Geez, this girl can run fast."

"Well, there's no stopping Karin-chan when she's put her mind to it."

Takumi smiled out, and came to a stop when Rukia did. Standing outside of the park, Takumi looked up towards the park, and saw a spirit of a young boy, with a chain attached to his chest, Rukia's expression darkened slightly.

"As a Shinigami Takumi, you will have to begin saving spirits like this. Helping them pass onto the next life. If left unchecked, then the spirits will become Hollows. Though I'm sure you already were aware of that."

"Exactly, I understand that Hollows are former humans. That's why, I'd like to perform Konso on a certain spirit I know later on if you're up to it."

"Who is it you want to see?"

Rukia cocked her head, as Karin came speeding in, her feet skidding across the floor.

"A-About time..."

She panted, putting her hands on her knees, and bent over slightly.

Takumi gave her a calm smile while whispering "I'll tell you later." Rukia didn't have a reason to say anything else.

"Karin-chan, shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"That's...I-I should be saying that to you! I mean, that Demon thing comes along, and you're knocked out with weird energy coming out of you, your Dad tried to Men in Black me with that mind wipe thing, before I kicked him in the leg, and all he said was "Ask Takumi, he'll tell you." and ran away from me! So, tell me what the hell is going on!"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, and went to answer, when Rukia cracked her neck.

"Young girl." Rukia began. "This world is very dangerous. It would be better if you forgot about the experiences that you had the other night."

"As if I could forget." Karin shot back, while Yuzu ran up towards them, and panted heavily. "That night...I saw things, I didn't think I would. I saw you nearly dying Takumi, and you Kuchiki-san, you also nearly died, and now, you're walking around as if you've just had a bump on the head. And that Demon thing..."

"Karin-chan, are you..."

Takumi noticed a turn within Karin and tried to question it, but Karin turned her neck to the side.

"That was a monster. And now, you're going out so fast...are you really going to be fighting more of them? Are there more of them?"

Yuzu saw the pained expression on Karin's face, and pulled closer.

"Takumi-kun, I don't quite get it. But Karin said that you saved her that weird night, with the bad ghost."

"That's right, I managed to help her out."

Yuzu bowed her head.

"Thank you Takumi-kun, you managed to help us out that night, and saved our lives."

Takumi waved his hand.

"No, no. Don't worry about it."

Rukia looked at her phone, and then towards Takumi.

"Either way, it's about to get dangerous around here girls. You better get out of here. Takumi's got work to do."

"Work...you mean kill those Demon's?"

"They aren't Demon's, per-say." Rukia surmised for Karin and Yuzu. "They are just beings called Hollows. They are beings driven by instincts to devour souls, and harm people with high spiritual power like the pair of you. That's why the Hollow from the other day, attacked the pair of you along with Takumi here. That's why it would be better if you left here right now."

"Yeah right, I have to stay in case one of those things...Hollows, comes back. Last time-"

"That Hollow was unusually strong." Rukia revealed. "Hollows, usually are dangerous yes, but they aren't usually that strong without being Gillian level."

Takumi stretched his arm, while Rukia turned towards him.

"Anyway Rukia-chan, when's the Hollow supposed to be coming?"

"According to information I've received, it's supposed to be coming here any minute now. We got the order at school, so it shouldn't be long before it comes towards us."

Takumi nodded, as she pulled out her glove. She then pushed against Takumi's body, revealing his soul form, with his Zanpakuto, he unsheathed it, while Yuzu rushed towards Takumi's Gigai, crying out towards him.

"Takumi-kun?! W-What did she do to you?!"

"I..."

Rukia went to explain, when Yuzu pointed at her.

"Y-You've hurt Takumi-kun! Please don't hurt him again!"

"I haven't..."

"Then w-why is he unconscious? Did you drug Takumi-kun?!"

"Drugs?! I didn't do any drugs with Takumi!"

Rukia roared while Karin slyly said "This is out of a soap opera." while Takumi swayed his sword to the side, jumping up and down happily, feeling more free within his soul form like this, it felt good being like this.

"Hehehe, it seems like you're bullying me Rukia-chan~ How cruel~"

Takumi gave Rukia a pat on the head, as the four, even Yuzu, heard a howling sound.

Turning towards the park, they saw the kid spirit being chased down by a large Hollow that had a body of a spider like creature, Takumi went to move forward when Karin pushed forward, her eyes narrowing.

"That thing is going to kill that...wait, can a spirit die?"

"It can be devoured, that's a form of death I suppose."

Karin glanced at Rukia, as Takumi went forward.

He sprinted so fast that Karin was bewildered by his speed.

"You have nothing to worry about. Takumi's going to be just fine, he can't be beaten by that Hollow. I could take it down as well easily. It has low power."

Rukia expressed to Karin who folded her arms.

"I am not concerned for him. I'm concerned for the boy, that's all."

Yuzu was at a loss to what was actually going on, and glanced at Karin who kept her eyes on the park.

Then, appearing before the Hollow, Takumi swung his katana towards the left, slicing through three legs of the Hollow, allowing Takumi to grab the spirit boy, and used his speed, to put the spirit boy towards the others.

"Watch him."

Takumi went towards the Hollow once more, with impressive speeds. The Hollow whips out its remaining legs, the ends pointed to be like sharp blades. Rukia watched calmly, seeing him block one of them slicing towards him, and then he leaps upwards, and spins around like a top, his blade stretched outwards, and cleaved through the Hollows face, drawing a lot of blood out of the Hollows head.

"Geez, so bloody."

"That's the nature of slaying Hollows like this. It has to be bloody."

Rukia answered Karin who stared at Takumi, who landed on the back of the neck of the Hollow, and stabbed downwards, piercing deeply into the neck of the Hollow, Takumi twisted the blade, and sliced right, cleaving off the head of the Hollow, dropping it to the ground, and the Hollow disappeared into the ether.

"Okay, so he took that one out...so, is this his job now? And why aren't you doing it?"

"What's he doing Karin?"

Yuzu asked, while Karin noticed something.

Yuzu was holding onto the shell body of Takumi, but her hands were across his chest, it looked like she was feeling his chest, and going towards his abs, maybe even lower, Karin gave a sly expression on her face.

"Oh, so now that he's unconscious, you're taking advantage~"

Yuzu's face heated up exponentially, latching onto Karin's cheek, and yanked it hard.

"Kariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! D-Don't say something like that! I was only making sure his heart was still beating!"

"I thought you were seeing if something else was alive, and throbbing. Or, was I wrong?"

Karin smirked, Yuzu looked super embarrassed, while Rukia gave them strange looks.

But then Takumi walked over, and bent towards the spirit boy.

The boy let out a cry and went to pull away, when Takumi showed a kind smile.

"It's alright, you're not in danger anymore. But, if you stay here in this world, maybe more bad monsters would come here for you. So, how about passing onto the next world?"

His tone surprised Karin.

It wasn't joking, it wasn't anything negative.

It was kindness, and gentle.

The young boy shuffled on his feet.

"I-I'm scared..."

"You don't have to be scared now, it's alright. You'll go to a safer place now."

"R-Really?"

Takumi smiled lightly.

"That's right, you'll be safe there, and you wont have to worry about those naughty Hollows over there. Are you ready to go now?" The boy nodded his head. Takumi took out his sword, and used the butt of his sword, tapping the boy on the forehead, and a white light spread around him, and he disappeared. "There, done."

"What the hell was that?"

Karin demanded from Takumi.

"Konso."

Takumi replied, re-entering his body, and cracked his neck, Yuzu looking relieved that he was moving again.

"Konso...and you sent him to Heaven?"

"The Soul Society, to be more specific." Rukia brought up, then her eyes cast to Takumi. "Anyway, you did it Takumi. And now you'll have to commit yourself to all spirits, and risk your lives for them, even if it means costing your own."

"Like you did." Takumi brought up. "The other day, you jumped into danger without thinking, and I'll do the same if it means keeping others safe, then I'll do the same." Takumi looked down at his phone, and saw the time. "Guess we should be getting back to school before we get into trouble."

"Wait, I still have questions..."

"I'll answer them later on Karin-chan, and Yuzu-chan. Since you both could be potential targets for the future, you might as well know what the heck has been going on."

Karin sighed, but Yuzu found this to be good as she was going to be spending more time with Takumi,

"Then, come over to our house! We could meet in my bedroom!"

Once more, Karin gave a grin.

"Heeeh, so Takumi gets a free pass into your bedroom, does he? He might even see you in your unmentionables. All according to plan, right Yuzu? Maybe, Kuchiki-san and I could make ourselves scarce so you and the idiot can be alone together."

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarin! Please don't say anything like thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!"

Yuzu thrusted her arms up and down and puffed out her cheeks, while Rukia gave them odd looks, she didn't quite get it since she wasn't used to it, but Takumi found it adorable to see that they were playing together as sisters.

* * *

After school, Takumi and Rukia walked towards Karin and Yuzu's house, the Kurosaki clinic.

Karin looked passive about what was happening, while Yuzu looked to be a nervous wreck.

"Geez Yuzu, calm down."

Karin whispered while Takumi and Rukia spoke to one another.

"I-I am calm though Karin...t-this is just so nerve wrecking..."

"I suppose that it is since you have that crush on him. I don't get it, but whatever you want."

Yuzu's cheeks turned slightly red when looking back to see Takumi waving towards her.

Then they made it to the clinic, and walked into the clinic with Yuzu's permission. Taking off their shoes, they found the stairs at the back, so they went up them, and walked into Yuzu's bedroom, Yuzu herself looked to be quite nervous on what was happening.

Walking inside, Takumi noticed the cross that was on her bedsheets, it looked a little bit like a Quincy cross in his eyes, while Rukia noticed that around the room, there were many stuffed animals, her face lit up happily.

"Oh my God..."

"What?"

Takumi questioned the smaller Shinigami, who's face lifted up into a slightly creepy smile.

"Look at all those stuff toys...they look so adorable...Takumi, they are adorable..."

"Alright, calm down."

Takumi petted her head, Karin gave Rukia a curious look.

"You slay Demon...Hollows, and you're taken aback by stuff toys?"

Rukia inhaled swiftly, brushing her hair, and began acting more dignified, but Takumi noticed that Rukia's fingers still twitched with her happiness.

Yuzu saw that on her table, there was a certain pad written on it was 'Takumi x Yuzu' written in glitter, so she quickly stashed that into her desk draw, and giggled nervously towards the others in her room, Karin gave a sly smile, folding her arms.

"So, what was that Yuzu?"

"N-Nothing!" Yuzu deflected. "S-So, please sit anywhere that you want-"

"Yuzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Kariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!"

Takumi and Rukia both were taken by surprise by the yell, and coming through the window, was their Father, Isshin Kurosaki, Karin's eyes slitted with annoyance, punching her Father in the stomach, who coughed up bile.

"Don't be your usual self Dad."

"Aah, Karin, your punches are as strong as ever." Isshin grimaced, while placing a hand on his stomach. "Yuzu, Daddy just got punched, I need a hug!"

"Don't start with that crap Dad! Now get out, we have guests!"

Karin snapped, Isshin's eyebrows went upwards in confusion.

Then his eyes went to Rukia, and Takumi.

Staring at Takumi for a few moments, he then grinned.

"Yuzu, did you finally make him your boyfriend?"

""Pft! B-Boyfriend!?""

Takumi and Rukia spat out, while Yuzu looked mortified.

Karin however slapped her Father on the back of the head.

"Idiot! Why say it like that?!"

"But, that's what she wants, right!?"

"Shut up! You're embarrassing Yuzu! She looks like she's about to cry! Do you want her to cry you idiot!?"

Karin berated her Father while Rukia leaned closer to Takumi, seeing that Yuzu looked as if she was going to cry.

"Is this normal for humans?"

"Erm..." Takumi watched as Karin dragged Isshin out of the room. "Well, it's normal for them anyway."

Rukia nodded "I see." and sat down on a nearby chair, Takumi did the same thing, Yuzu looked on with tears.

Takumi, unable to take it, decided to lie.

"What did your Father say then? I couldn't hear him over Karin-chan's punches."

Yuzu's face turned to relief, waving a hand in front of her face.

"N-No, nothing at all. He's just weird, don't worry about it."

Takumi inclined his neck, as Karin came back into the room.

"Sorry about him, he's a complete jackass who listens in on his daughters conversations!" A whining could be heard coming from the door, and then the sound of fleeting footsteps. "Now, it's time to tell us what's going on."

Takumi nodded, and began explaining the basics about Hollows being the enemies, and tracking down people like her, and Yuzu who had spirit energy, along with the basics of Shinigami's, and what their job was, and what Takumi was now.

While explaining, Takumi noticed Rukia casually held onto a stuffed animal, and looked to be in peace and tranquility so he didn't say anything.

Once he had finished, Karin and Yuzu were taken back by what had been said.

It was quite overwhelming, but Karin had a few questions.

"So, if you've given your powers over to Takumi here, does that mean you're not a Shinigami anymore?"

Rukia brushed a bang out of her hair, and continued.

"Well, I am a Shinigami, I just don't have my powers right now. Takumi here is taking over for me while my powers recover."

Karin bobbed her head along, while Yuzu cupped her hands together.

"I think that's really nice Takumi-kun. You're doing this to help out Kuchiki-san."

Takumi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Nah, she saved me, I'm just repaying the favour for what she did. Besides, I don't mind doing this. Secretly, I've wanted to do something for years now, so fighting against the Hollows for me is good, so I can save people from those things."

Yuzu became more enamored by Takumi while Karin folded her arms.

"Isn't that dangerous? I know you said that the abnormal Hollow we fought the other day was just that, abnormal. But these things, from what you said, are endless. Isn't it like fighting a losing war or something?"

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, but Takumi surprised her when he shook his head.

"It isn't really about a losing battle, it's more like fighting to keep the peace. Hollows are driven by instincts, and mostly, they just want destruction. That's not to say that there can't be Hollows that can't do good. It just depends."

Rukia caught what he said, and had some questions about that.

"Are you saying there's good Hollows?"

Karin's question was met with a smile.

"Well, you never know, there's good and bad things out there, we might very well meet a good Hollow one day."

Yuzu pulled closer to Takumi.

"I hope that's true. It would be better if we could get along with them."

"That's right Yuzu-chan! Lets all become friends!"

Yuzu and Takumi smiled at one another, Karin however cracked her shoulder.

"Can you do it? I mean, this Hollow hunting business, alone?"

"If I have to, but I've got Rukia-chan here. We're partners, we can do this together."

Rukia nodded her head.

"If you're worried about us, then don't be. Takumi and I have a good working relationship. True, we have only beaten a few Hollows together, but we can work pretty well together, and he's pretty smart, and with my experience, we can deal with most threats that come by."

Karin wasn't so sure about that, Yuzu however lowered her eyebrows.

"I wish I could do something to help...I don't want anyone to suffer by these Hollows..."

"Don't worry Yuzu-chan, I'll do my best to make sure everyone is safe."

"But..."

Takumi petted Yuzu's head, causing her to blush slightly.

"Don't worry about me, I've got Rukia-chan, we can do this together."

Yuzu continued to blush while Karin tightened her hands.

"Sorry, can't just leave it to you two."

"E-Eh?"

Rukia was surprised by Karin's words.

"I said, I can't just stand around and do nothing at all. Seeing what I've seen...even if it is only a little bit, I have to do something. Truthfully, before all this, I wanted to deny the existence of ghosts, and they got on my nerves, especially when seeing them making out."

"I can attest to that, it is pretty weird seeing ghosts making out."

Takumi added to the bemusement of Yuzu.

"She's right, I can't do nothing either. I would like to help out if I can please."

Yuzu added into the conversation, Takumi was surprised...no, he was worried that she wanted to help out, since he didn't want her to be harmed.

Karin nodded, showcasing a strong resolve.

"But...if you're doing this weird mission to beat Hollows, then count me in."

"It isn't as simple as that." Rukia countered. "It's all well and good to say that, but up against a Hollow, I'm sorry but you don't have the power Takumi has, nor the knowledge I have either. If you went along with us on Hollow missions, then you could put yourself in danger."

Karin and Rukia locked eyes with one another, Takumi closed his eyes for a few moments, before releasing a breath.

"She's right Karin-chan."

"Don't agree with her like that!"

Takumi blinked at a rapid response.

"But she is. If you went there without anything to defend yourself, then you could become harmed. If there are more Hollows there than I could deal with all at once, then it could come and hurt you, or you Yuzu-chan."

"But..."

Karin squinted her eyes.

Takumi also understood something about her.

The desire to not be useless.

He could understand a few things about that.

He himself also felt like that when he didn't have any powers.

He also saw Yuzu's sadness about unable to see spirits, and unable to help out either.

"If you want to help out, then I'll make you something to defend yourselves."

Karin and Yuzu's faces lifted up, Rukia gave a confused look to Takumi.

"You want to endanger them? I'm not sure about that Takumi."

"No, of course I don't want to endanger them. That's the last thing that I want. However, I can understand their feelings of being unable to do anything. But, I can make them things that can at least help them drive back Hollows, until I can finish them off, or if they're targeted, then they could get away. They're going to be targets either way due to their growing powers, so it would be better if they can at least defend themselves."

Rukia knitted her brows together.

"Yes...you're right about that at least. They will be targets, so having something for them to use to defend themselves would be good. But still taking them with us, I don't know about that..."

"Well, we're going so there."

Rukia's eye twitched as Karin dismissed Rukia's concerns. Takumi chuckled awkwardly, seeing the pair glaring at one another, Yuzu looked on with the same nervousness.

Takumi then broke the glaring with petting their heads, only for Karin to sock him in the face.

"Don't pet my head!"

"Karin! He was only being nice and breaking tension!"

Yuzu bent down to Takumi who twitched on the floor with the punch, Rukia shook her head at Karin who snarled at her.

But, like that, it seemed that a small team was beginning to form with Takumi, Rukia, Karin and Yuzu.

* * *

That night, Takumi in his Shinigami form, and Rukia walked through the streets, towards Orihime's apartment building. Rukia was listening to what Takumi was saying about Sora Inoue, and why he wanted to go and do this.

"I see, so you want to perform Konso on him."

"That's right, he's been declining for the last year or so. I didn't really have the power to send him to the Soul Society back then, so I'd converse with him so he'd know that Orihime-chan would be alright. But he wouldn't really believe me. Even then, we had some conversations."

"I see...so, how did he die?"

Takumi was surprised by her forward question, but he answered anyway.

"He was hit by a car, about three years ago now."

"Hit by a car huh..."

"That's right. That day, Orihime-chan and her brother had a fight. It was a silly fight between siblings really. Nothing that would be life changing...but, then that day, he died. I remember that, because it was the day Orihime-chan and I became truly close."

"God...so, who does she live with?"

"She gets money from a distant aunt. She gets to stay here as long as she keeps up her grades."

At his answer, Rukia folded her arms.

"That's quite sad."

"Yeah. After he died, Orihime-chan cried a lot, that's when I vowed that I'd make her life full of happiness, so she wouldn't cry anymore. Just seeing her cry, the bubbly cheerful Orihime-chan made my heart ache for her."

Rukia adopted a sly smile.

"Someone's got a crush~"

Takumi's face turned slightly red, lightly tapping Rukia on top of her head, making her whine.

"D-Don't say such things!"

"Why?" Rukia counted. "Tell me about why you like her."

"Who said I liked her!?"

Rukia gave a dirty smile.

"Your face tells me everything."

Takumi turned his face towards the left hand side.

"It's not like that...I mean, Orihime-chan was my first friend when I went to school."

"Is that so?"

Takumi inclined his neck.

"Yeah. She was so different to everyone else, she was really weird, like me. I remember when I was young, my Father said to me "Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, just be true to who you are." which was kinda deep for him. But, I carried that mentality with me, and was who I was, eccentric, like my Father, and my hobbies weren't really anything that others could get into, but Orihime-chan, she was always intrigued, and we spoke often. But when her brother died...that's when we became truly close."

Rukia listened intently as Takumi recounted a tale to her.

* * *

**Three years ago...**

Sometime had passed since he and Orihime had begun a little friendship between them.

They talked, and ate together.

But on that day, Takumi had heard that someone had a car crash, he didn't expect Orihime would be involved.

The streets were quiet, except for a single siren that came from an ambulance. Takumi heard the sound, and looked down the street to see Orihime sat on the roadside, tears falling from her eyes, crying out for her brother as she was sat near a clinic. The ambulance was nearby, and looked ready to go.

Takumi felt something stir within him, so he walked closer towards her, continuing to see her crying her eyes out.

He inhaled slowly, then murmured "Inoue-san..." Orihime stiffened, looking to the voice, and saw that it was Takumi who was looking towards her. Orihime's tears continued to fall, almost breaking Takumi's heart from seeing such sadness.

"What...happened Inoue-san?"

Orihime continued to cry, so he sat down beside her. Before he could do anything, her head fell against his shoulder, and she began to cry even more.

Takumi wasn't sure what to do at first.

He didn't know how to comfort someone like this.

But seeing her like she was, he didn't think it suited her to cry, so he placed a hand on top of her head, and gently petted her head.

After a small time had passed, Orihime dried her tears the best that she could.

"Urahara-san...why did he have to die…? I don't know what I'm going to do...it's only ever been me and my big brother...we had a silly fight today...over hairpins...I thought they were too childish...and now, I'm never going to see him again..."

Takumi went to speak...when he saw out of the corner of his eye...in the sky, was Sora Inoue.

He was looking down at his younger sister, worried for her.

Takumi inhaled slowly, then he leaned closer to her.

"You're never alone."

"H-Huh?"

Takumi looked upwards, at Sora, then back to Orihime.

"He's watching you, Inoue-san. I'm sure that he doesn't blame you for anything. If it was only a silly fight...then it can't be your fault. Don't blame yourself. I'm sure he doesn't blame you."

Orihime brushed under her eyes, shedding a few tears still.

"R-Really…?"

Takumi's face turned upwards into a smile, and despite the situation...it was what she needed.

"Really. I'm sure that he's looking down at you right now, and wishing for you to be happy."

Orihime looked over his face, his smile.

That smile...made her feel more at ease than she did when alone.

"I really like your smile."

Takumi could feel his cheeks turn slightly red at her admission, he didn't expect her to do that.

"...T-Thanks Inoue-san."

As he stuttered that out, a paramedic came by and spoke to Orihime.

Orihime listened to what he said, and then looked back to Takumi shyly, unsure if she should even ask, but right now, Takumi was pretty much her only friend even if they had only known one another for a little while.

"Urahara-san...I know this is a lot to ask, and might be selfish but...c-could you stay with me? I... I don't have friends...or real family here...I don't have anyone...I know that we don't know one another that well...but, you're my only friend...so..."

Takumi allowed a soft smile to appear on his face, seeing her struggles, he couldn't allow her to suffer anymore today, already knowing the pain of loss.

"I can stay as long as you need, and help you out anyway that I can. I'll call my Dad, he can help you out with the stuff about your brother."

"Thank you Urahara-san."

Her whisper drew him to her, as she pulled backwards.

Soon enough, her head laid itself on his shoulder once more, and she shed tears over her brothers death.

Seeing her sadness…

He didn't like it.

Her kindness touched him. Even when she was sad, she still wanted to make sure others were okay, even him.

Because of that, Takumi already had resolved to smile more, so she didn't have to cry. A promise to her, and her brother.

* * *

**Present day…**

"So, after that, we became very close, and I promised myself that I'd keep smiling...since she liked my smile, and in turn, she'd smile since I liked hers. Tatsuki-chan came into our lives after her brother died, and they became friends. Tatsuki-chan and I are friends as well, but they became like best friends, and I think that Orihime-chan needed a friend like Tatsuki-chan. But Orihime-chan and I...yeah, she was my first human friend. She's the kindest person I've ever met, so open and free, I really was drawn to that kindness of hers. She just saw me as me, not some weirdo that played with gadgets, that sometimes exploded."

Rukia sweat dropped at the end with the exploding gadgets.

Having listened to the little story, Rukia was surprised. She didn't expect Takumi to be introverted when he was out spoken and didn't seem to care what others thought about him now, he was quite weird, and he had weird habits. But from what she had heard, he was quite different back then, and she wondered why that was.

"You have quite the friendship."

Takumi scratched his cheek, chuckling slightly.

When he didn't say anything, Rukia pursed her lips.

"What is it with humans and not just admitting that there is something between you? If I found someone I would want, I'd probably just tell them how I felt."

"Do you have anyone like that? In the Soul Society maybe?"

Rukia shook her head.

"No. But..."

"But…?"

Takumi followed up, as they rounded a corner.

Rukia parted her lips.

"I used to have this friend that I talked to...but, after something happened, we don't talk anymore. It's been a long time since we've had a real conversation. And then there's my...well, it doesn't matter anyway."

Takumi leaned closer to Rukia, who in turn looked back up towards him.

"Don't worry Rukia-chan, we can be friends. You can talk to me about anything you want. That's what friends do, right?"

Rukia's face lifted lightly.

"I...yes, I wouldn't mind that."

Takumi placed his hands behind his neck as they walked.

"Oh yeah, Rukia-chan. Teach me about Kido, alright?"

Rukia paused.

"You...want me to teach you about Kido?"

She held surprise within her voice.

She didn't think he'd actually say something like that.

"Yeah. I thought that it could be pretty cool. Shooting lightning out of my fingers, or binding my enemies. I saw you the other night, you were pretty proficient in Kido. I know the basic principle behind it, but since I've got a live Shinigami here, I thought I could learn directly from you."

Rukia's mouth curled upwards.

"...Alright, I'll teach you some Kido if you do something for me."

"Sure, what?"

Rukia's face brightened.

"Make me Chappy stuff."

"Chappy?"

Rukia almost was floored with feelings flooding into her, about Chappy.

"Chappy, is amazing. He is life Takumi, and you've an inventor, I saw all that crazy stuff back at the house, you can invent me Chappy stuff. Like, I don't know, Chappy phone maybe, Chappy gun, Chappy backpack! Chappy teddies! Chappy snacks! Chappy keychains! Chappy love hearts! Chappyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Takumi backed away while Rukia's face beamed with happiness for Chappy.

Takumi then began laughing to himself "You are adorably weird.", as they came by Orihime's apartment.

Sure enough, Sora Inoue was in the sky, watching Orihime from the window.

Takumi looked up at the spirit, and jumped up, hopping in the air by gathering Reishi below his feet, Rukia jumped onto his back before he left. So he made it up in the air, standing beside the spirit, who looked surprised.

"You're...wearing something different."

Sora spoke to Takumi who gave a gentle smile.

"Yeah, I've gone through a transformation Sora-san. But, I've come to speak to you about, going to the Soul Society." Sora pulled away, looking like he was resisting it. "Sora-san, I know you don't want Orihime-chan to be alone, but she wont be alone. I know of the promise you made to her to stay with her, but you can go now. You can leave myself, and Tatsuki-chan to be with Orihime-chan now."

Rukia looked towards Sora, and saw that he didn't look happy at all.

"...She has forgotten me, hasn't she?"

"No, it's not like that Sora-san."

Takumi tried to connect, but Sora turned his head to the side, Rukia noticing that pain was within Sora.

"It is, she doesn't even pray to me anymore...if she doesn't then she has forgotten..."

"Orihime-chan's just trying to show you that she's moved on with her life so you can also move on. I can even have Orihime-chan attest to that."

Sora's eyes went back towards him.

"How…?"

Takumi casually went into Rukia's bag, who yelled out "Hey!" but he didn't pay any heed, and he pulled out glasses, and hearing aids. Sora looked on curiously while Takumi gave a smile.

"These. I invented them so Orihime-chan could speak and hear you one last time. I know that you can't get closure so easily. But from her mouth, would it do any better than me just saying these things?"

At that, Sora's face curled upwards.

"I could talk to her again?"

Takumi's own face lifted, while Rukia watched on with curiosity within her.

"That's right, you could speak to her again. I'm sure she'd love to speak to you. She has missed you Sora-san, she truly has. I know my words aren't enough, but from Orihime-chan….she'd tell you the exact same. She loves you, but she wants you to know that she's okay now, and you can go."

Sora's face turned upwards even more, and he began crying.

Rukia was surprised that he was crying all of a sudden, but then her eyes went to Takumi, and saw that he was giving a comforting smile, and she realized that he probably could just perform Konso at that moment...but, he wanted to give Sora, and Orihime a final goodbye, before he went to the Soul Society. That alone made her think that he was quite kind to try and do something like this for Orihime and Sora.

"Thank you, Takumi-kun."

Takumi smiled...but then his face dropped, Rukia's phone went off.

"Takumi, a Hollow! It's here!"

"Yeah, got it! Sora-san, stay back!"

Takumi turned around to see a Hollow coming out of a portal. It flew right at Takumi, who dashed in the air, speeding so fast that his blade cleaved right through the Hollows mask, and sliced through the Hollows body, cutting it down and it disappeared into nothingness.

"Good Takumi..." Once again, her phone went off again and again. "There's more coming here...why are they gathering here…?"

Takumi noticed around them, more portals had began opening, or they were simply appearing, it didn't matter to Takumi. But he was being surrounded by a few Hollows, four Hollows at that, and all were flying types, with them looking like birds, and all opened their mouths, releasing small bullets towards them, energy blasts.

Rukia cringed at the sight, but Takumi held out his blade, and swung it left, hitting its attack with just enough force that it changed course, and hit the one that was towards the right, causing it to explode, hiding Takumi in the smoke.

Tactically speaking, Rukia thought it was good to have the cover of smoke.

The other two blasts that went for Takumi, simply went through the smoke, as if he wasn't there at all.

The Hollows let out howls, and looked for Takumi, not realizing that a thin wire was wrapping around the back of the Hollows heads, and once being put into position, Takumi from up above pulled the wire forcing all four Hollows together, banging their masks together, which allowed Takumi to swing downwards, and because they were all together, his sword sliced through all four of their heads at once, destroying them from this earth.

"Hmmm, it's refreshing to be with someone that isn't an idiot."

"Surrounded by muscle heads Rukia-chan?"

Rukia tilted her hand as Takumi landed on the ground with her on his back.

"Some people, some people are quite intelligent...though those tend to be in the mad genius category, or plain insane."

"The Soul Society sounds so much fun."

Rukia didn't quite get that.

But from the corner of her eye, she saw something.

She looked towards it, seeing a hole being opened behind Sora.

"Takumi!"

Takumi's eyes went towards Sora, who widened his eyes.

"Sora-san! Move away!"

Takumi leaped into the air at high speeds. Rukia grabbed him so tightly since he was moving very fast. The wind brushed their hair around, while a hand came out of the portal behind Sora, and grabbed him, despite him trying to run away.

"No! Help! Takumi-kun! Help me!"

Sora tried to fight the hand off, but it was simply too strong, and dragged him backwards.

"Sora-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Takumi reached the hand that was holding onto Sora, and went to swing his sword downwards, when a shot of red energy came out of the hole, so Takumi used his blade to block, and pushed him back a little bit, as a barrage of energy bullets came at him like hailstones.

Takumi growled, and used his sword to cut through the attacks, one got through and hit his torso, Rukia winced at the sight, but Takumi didn't care and moved forward.

"You let him go right now!"

Takumi gritted his teeth, and shot for the hole as fast as he could, seeing Sora being pulled into the darkness, Takumi managed to get there, and grab Sora's hand.

"Takumi-kun..."

"Do-Don't worry, I've got you!" Takumi pulled out his Zanpakuto, and stabbed it into the portal, wedging it open with his Zanpakuto, and grabbed Sora's hand. "I wont give up Sora-san! Hold on, I've got you!"

"Takumi-kun...if I go now..."

"Don't speak like that! You've got to see Orihime-chan, right!?"

Takumi yelled, yanking Sora as hard as he could, but he could see Hollows eyes within the portal, all staring back at him.

"If I go...please stay with Orihime always. I've watched you...you care for her so much...I can trust you to take care of her for me..."

"Sora-san..."

Takumi whispered as Rukia managed to get towards them, and grabbed Sora.

"Come on now, we're not losing you!"

"Rukia-chan..."

Takumi was surprised that Rukia was helping...

But he smiled, and yanked Sora towards them, the Hollows grip weakening on him.

"Yes, it's working Rukia-chan! Lets keep going!"

"Right!"

Together, they pulled Sora as hard as they could, pulling Sora half way out of the hole in the sky, struggling with the Hollow on the other side.

"Take this bastard!"

Takumi raised his foot, and kicked the Hollow in the face, breaking some of its mask, releasing its grip on Sora, who was pulled through and stayed within Takumi's grasp, Rukia went to fall, when Takumi grabbed the girl, who stayed within his arms, and grabbed his Zanpakuto before it fell through the hole to the other side.

Takumi and Rukia panted, as Sora looked appreciative towards Takumi.

"Takumi-kun...thank you."

Takumi shook his head, but from the hole still in the sky, a blast of energy came shooting out of it, so Takumi used his speed to return to the ground, the energy blast however, began heading towards Orihime who was sat at the window, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

"Orihime-chan!"

Using his speed, he flashed towards the incoming blast, raising his Zanpakuto, and took the energy attack point blank range, forcing his body backwards, and his hand bled a little from the strength of the attack, but he managed to keep Orihime safe.

While that happened two chains made of fur came from the hole, and shot for Rukia and Sora.

Rukia panicked, and jumped to the side, avoiding her fur chain, but Sora couldn't, and was taken captive once more.

"Takumi!"

Rukia called, running for the hole, but since she was in a Gigai, she couldn't get there in time.

Takumi, shrugging off the attack he received, and rushed towards Sora.

"Sora-san!"

"Takumi-kun...keep Orihime safe for me..."

Sora thought that it was the end...

But Takumi managed to get a grip of his hand, and wouldn't let him go.

"Sora-san, I'll always keep her safe, but she needs to see you..."

"Takumi Urahara..."

A creepy voice came from the darkness of the hole.

Looking inside, he saw a set of creepy eyes staring at him.

"How do you know my name...?"

"Hahaha, someone's got their eyes on you Takumi Urahara, sorry I can't let you keep this soul!"

From the hole, a large amount of fur came out in the shape of spikes, threatening to stab Takumi.

But he didn't let Sora go.

Sora even saw that Takumi wasn't willing to let go, even as he batted away the spike like fur away with his Zanpakuto, slicing through them, and changed their direction with timed sword swings, calculating at a good level on how to force them to the sides, force them against other spikes, Rukia was impressed by how he managed to do that.

"Just let me go, don't die for me!"

"As if! I wont let some giant furball stop me!"

Takumi spun his sword, and thrusted it into the portal, behind Sora, and pierced what was dragging him back, just as Rukia came upwards, and threw some exploding balls towards the hole, landing against the Hollow, causing it to erupt with blood, from the stab and the exploding balls, and it howled out angrily.

"You bastard! That's it, die!"

Takumi watched as a mass of sharp fur came out towards him.

But he kept his hand on Sora's, holding onto it.

Sora knew that he could become more injured doing that, so he let go of Takumi's hand, pulling his hand away from his grasp, and thrusted his hand against Takumi's chest, pushing him back slightly, while the sharp fur came towards him and Rukia.

"Sora-san!"

"Protect Orihime for me!"

Sora snapped, as the fur came for Rukia and Takumi.

Takumi tried to move forward, but the fur was too spiky, and Sora had disappeared into the shadows, being dragged into them, so Takumi grabbed Rukia, just before she could be stabbed, and flashed towards the ground, avoiding being stabbed, but the portal hole disappeared, a disgusting laugh came from the near closed portal in the sky.

"Sorry Takumi, maybe next time!"

Takumi growled, while Rukia gave the disappeared hole a suspicious look.

"Did he just call your name? As if it knows you?"

Takumi couldn't answer her, and only thought about Sora.

"Damn it...Sora-san, I'm so sorry..."

Rukia saw that Takumi had regret along with anger on his face, and she could understand why that was, seeing him return to the ground.

But, there was something boiling inside of her mind.

"Takumi, don't you find it strange?"

"Strange...you mean about the Hollows being here right now? And the fact that it knew my name?"

Rukia inclined her neck.

"That's right. It was...something that I didn't expect. It was a planned attack for sure."

"But, why go after Sora-san? He doesn't have a particularly high energy or anything."

Rukia folded her arms.

"Unless...they were after people like you, which would make sense since it said your name. But they went after him when seeing that they couldn't get you. Or, they are after him for another reason. What that reason is...I couldn't even tell you."

"Well...I don't know what they could want him for, unless they want to use him for something."

Takumi turned around and began walking away.

Rukia's face fell slightly, moving closer, walking beside him.

"If it's any consolation, I thought what you were going to do was quite beautiful. I can't remember another Shinigami trying to do that for someone. Usually, we just go to spirits, and lead them to the Soul Society...I guess we don't consider that they might want to say goodbye to loved ones. But, we did our best, that's all anyone can ask."

Takumi adopted a slight smile, but still had some pain on it.

"Thanks. I guess that I'll just have to keep Orihime-chan safe now. I'll promise that to her brother as he asked me to do that."

"That sounds good to me. Now, we should go home, and take care of your wounds."

Takumi went to agree, when he stopped, and walked towards Orihime's apartment building.

Rukia curiously followed him, seeing that he pulled something out of her bag.

* * *

He jumped up towards the window of Orihime's apartment building and saw her through the window, swaying and dancing to a song.

He smiled at the sight of her doing that, and lightly opened the window from the crack that was already there. He didn't want to disturb Orihime, so he quickly placed what appeared to be a teddy bear right by the window, not to draw suspicion, and went to leave...when Orihime called out.

"Taku-chan?"

He paused…

Had she seen him?

His fearful eyes went towards Orihime, seeing that she was looking towards him.

He couldn't tell if she could see him or not.

But her eyes were in his general direction.

She then began moving forward, so he pulled backwards.

"Taku-chan..."

"Orihime-chan...y-you can't see me, can you?"

No response.

When she didn't reply, Takumi was even more in the dark about why she was saying his name.

But intrigue came over him, seeing that he got close, and bowed her head.

"Taku-chan...it feels like Taku-chan is here...but that's impossible~ Taku-chan couldn't be here right now~ Hehehe, I'm just imagining things~"

"_I guess she didn't see me after all...but, she felt like I was here...maybe she could sense me...if she could, maybe she has hidden power._"

Takumi thought, and went to leave through the window, when he saw Orihime turn around.

Watching the young girl, she went towards a table, and leaned down on it.

"Don't worry Orihime-chan, I'll keep you safe."

Orihime's ears perked, looking towards Takumi once more.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows while Orihime gently smiled to herself.

"Taku-chan..."

Takumi saw the line of her sight, and witnessed her looking towards a picture of her, him, and Tatsuki having just graduated from middle school together. He remembered that being taken, and he couldn't help but smile, as he left.

Orihime then looked towards a pink teddy that was about the size of a five year old child, and she smiled.

"Enraku-kun! Activate!"

Enraku's eyes lit up, looking towards Orihime.

"Good evening, Orihime-san. Can I prepare drinks or snacks for you?"

"Thank you very much Enraku-kun! I'd like warm milk please!"

Orihime smiled at the toy that moved to the kitchen and brought her warm milk, setting it on the table, and then sat down beside Orihime.

Orihime smiled at Enraku, and began speaking to Enraku about her day, and it answered her back with normal questions like "What did you learn?" and "What did you eat for lunch?" among other normal things like that.

Enraku had some upgrades since three years ago and could do some more things than back then, and Takumi thought that Enraku could keep her company if he or Tatsuki wasn't there, which Orihime truly appreciated.

* * *

Jumping down to Rukia, her eyebrows knitted together while Takumi stretched his arms.

"So, what did you do?"

"I made sure that if a Hollow were to attack, I'd detect it, and it would place a barrier around the area, so she wouldn't be harmed long enough for me to come and save her." His reply stirred something within Rukia. "Anyway, come on Rukia-chan. Your turn to cook to tonight."

Rukia's eyebrow twitched.

"What?

Takumi wore a sly smile.

"Didn't you know? If you live at the Urahara residence, you have to lend assistance, so you can cook tonight~"

Takumi began running down the street, Rukia, pissed, began chasing after him.

"And what will you be doing!?"

"Inventing Chappy stuff!"

Rukia placed a finger to her chin, then smirked.

"Alright then, I expect many Chappy stuff! Ooh, add Chappy watch! That talks to me in the voice of Chappy!"

"Hahahaha! Sure!"

Rukia allowed a small laugh to escape her lips, and chased after Takumi.

Despite smiling, Takumi thought about Sora, and hated that he couldn't save him in the end, wishing that he had more power, which he was going to strive for by learning more about being a Shinigami, learn Kido, among other things.

Takumi wished he could of helped Sora have one more conversation with Orihime.

He didn't realize that he would soon get that chance as Sora would be coming back, but this time wouldn't be an ally, he'd be an enemy.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we got more on the relationship between Takumi and Orihime, with how they met, with Orihime seeing how weird and eccentric Takumi is, along with not caring about how others viewed him, even asking Hiyori to help him scare people, and how Takumi was there for her when her brother died. Rukia and Takumi have an interesting dynamic, with fun back and forth's though Rukia, and Kisuke seem to be at odds a little bit, more on that later on. Karin and Yuzu learned more about the Shinigami, and other things of that nature, and have decided to join Takumi and Rukia in their Hollow fighting missions! We'll see their progression through this arc, as they come into their powers, and what not, and while trying their best, Takumi and Rukia couldn't save Sora from...we'll find out in the future! Though it seems to know Takumi's name so it's gonna be fun finding out their connection.**

**Anyway, to get onto the votes, Zanpakuto and Harem, and Karin.**

**First of all, thank you everyone for voting on these three things. It seems that mostly, people ship Takumi and Karin, so they'll be together. Their dynamic is going to be fun to explore. The Harem suggestions will be displayed down below, and you can keep suggesting them as well. **

**As for the Zanpakuto, thank you everyone for voting for it! I got some good votes, but it came down between the Lightning based Zanpakuto, and the Vibration Zanpakuto. I got some ideas about having a duel element type Zanpakuto, but that's never really happened before in the canon of the series.**

**But, there is a way for Takumi to have two elements without that happening, and that's from learning Shunko from Yoruichi, as that adds an element, so if he had a Lightning type Zanpakuto, he could use Shunko and have it be wate****r based to control, and use both to create thunderstorms with rain and lightning in Bankai and since water conducts electricity, that would only empower the lightning even more, the same could be used for the Vibrations, a water Shunko, plus Vibration sword could be quite devastating like creating a vortex of earth shattering energy around the opponent which drowns them at the same time, crushing them to death**** and since Yoruichi is right there, he could learn it from her.**

**So I'll give it one more chapter because Lightning and Vibration came out pretty much evenly with reviews, and Pm's, so I'll leave it to those two for one more vote, keeping in mind about the Shunko's that he could potentially learn. So, yeah, I guess it either comes down to violent thunderstorms raining down lightning and water destruction, or vortex of water, with earth shattering energy added to crush opponents, other techniques would be shown as well with either of those options, and I'm okay with either, since I've got ideas for both sides.**

**The others got some good votes, so thanks for voting for them, though these two pretty much dominated the top, but water was the next highest, so I thought a water Shunko would be cool since Lightning, Fire and Wind has been shown so something different for Takumi, and I thought water would work very well with either Lightning or Vibration energy.**

**Here's a question about Takumi's future. For those who don't remember, and or didn't read the original, I was going to have that character become a Captain, and Takumi's no exception, but what Captain squad he'd be, is up to you, as I could go a few ways depending.**

**So yeah, the candidates would be, Captain of Squad Twelve, replacing Mayuri who'd join Aizen for various reasons that would be spoilers, with Nemu as his Lieutenant, Captain of Squad Five after Aizen, with Momo as his Lieutenant, Shinji would stay back in the human world at that case, Captain of Squad Three with Izuru as his Lieutenant, Rose would stay back in the human world, or Captain of Squad Nine with Shuhei as his Lieutenant, with Kensei staying in the human world. And finally, Captain of either Squad five, three, or nine, with the original Lieutenants for those squads and having Nemu join that squad having a co Lieutenant status with either Momo, Izuru, or Shuhei which has happened with Shunsui having two Lieutenants in the manga, and Akon becoming Mayuri's Lieutenant instead.**

**For those wondering/worrying about it, say if he becomes Captain of Squad Five, Shinji would still do stuff in the story, he just wouldn't become the Captain again, the same for the others, and whoever didn't become a Captain, that person would be with the other Vizard's.**

**Why I'm asking now will change things within the Soul Society and beyond arcs, so I thought that it would be best to get the answer here now so I can map out what will happen, as I have scenarios for all of those outcomes.**

**So yeah, please vote for those, and until next time, where we finish off this little arc with Sora, and Orihime.**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori.**


	3. Siblings tears part two

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, him vs Tier would be an interesting fight. That would be funny between him and Nemu. Sure, I could see it happening during that arc. I wont spoil it, but Kisuke very well could be involved with awakening Karin's powers. Yeah, it could've been Masaki's cross that Yuzu gains. Yeah, that would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestion! That could be cool, Takumi and Nemu doing such things. That would be funny, I've got some fun moments for the Women's Association and Takumi.**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks very much! Yeah, he's got some unique dynamics with them huh~? Yeah it would be, and thanks for the vote! Zanpakuto spirits, yeah maybe~**

**Alpha-san; Thank you very much for the votes!**

**Dark King Marcel; Thanks very much! Thanks for the vote, and that would be pretty cool. Yeah, it would be the strongest lightning type, like Toshiro has the strongest ice, and Yamamoto has the strongest fire. And thank you!**

**BloodRaven46; Thanks very much! Yeah, it could be like that. Thanks for the vote. In canon maybe not, in this, I have a few ideas why he would. Takumi and Mayuri, no matter what squad Takumi gets, will have a very interesting relationship, due to their shared scientific nature, though Takumi isn't into killing people or dissecting. I think Nemu would recover eventually, like Momo did from Aizen's betrayal.**

**Derek 23; Thank you!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; They have yeah, they've known one another for a long while. It's going to be fun exploring more of their powers in the future. Thanks for the votes!**

**Guest 1; Thanks for the vote!**

**Guest 2; Thank you for the vote!**

**Silver crow; I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, it was fun for me too when I did, I forgot how good the series could be when it was at its high points, even low points had something's making it fun. Yup, it surely is. Takumi could do that regardless yeah. Realistically, there's a way Takumi could have a sword like that, it would have to be he had someone else's Zanpakuto incorporated into his sword, like, Rose maybe since he has a sound/vibration sword, added with lightning or something. They both kinda do yeah~ Thanks for the votes! That would be pretty funny actually, thanks for the suggestion! It's another kind of light, I can't reveal what it is yet though. She will be a female spirit yeah. Well you never know. Karin will have an inner Hollow as that's tied to her Shinigami powers. We don't know who Takumi's Mom is, or what his past is yet, so he could be a number of things, he could be a Fullbringer, who some had pretty interesting powers, his Mom could of been a Quincy, or a normal soul or something else entirely, I wont spoil it right now. His Mom is important to Takumi's story, and we'll find out more about her in the future. I could see Hiyori doing such things. I wont spoil it, Takumi vs Kenpachi is going to be quite the fight. I could see that happening between them, polar opposites becoming friends. I've got a fun scene planned out for when Yama and Takumi meet one another. He couldn't do that as he would be an enemy of the soul society at that point. Takumi and Mayuri definitely will have an odd relationship. Yeah maybe~ Yeah if it is necessary to the plot. Mayuri wouldn't respect Takumi, if anything he'd probably see him as a rival in the scientific field, like Kisuke. Hehe, he can make cute things yeah~ Sure, by that time he'd be pretty strong, Kenpachi took down a few Sternritter's easily, so Takumi probably could too. Yeah perhaps~ Cool suggestions! Yeah, that never really went anywhere in canon anyway, it was just kinda mentioned, and then it didn't change anything about her so she's just a Zombie girl here. Sure, he'll be learning various things from them~ Well, I can't spoil if he does or doesn't. Yeah, but the only way that could happen is if Takumi received that kind of power from someone else. There are other ways to introduce elements than Zanpakuto after all, and Takumi's a genius so we might see him tinker with his sword in the future.**

**Guest 3; Yeah, he does do crazy stuff already, it makes me wonder why he wasn't punished for what he did to his own squad, killing them by using them as live bombs, or anything else he's done.**

**Guest 4; Thanks for the vote, and yeah, I guess Nemu could be there~**

**Guest 5; He is pretty smart yeah. He very well might make an appearance in the future~ It was sad that he didn't in the series, when they went to the Soul Society, that could've been something to build on Orihime's character more.**

**Guest 6; Thanks very much for the vote! Yeah, they kinda do, with Momo in canon being out of commission for a little while. That would be pretty cool, Takumi helping Momo overcome such a trauma. That would be an awesome Bankai for Momo. That could be pretty cool to see Nemu doing such things.**

**Guest 7; That would be quite funny, I could totally see Soi Fon doing such things.**

**Guest 8; Thanks for the vote!**

**Crenin; If I was, I'd give her Fullbring yeah. It's Mayuri you're thinking of, he's quite the unhinged Captain. I could see that getting Mayuri's interest. And thanks very much!**

**Kamen Rider W; Thanks for the vote! Do you mean the Quincy Zangetsu and stuff? Well, since Yuzu is the Quincy and Karin isn't, she probably wont have Quincy Zangetsu, and just have Shinigami/Hollow Zangetsu.**

**Guest007; Thanks very much! Yeah, they have quite the cute relationship, huh~? Yeah, we'll be seeing those in the coming chapters. I'll probably do that arc eventually yeah. A spirit for Takumi's, it's going to be a female like his Father's is. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 9; Both Yuzu and Karin will be the focal point of that. That would be pretty cool, I like the sound of that~**

**Guest 10; Thanks very much for the vote! Yeah, it could be called that, I don't see why not. Takumi vs Mayuri, would be a very cool fight, a fight of intelligence, and who can outwit the other. Karin and Yuzu tag teaming Yammy would be awesome.**

**Guest 11; Thanks very much! I'm glad that you liked the series! And thanks for the votes! Yeah, for that arc, Karin and Yuzu could team up together, and take on some Shinigami's. Unohana huh, yeah they could be found by her.**

**Guest 12; Thank you for the votes!**

**Guest 13; Yeah, right now Rukia doesn't really have romantic feelings for Takumi, but slowly and surely, she'll grow to fall in love with him as the beginning of the series happens here. I could see that being an emotional moment between them. Thanks for the votes!**

**Excaliburn; I could see that happening, that would be a nice thing from Byakuya who does care for Rukia, though doesn't show it until later on, it could be an early indicator that he does care for her feelings. That would be an awesome moment to see~**

**Guest 14; Yeah, she'll probably wear something like that. Yuzu gaining an ability like that, perhaps so, it was shown that some of the Sternritter already had their abilities from birth, like the Yourself twins, so Yuzu developing one isn't impossible, I wouldn't know what kind of ability though.**

**Guest 15; Momo does need love and support after everything she goes through. Yeah, I could see that happening, and yeah, making them not living bombs anymore, would show a distinct between Mayuri, and Takumi. And yeah, Nemu could gain a weapon Takumi makes for her.**

**maxbrevan; Thanks very much! Thanks for the vote, and yeah, you're not wrong really, Rose is the least developed and used within the series, even his Bankai kinda did nothing, I liked his Bankai but it amounted to nothing really in the end. Yeah, it's going to be fun when he does release it. Yeah, we'll learn more about his Mother in the future. And thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 16; She will have a Hollow since that's tied to the Shinigami power, so her inner spirit will be basically inner Karin. That could be pretty interesting to see. Yeah maybe~**

**Guest 17; Yachiru and Takumi will have some fun interactions. Yeah, he very well could do, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Guest 18; He could of met Momo before, it's certainly possible. That does sound pretty cool to me. I always felt for Momo since mostly, she gets stabbed in the chest, when she could've had some interesting development.**

**Guest 19; Thanks for the votes! Sure, they could've met that way. That would be pretty awesome, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Skull Flame; They have banter of course, but yeah, they can come together to work against a common foe. It seems so yeah~ That's Rukia for you~ Well, he could be, you never know what's going to happen~ Yup, he'll be appearing this chapter. It could be him yeah~ Thanks for the vote!**

**Sir guest; It would be yeah, but there's only a few ways it could happen, as if Takumi came into contact with someone who merged their Zanpakuto with his, or he found a deceased Shinigami and modified his Zanpakuto with their own or something like that. Mayuri would go with Aizen for a few reasons, to see this perfection for himself, along with the prospects on Arrancar modifications and other things like that. Takumi vs Mayuri would be a pretty kick ass fight.**

**Guest 20; Yeah, I don't see why not. That could be pretty cool. Yeah, that sounds good to me~**

**Guest 21; That would be a pretty cool idea, and those Pokemon seem awesome to me~**

**Anonymous; Thanks very much! Basically yeah~ Yeah, it shows their friendship, and their growing affections for one another. It seems so yeah~ I'm glad that you liked it! They do yeah. She will have Zangetsu. That would be an interesting idea, thanks for the suggestion! And thank you very much!**

**Guest 22; Yeah, he very well could do that~ Sure, I could see Unohana doing something like that. She does yeah.**

**Guest 23; Ooh, she'll be showing up alright. Soi Fon vs Giselle huh, that would be quite the fun fight to see. And yeah, that would be something that Giselle would say.**

**Guest 24; Thanks very much for the votes! And I'm glad I got you back into it!**

**Sakuya izayoi; Lightning is awesome yeah. The Bankai would be pretty fun. There would be a logical reason behind it, one would be scientific curiosity, the hokyoku maybe, and then there's a hidden one I wont spoil right now.**

**Guest 25; Well, maybe he does. If he does, why does he?**

**Guest 26; That would be quite nice for the name. And yeah, that for his Bankai's name could be cool. And thanks for the vote!**

**Requiem; Thank you very much! Yeah, they could reunite, it would be cool to see more development there. He could do yeah, and he and her would be nice together. Thanks for the votes! Yeah, he could of met her before. That could be cool, Takumi could help her during that arc to see she is her own person and can make decisions for herself or something.**

**Guest 27; You're not wrong, she is the first Kenpachi so yeah haha~**

**Guest 28; Thanks for the vote, and yeah, that sounds like a kickass way to use that kind of power.**

**Guest 29; I've thought about it before. It was a shame she was just kinda dropped off the story and forgotten about. That sounds pretty cool, thanks for the suggestions!**

**Nemu best Girl; Yeah, I don't see why not, Yoruichi would have...methods on getting those things. That would be a fun moment to see Byakuya do something like that. I could totally see Nemu doing things of that nature, it would make sense. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Insert my name; That would be pretty funny. I could totally see Yoruichi doing such things, she is quite flirty. Nemu's the type to do such things, so I could totally see that happening. That would be a fun running gag. Sure, they could of met in the past, I like the sound of that. Yup, they will show up in the future, and yeah, that could happen~**

**Guest 30; Yeah, he was anime only anyway so it could be anyone really. That would be so Nemu to do such things. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 31; That sounds pretty cool, and yeah, I'm sure Yushiro would be alright with it for Yoruichi's sake. Funny thing was, for a while I thought Yushiro was a girl, then it was revealed he was a boy, but yeah, I'd be fine with that, I'll think about it~**

**Guest 32; The only way for that to happen is if he gains another persons Zanpakuto power, Takumi's pretty smart so he could modify his Zanpakuto to do that, or he could be gifted that by someone.**

**Amatayomi; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, either would be alright for Takumi, I could see a few cool scenarios with them. Sure, I could see Yoruichi pulling something like that, and it would be fun to see the reactions of the other girls. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Andrew123456; Thanks very much for the vote! And thanks for the harem votes!**

**Well with those lovely reviews out of the way, please read the bottom to see the results and some important notes about the story, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Siblings tears part two**

Just over two days had passed since Takumi and Rukia had lost Sora to the Hollow's. Takumi, though he didn't openly state it, was pissed off that he couldn't help him out in the end, but he didn't allow himself to be deterred. He wasn't going to allow anything to deter him from what he had set out to do.

So he had invented many different things for Karin, Yuzu, and Rukia. Since he had been tasked (though he loved it anyway) to do such things, he had made a few things for the trio of girls that he was quite proud of.

Standing outside of the Urahara shop, Takumi looked between the three girls. Each wore their school uniform, and he himself also wore his own.

"You look like you haven't slept in a few days."

Karin noticed, seeing the bags under his eyes.

"53 hours, and 22 minutes to be exact."

Takumi replied while stretching his arms.

"B-But, shouldn't you be unconscious by now?!"

Yuzu was worried, Takumi shook his head, and took out a pill. He swallowed the pill, and almost as if he had been rejuvenated, his eyes displayed happiness, his body twitched around happily, looking as if he had just woken up from an eight hour nap.

"Not really. Using these awakening pills, allows me to stay awake for a lot longer by increasing-"

"Yeah, I don't need to know the medical science behind it."

Takumi pouted at Karin who gave a defiant stare.

"Fine, whatever, it was interesting. It involves stimulating the brain."

"Still don't care."

Takumi rolled his eyes, and went towards Rukia.

"First of all Rukia-chan. Here. The watch you wanted."

He brought out a pink watch, with Chappy's face on the front, displaying the time.

Rukia's face lifted up, placing it on her wrist, Takumi lightly tapped the face of Chappy, and it's eyes opened.

"Hello Rukia Kuchiki-chan~ Can I do anything for you~?"

Chappy watch said with a peppy voice, befitting Chappy Rukia thought in her opinion.

Rukia looked like as if she had hit the jackpot, she never thought this day would come.

"OH MY GOD! CHAPPY! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING! CAN YOU BE MY BEST FRIEND PLEASE!?"

"Of course Rukia-chan! Lets be best friends!"

"EEEEEEP! YEAH CHAPPY!"

Rukia freaked out, while Takumi chuckled, Karin murmured "Geez, she's going crazy." while Yuzu thought that it was quite endearing.

"I thought that rather than a phone, I had decided to put in a few things into the watch. Of course, it tells time, and it also can do what your soul phone does, alerting you to Hollow's among other things, and it can also ring people too. I've put in a few peoples numbers for you that you need, and there's a few more features I thought you might need. Here's a list of what it can do, and what you need to say to activate certain commands."

Takumi handed Rukia the list, she overlooked it and was surprised, but very pleased.

"My God Takumi, you could give Captain Kurotsuchi a run for his money with this. It's quite amazing."

Takumi waved his hand, and then brought out a Chappy shaped gun.

Rukia's face lifted up happily, holding the gun in her hands, and Takumi continued to explain.

"Now this, has the ability to shoot out Chappy face blasts at people. It has different settings, like rapid fire mode which makes it weaker, but it allows more shots to be fired with quick succession, and normal mode which shoots out good levels of power shots, and deals good damage. How it replenishes its power is by gathering Reishi from the area. From my study on Quincy's and Shinigami's, and how they manipulate Reishi, I was able to mimic that kind of activity here, to recharge the gun itself. Also, you can store the gun within the watch with some compression technology I made, that took a long time, but finally perfected it last year, though it can only store one item within a space like that."

"Wow Takumi...thank you for this."

"No worries~"

Rukia was enamoured, she didn't even think about the Quincy thing for the moment.

Then Takumi turned to Yuzu, and brought out some glasses, and earrings.

"Here you go Yuzu-chan. Tired of not seeing ghosts? Put them on, and you'll be able to see, and hear ghosts as if you had the same spiritual powers as your sister, and myself. I changed it from hearing aids to earrings, for easier use. They're clip-on's so you don't have to actually pierce your ears with them."

Yuzu looked amazed, placing on the glasses, and the earrings that had a cat design on them, looking around and from the side, see a ghost casually flying on by. She dipped the glasses and couldn't see it without them, so she knew that they worked.

"Amazing Takumi-kun. You really made me like Karin!"

"Yup, that's right Yuzu-chan. Also, I've got a cute watch for you as well~" Takumi brought out a watch Yuzu would quite like, a cat themed watch, and placed it on her wrist. "Now yours is similar to Rukia-chan's, does what hers can do. I also stored a bow inside that fires off energy arrows. I remember that you're also in the archery club so I thought that would be great for you."

Yuzu took the devices and looked amazed by them all.

"Thank you Takumi-kun, you've done all of this for me. I have really been blessed for you to give us this, and you've spent so much time doing this for us. I feel a little guilty about it."

Takumi waved his hand.

"Don't worry. I've spent like two days in my own lab, it's a holiday for me~ Now, I'll show you a new feature I put in it." Takumi brought the bow out, which had changed into a cat themed type bow. Yuzu noticed on the side, there was a switch. "Now, you've got standard mode, firing normal arrows, and then you have exploding mode."

"E-Exploding mode?"

Takumi went to the side, pulled out a device, and threw it into the air, and it hovered in the sky.

Then he flipped a switch on the side, and pulled the arrow back, but appearing at the head of the arrow, was one of Takumi's exploding spheres.

"Fire!"

Takumi shot the arrow, and it hit the device, and let off an explosion so strong that air rushed around them, Yuzu's eyes lighting up.

"Wow! Takumi-kun! That's amazing!"

Takumi rubbed under his nose.

"Isn't science awesome? Combined with the speed of the arrow, and the exploding nature of the spheres, it will deal a good level of damage. Though there is a limit of spheres within the bow itself. But they aren't hard to replicate so I can make more for you."

"This is amazing Takumi-kun, thank you!"

Yuzu lightly smiled, as Takumi turned to Karin.

Karin looked excited to see what was going to happen next.

"Now Karin-chan, I know that you're quite wild in fighting, so I've made something of a weapon for you."

"Yes, come on, give it to me. I wanna see it Takumi." Takumi smiled at the girls enthusiasm, and pulled out a watch, Karin's face dropping. "What's this crap? It isn't going to be a bow and arrow, is it?"

Takumi chuckled, and casually pressed a button on the side, revealing a kick ass looking sword, about the size of a katana, with a slightly curved blade.

Karin's eyes lit up, as Takumi took the blade, and handed it to Karin.

"You wanna cut things, right?"

"Exactly...ooh God, this looks beautiful..."

Takumi gave a light smile.

"Right. The sword itself is as sharp as a normal sword and can cut through a weak Hollow easily, and it can be stored within your watch. The watch is the same as the others with what they can do. In sword form, this uses your spiritual power, and converts it into energy blasts. Since you have strong spirit power-"

"Wait, I have strong spirit power?"

Karin seemed dumbfounded, but Takumi nodded.

"That's right, you do. You see this button here." He pointed to the side of the blast, Karin gave it a weird look. "Push that it, and it will absorb your spirit power, and run it along side the blade. The longer you hold it, the more it absorbs. Then, you swing the blade outwards, and it will unleash your spirit power in an energy wave."

Karin decided to try it, and took the blade, swinging it downwards as she pressed the button, the shape of the blade came out as energy, which cut into a nearby wall, and crumbled it down to the ground, Karin's eyes fluttered at the feeling.

"H-Holy crap..."

Karin was impressed, seeing the stone wall crumble downwards.

Takumi rubbed under his nose with a smile on his face.

"See, isn't it effective?" Karin only could nod her head. "It's thanks to you really Karin-chan, your power is pretty good. It isn't a sub for a Zanpakuto or anything, as that can be used to do different things, but it can be used to help you fire off blasts of energy. Be warned though, the more you hold the button down, the more you feel it draining you. You'll know your limit."

"Okay, I'm on board now."

Takumi grinned wildly.

Karin had to admit that right now, Takumi was showing a cool side to him.

Karin admired the sword that she had, while Takumi placed his hands behind his back.

"This isn't a replacement for Zanpakuto's or Kido or natural power as that can grow, this has a set limit, and if I had a little more time then I would be able to do more, though since I've squeezed this in between taking down Hollow's and other duties, I think that they aren't so bad~ But with these, they can at least keep yourselves safe, and sound for the time being."

Karin made the sword come out again, and swung it outwards, intrigued by many things.

Rukia was examining her own stuff as was Yuzu, they all seemed happy so that was enough for Takumi right now.

So Takumi sat down on a nearby chair, and watched as the girls seemed to be quite pleased with what they had received.

Kisuke watched from a small distance, seeing each of them admiring their items, and then his eyes went towards Karin.

"While she doesn't have the power of a Shinigami...she does have strong energy, Kisuke. Especially just shooting out that blast."

Yoruichi spoke, sitting down near him.

"Yes...well, being their child, of course she would. She might reach that state on her own."

"You mean become a Shinigami?"

"Well, when the time comes, I'll give her a choice if she wants to become one or not."

Yoruichi raised her eyebrows.

"You have the means to do it?"

"She's practically there anyway, all she needs is a final push. I thought that this might happen, Isshin spoke to me about it, seeing his daughters power, and now with Takumi as a Shinigami...yeah, he'll need all the help he can get with what's about to come, and with someone with high power like Karin Kurosaki-san, she'd definitely be a great asset. Her own choice of course if she chooses this path or not."

The pair watched as Karin played with the sword, Yuzu firing off arrows into the air, Rukia speaking with Chappy, and Takumi casually mixing some chemicals, making Kisuke smile lightly.

* * *

Later on, Takumi, Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, and Tatsuki sat together outside, eating lunch under a tree. Takumi was sharing lunch with Orihime, Yuzu looked slightly jealous seeing Orihime sometimes feed Takumi, it was something that lovers usually did when they wanted to be close, so seeing those two do it was a clear sign of their affection for one another, their unspoken affection for one another.

Rukia brushed under her mouth, and noticed something.

"So, do you not have any boyfriends Takumi?"

Karin and Tatsuki both did spit takes, while Yuzu's face turned bright red, imagining Takumi embracing another man briefly naked, before letting out a happy cry, and falling backwards, Rukia gave her a strange look, Orihime's cheeks burned slightly red, while Takumi just didn't seem to care about the way Rukia said that, knowing what she was like, so he knew what she was talking about.

""WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT!?""

Karin and Tatsuki yelled at Rukia who was taken aback by their voices.

"W-What? Did I say something wrong?"

"T-The way you framed your question! A-Are you asking if he's homosexual, or asking if he has any male friends?!"

Karin snapped at Rukia who looked troubled.

"I was just asking if he had any male friends."

"Well, don't call them boyfriends then! Yuzu will get too excited!"

Yuzu was blushing on the ground, Rukia cocked her head.

"Oh, is that a hum-"

Takumi covered her mouth, chuckling awkwardly.

"Anyway, it is quite a nice day, the suns shining, I'm with my girlfriends~"

"We are not your girlfriends!"

Karin snapped at him, while Takumi let out a slightly teasing laugh.

"My, is your face going red Karin-chan~?"

"S-Shut it you weirdo!"

The others began to laugh while Karin showed a slightly embarrassed face.

Tatsuki noticed how Rukia and Takumi seemed to be close, and how Orihime seemed to be slightly disheartened about that.

"So, Kuchiki-san. You and Takumi there..."

"What about us?"

Rukia replied and asked.

Tatsuki went to ask, when she saw Orihime shaking her head again and again.

Not wanting to betray her friend at all, Tatsuki allowed a small laugh to escape her mouth.

"Nothing! It's just, he seems to be awake at this time when he's usually asleep! Don't you agree?"

"Well, Takumi-kun stays up, quite late...early, whatever. Suffice to say, he stays up into the early hours in the morning working on those weird little gadgets of his."

"Ooh, I really like Taku-chan's gadgets though. Because secretly, I believe Taku-chan might be involved with the government, and is currently working in the technology department, and is developing weapons against the ancient ninja clan that have been showing up in Karakura for a while now. Then, when the time is right, Taku-chan is going to reveal that he also has talks with the President of the World, and he's able to produce cuddly toys~"

The others just stared at Orihime, all thinking "_What?_" with immense confusion besides Takumi who placed a dramatic hand to his forehead.

"You caught me Orihime-chan. Now that I've been caught, I wont be able to stay in Karakura now, I might be taken away and dissected or something by aliens for the knowledge that I have inside of my head..."

"N-Noooooooo! I mean! I didn't know anything about Taku-chan being an agent of the World! So Taku-chan has to stay!"

Orihime hugged onto Takumi's body, while Chizuru, who watched from afar, narrowed her eyes considerably.

Tatsuki however was thinking about what Rukia said about Takumi staying up late, as if she had insiders knowledge about that.

"Wait...how would you know that? About him staying up late."

Tatsuki wondered, Orihime also had to wonder that.

Takumi closed his eyes briefly, before beaming out.

"She's currently residing at the Urahara shop!" Orihime was stunned by that, while Karin and Yuzu already knew that fact so they didn't say anything. "Because our families apparently knew one another, I was surprised when she showed up the other day. My Dad told me she'd be staying with us for a little while."

Tatsuki and Orihime seemed to buy that explanation and they continued eating.

But that soon ended when Takumi, Rukia, Karin and Yuzu were alerted to a Hollow via sensing and their devices.

Karin looked around as Yuzu placed on her glasses and earrings to see and hear what was going on.

Rukia remained calm, as she silently slipped on her glove.

Takumi nodded at Rukia, who giggled surprisingly.

"Takumi-kun! High five, you're it!"

Rukia and Takumi high fived one another, allowing Takumi out of his body, and into his soul form.

"T-Taku-chan, you okay?"

Orihime wondered with worry, Takumi glanced at her and since she couldn't see him, he couldn't say anything, so Rukia did instead.

"He's fine, he's just tired. Sleep now Takumi-kun."

Unknowingly worrying Orihime, Rukia placed Takumi's head on her lap.

She didn't see a problem with it.

But people like Tatsuki and Karin thought that it was quite shocking.

Yuzu and Orihime both seemed to be depressed about seeing that, as Takumi looked up into the air, and saw a portal in the sky.

"Hey Rukia-chan, a Hollow is coming here. Keep the others safe, I'll go and fight it."

Rukia didn't say anything, merely nodding her head, and began speaking to the others.

He then jumped into the air, using the Reishi has a platform to head for the Hollow. The Hollow that came out was quite large. It was two or three times the size of Takumi at least. The long tail, the brown and red body that it had, the white mask that it wore, its eyes shining down towards Takumi, and its eyes went towards the girls.

A howling sound came from the Hollow as it yelled "PROTECT HER!", bypassing Takumi, who withdrew his blade, and went for them.

"Hey! I'm the Shinigami here! And who do you want to protect!?"

Takumi yelled out, and pushed off the air, shooting downwards like an arrow.

The Hollow's eyes only had a single target though, and it was one of the girls.

Takumi believed he wouldn't make it in time, so he took out his blade, and took aim towards the Hollow. Aiming for the back of the Hollow's head, he aimed true, and launched it forward, piercing the Hollows neck from behind, causing it to howl out from the pain, Karin let out a small smile at seeing that.

"Hah!"

Using fancy foot working, Takumi spun around, and slammed his foot right into the Hollow's body and launched him away from the girls, Takumi pushed off the air, and gave chase towards it. Rukia watched out of the corner of her eye, while Yuzu looked up to the sky, seeing Takumi moving away from the others.

"Is he..."

"Don't worry, Takumi-kun will be fine~"

Rukia smiled out, to the confusion of Orihime and Tatsuki.

Rukia hoped that was true as well, hoping Takumi would be able to handle it.

Takumi continued moving forward at a good speed, appearing before the Hollow, but its mouth opened, and from its mouth, spit came forward, so he moved upwards, avoiding the spit, which hit down near the trees on the ground, and began melting it, Takumi winced at the sight.

"So, it's acid spit this time. Alright then Hollow, I guess that I will-"

"...Pro….Pro..."

"Pro…? Pro what? Protect...do you want to protect someone?"

Takumi asked the Hollow, the voice sounding familiar to him.

But because it was so distorted, it was difficult to pin it exactly to who it was.

The Hollow howled into the sky, and charged for Takumi with its hulking body. Since his Zanpakuto was currently embedded into the Hollow, he had to rely on hand to hand combat, which he was somewhat adept it, since he lived with Yoruichi.

"Time to fight I guess!"

The Hollow raised its large fist for Takumi, and came crashing towards him.

Takumi, using a move like Yoruichi, placed his hands together, cupping them above his head, and then announced "Raioken!" and his fists slammed against the fists of the Hollow, an intense wind pressure gathered around them, blowing the leaves off a nearby tree, the Hollows hand cracked at the fist strike, Takumi looked at his own hands that throbbed slightly, but he didn't care, using his speed to flash closer to the Hollows chest, delivering a series of precise punches towards the Hollows upper body, each punch damaging the Hollow slightly, so more and more punches delivered more injuries to the Hollow, eventually allowing Takumi to draw blood from the Hollow alone with his fists.

Takumi then flashed above the Hollow, appearing at the base of its neck, withdrawing his Zanpakuto, seeing its hands trying to grab him, so he yelled "Have this!" and stomped downwards forcefully, right on the wound that his Zanpakuto had created for him, forcing the Hollow to come crashing down to the ground, causing it to shake slightly, leaving the shape of the Hollow embedded into the ground.

Takumi wore surprise on his face.

"I'm stronger than I thought I was...guess it was Yoruichi-chan's training...maybe it's because I'm in soul form...hmph, requires more study."

Takumi shot off to the ground, taking his sword into both of his hands, ready to strike down towards the Hollow, when a new portal opened beside Takumi, with the same hair that came out from before, but Takumi didn't stop, and announced "Reverse grip slice!" which as the name implied, gripped his sword in a reverse type grip, and sliced upwards, slicing right through the hair of whatever was attacking him.

"That's very good Takumi."

"Who are you!?"

Takumi demanded from the Hollow, but a laugh escaped the hole.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. For now, would you really strike that Hollow when knowing who it is?"

"Who it is..."

Takumi looked down at the Hollow, seeing it going through a hole.

Realizing the distraction, Takumi knew he wouldn't make it in time to the Hollow, so he pulled out his Zanpakuto, and threw it like an arrow towards it, but the Hollow managed to dodge it for the most part, only receiving a deep gash in the tail with blood gushing out, while it yelled out "PROTECT HER!" causing Takumi to furrow his eyebrows, as it disappeared.

Takumi jumped down to the ground, and examined the area that the Hollow was, and had to wonder what that was about.

However, he didn't have long to contemplate as Rukia came running up.

"Did you get it?"

"No, our friend, furball came back."

Rukia tightened her eyes.

"That thing again. It seems to want something from us. And that Hollow..."

"This is going to sound weird Rukia-chan...but, I think that the Hollow wasn't after me or you."

"Then who?"

Takumi looked back towards the school, seeing Chizuru creeping up towards Rukia.

"If I had to guess...it said protect her...that voice also implied I wouldn't attack it if I knew who it was...I'd have to say that it might be Orihime-chan...but, I'd have to confirm it before anything."

"Inoue? Why her?"

Takumi folded his arms.

"It's just a feeling that I have, the way that it came down towards the group, the way it seemed to ignore me. And also, how it kept saying protect her...it wanted to protect her, along with what that furball said. And the only person I can think of that would want to protect her is..."

"Sora."

Rukia finished off, Takumi nodded slowly.

"Yes, that's what I believe to be true. But we have to confirm that."

"Right now, we will have to wait until they come out again. We can't track them while they aren't here-"

"Hello Rukia-chan!" Rukia froze at the voice, then she felt arms wrapping around her body. "You are looking particularly cute today Rukia-chan. Why are you out here talking to yourself?"

"I-I erm..."

Rukia tried to speak, but her voice failed her.

Takumi murmured "Maybe I should give you alone time." but Rukia grabbed his hand and wouldn't let go of it.

"No please don't leave me..."

"I never will Rukia-chan!" Chizuru let out her voice happily, making Rukia almost cry, her body shaking heavily. "Don't worry, I've got you! I can take care of you forever, and ever! I'll make sure that you will be safe and sound with me!"

"No, leave me alone!"

Rukia pushed Chizuru away from her, and hid behind Takumi.

But because Chizuru couldn't see Takumi, she tried to grab Rukia, when her hands grabbed Takumi's body instead. Takumi let out a surprised gasp, and pulled back away from Chizuru along with Rukia herself.

"...Suddenly, I feel depressed, as if I've just touched a man, even though ones not here."

Takumi sweat dropped at Chizuru's depressed attitude while Rukia looked as if she had stared into the darkness that is Chizuru's advancements.

Takumi then pulled Rukia away from Chizuru who had fallen to the floor, and ran her finger through the dirt sadly.

* * *

After that, Takumi went alone towards a familiar place.

At first, it was a place that Kisuke didn't really want Takumi to go, due to how some of the nature of the people inside are, but Takumi had found out about them, and had to see what was going on with them, and now that he did, he was friends with them.

He walked towards the building that was basically a warehouse, a rundown warehouse at that.

As he went to get closer, the door was blown open with a blonde haired man came crashing outwards, skidding across the ground, and stopping besides Takumi.

"H-Hey Takumi, what's going on?"

"You piss off Hiyori-chan again?"

"Haha, there's no pleasing that girl."

Takumi let out a soft chuckle, and went into the area.

Stepping inside, he saw a few people around, like a girl with glasses, and a school girl uniform called Lisa, a girl with green hair, called Mashiro, and also saw Kensei, a man with white hair, twirling a blade around in his hand.

He also saw Hiyori scowling towards Shinji, but then turned towards Takumi.

"Oh you, what do you want?"

"Hello to you as well, Hiyori-chan. I've come to ask if anyone is free to help me out?"

"Doing what?"

Lisa asked, looking over her erotic magazines.

"Well, I'll be learning from a friend of mine this afternoon, but I believe that there's a Hollow after my other friend, so could one of you watch over her?" They began to whistle innocently. "Oh come on you lazy people! You don't do anything all day anyway!" They continued to whistle, Takumi shook his head, and looked to Hiyori. "Hiyori-chan~ Come on, be a friend and help me out."

"I'm busy Baldy, get someone else to do it."

Takumi went to respond, when an idea came to his head.

"Maybe you're right, I should get someone who has superior skills to do it. It could be difficult, maybe you couldn't handle it after all."

Hiyori's eyebrows twitched, jumping Takumi, grabbing his robes since he was in Shinigami form.

"You what?! Who are you going to get!?"

Takumi adopted a sly smile.

"I was thinking Shinji-chan."

Hiyori flew into a rage like no other, Lisa adopted a small smirk on her face at the sight.

"SHINJI!? I'M WAY BETTER THAN SHINJI! HOW DARE YOU SAY SHINJI IS ABOVE ME!?"

Takumi threw up his hands in a weighing type movement.

"Well, if you want to prove me wrong, then I guess you could do it..."

Hiyori adopted a superior smirk.

"Fine, since I am better than Shinji, I'll do it."

"Oh, thanks Hiyori-chan, you're a star!"

Hiyori casually threw her shoe at Takumi, but he ducked and it slammed the incoming Shinji in the face.

"Don't call me a star! Just give me the damn info idiot!"

"Alright then~" Takumi wrote down some information about Orihime, and where she'd be, and gave it to Hiyori. "Thanks again Hiyori-chan, gotta get to class now, see you later!"

Takumi waved his hand and began running out of the room.

Hiyori smirked at Shinji as Takumi left.

"See that? He thinks I'm better than you are, and he's right too."

Shinji didn't touch that, he wouldn't touch that, and just merely walked away so he wasn't hit again.

* * *

After school, having returned to the Urahara shop, he was currently sat with Rukia who was going over Kido lessons, Yoruichi was casually laying on his crotch, snuggling against the place that she quite liked, Takumi having bribed a certain Vizard to go and watch over Orihime while he learned about a few things from Rukia.

"Yes, about Kido. Now listen to me..."

Rukia then continued speaking about Kido, while Takumi listened intently.

Once she was done, she then pointed towards a nearby stack of plates.

"Okay, so the basic Kido should be within your grasp. Channeling your spiritual energy to form different kinds of effects, for example. Sho, is the ability to push your target away from you. If you can achieve this, then we'll be able to get onto higher level Kido. But pretty much everyone starts with Sho and Sai, for pushing and binding respectably. Like when we met, I used Sai to restrain your arms. That was just Bakudo 1, so the higher up, the harder it is to use and master these aspects. Even I find it difficult to use higher ranked spells."

Takumi genuinely was interested in what she was saying, and it sounded good to him.

So he allowed his finger to point towards the plates that she had stacked up before.

"Hado 1: Sho!"

Takumi announced…

But nothing happened.

Nothing came out of his finger.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows while Rukia walked over, taking his hand.

"You can't just say the words, you have to allow your spiritual power to flow out of you. Channel it through your fingertips, feeling the power dancing between your skin and the air." Rukia's slender fingers slowly slid up and down Takumi's own, surprised by how gentle her touch was. "To feel it coming to the surface and..." Rukia paused when she recalled something. "..."

She didn't say anything, but her eyes went towards Takumi's own.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-No, of course not." Rukia pulled backwards, turning her head to the side. "I just remembered when I first used Kido."

"Oh right. You would've had to have gone to school to learn this stuff, correct?"

"Yes, that's right. I went to school quite a long time ago in human standards. I remember that a video was playing of the boy who used Kido. He was quite young and a prodigy. In the video, he did that with someone else, showcasing Kido."

"Who was he? Did he become a Captain or anything? You seemed to be happy about speaking about him so..."

"He was...unique I guess."

"Unique?"

Rukia allowed a slight laugh to escape her lips.

"That's right, he was quite unique. He had this thing about him….I can't really explain it that well, he just had a way of making things seem not so bad. That's all. An-Anyway, we should continue on." Rukia budged closer, and allowed herself to be a little more relaxed. "So, as I said, just allow the power to come to the surface, the words give the power form. Having an incantation helps mould the power. But with Sho, it shouldn't be necessary...actually, close your eyes for me."

"Are you going to kiss me?"

WHACK!

"Close your eyes."

Takumi nodded with a cry and a welt on his forehead.

"C-Closed."

"Now, imagine your spiritual power coming to the surface, allow it to escape, and come from your fingers. Then the words will naturally flow out of your mouth. Then it should work. I'm sure you can do this Takumi. So, go ahead, and do it."

"Right..."

Takumi did what Rukia asked, and imagined his spiritual power to come to the surface. Allowing it to flow between his fingertips, and the air itself.

Rukia noticed that his spirit energy was taking form around him, and it allowed her to smile to herself.

It was warm, bright.

It made her feel tingly inside.

She couldn't describe it well, but she knew that it was soothing all the same.

Her hand lightly touched Takumi's own, and the sensation of sparks passed between the two of them.

"Takumi..."

Takumi's eyes shot open, and his finger went forward.

"Hado 1: Sho!"

Allowing his spiritual power to come out, it flowed around him, and then from his finger, a small blast of energy came out, heading for the plates, but it sailed above the plates, seeing it head for the door, which opened to reveal Jinta.

"Holy shit!"

Jinta ducked out of the way, the blast went above his head, and hit the ground outside, a small dust cloud appeared behind him, making him cringe at the sight, Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"What are you doing Jinta?"

Jina's eyes turned towards him angrily.

"Seriously!? You almost killed me with that!"

"It wouldn't of killed you, it would of just pushed you back!"

"But still, you could of hit me! What's wrong with you!?"

Rukia rolled her eyes at the sight of him, she didn't seem to care all that much.

"We're trying to do Kido lessons here. If you want to become involved, then please do. Otherwise, could you allow us to continue?"

Jinta huffed, and walked away.

Takumi raised his hand to the sky.

"Anyway! See that! Damn straight, I just performed Kido!"

"Haha, next you have to work on aim, or you could hurt a comrade."

Takumi chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.

"I guess that you're right. But still. You're a great teacher Rukia-chan, or should I say Rukia-sensei~?"

Rukia allowed a small smile to come to her lips.

It reminded her of a time when she was being taught about Kido, and the art of being a Shinigami.

But then she saw that her hand was still touching Takumi's own.

Rather than make a big deal of it, she just casually pulled her hand away without saying anything.

"A-Anyway, we should continue. If you can use Sho, then Sai should be within your grasp. But Hado and Bakudo spells can be useful even if they only cause a small distraction. People usually use Kido as a main distraction rather than an all out assault. I myself like mixing in Kido with my Shikai."

"Speaking of, what is your Shikai?"

Rukia gained a proud smile, putting her hands to her hips.

"My Shikai is Sode no Shirayuki. My command to activate it is Dance."

"I see, so its..." Takumi stood up, grabbed his Zapankuto, and swung it around. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" His sword sliced through the air, and for a moment, Rukia felt a pulsing sensation erupt from her being. "It would be pretty cool if I could do something like that."

"Well, you have a Zanpakuto, so you could manifest your Shikai if you tried hard enough."

Rukia explained to the happiness of Takumi.

"Oh yeah, that would be awesome. I would like to see my Shikai in action~"

"I'm sure you'd have quite the Shikai, knowing you, you'd probably come up with some weird ways to use your Shikai."

Takumi looked at his Zanpakuto and then towards Rukia.

"Yeah...I guess that I could try and learn it. So, how do you do that?"

Rukia's lips raised slightly.

"Oh, so something you don't know about and I do."

"I don't know everything about Shinigami and Hollows and what not. I had to work hard just to find out what I do know, as my Dad would always keep things out of my reach, he wouldn't allow me to learn about these things. I know what Zanpakuto's are, I could probably modify a Zanpakuto if I saw one, but I don't know the method of communication with it."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows at that.

"Well, I could teach you how to try and converse with your Zanpakuto. It might take a little while to do it though. Since you've recently became a Shinigami, connecting to your sword could prove a challenge. But, for someone like you. I'm sure you'd love the challenge."

"You know me too well hahaha~"

Rukia adopted a slight smile, as she taught him more about Kido, and what not.

Kisuke watched on from a distance, seeing Takumi genuinely happy to know more about these things, and seeing how Rukia was teaching him, it was something that made him happy to see, but also worried for the future.

* * *

The next day, Takumi and Rukia were walking out on the streets together, having gone towards a shop to get a few materials that they both might need. Rukia herself was astonished by the amount of things that Takumi had going on, with the Hollows, and the inventions he made, among other things.

"So, this is what you humans do when you're off from school?"

Takumi shrugged.

"People go out together, or go hang out at the mall, or whatever they want. Some use it to study, and some just hang out with friends. It all depends on who you are. I myself love finding some cool materials so I can build a few more things than ever before~"

Rukia gave him a bemused look.

"You're quite weird you know that?"

Takumi shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't mind being weird. It's fine for someone like me. Anyway, what do you like doing with your days off? You must have them at the Soul Society, right?"

"Erm...actually, I don't know. I have a few hobbies, but they're kind of embarrassing."

"It's Chappy, isn't it?"

Rukia shyly nodded.

It was rare to see Rukia shy like that.

But Takumi found her quite cute.

As they walked together however, Orihime happened to see them walking together, laughing together, and how happy they seemed to be.

A small bit of jealousy spiked within her…

But she stopped herself.

She wouldn't allow herself to be like that.

She wasn't going to be someone who was going to display jealousy just because Takumi was around another girl. As far as she could tell, they only seemed to be walking and talking, it didn't seem like they were on a date or anything.

"Date…"

Orihime second guessed herself for a moment.

But for a moment, she couldn't deny the expressions between the two of them seemed to be quite happy, and close…

But then Takumi saw Orihime walking across the street, so he waved.

"Orihime-chan!"

Orihime's face lifted upwards.

"Taku-chan, hello!"

Orihime became a little excited, and moved forward towards her.

But, a speeding car came shooting around the corner, and straight for Orihime despite the lights being red. Her eyes widened when seeing that, so Takumi dropped all of his bags, and rushed towards her, while calling "Orihime-chan!" and then from the sky, both Rukia and Takumi noticed a Hollow coming out of a portal.

Its wild eyes went towards Orihime, and charged.

"Takumi!"

"Yeah, I saw it!"

Takumi rushed as hard as he could, as Rukia took out her Chappy gun, aiming it at the Hollow and took a shot for it. From the head of the gun, a Chappy head came out, as an energy blast, and slammed against the Hollow, causing it to leave a devastating wound on the Hollow's upper body, and a crack within the mask, blood gushing out, Rukia smiling "Wow." and then saw the Hollow still bleeding, trying to get to Orihime, so Takumi jumped upwards, since it was near, and kicked it in the face while running to Orihime, and with the wound Rukia delivered it, part of the mask shattered, revealing the man behind the mask.

Both Rukia and Takumi definitely knew who it was now, as Rukia aimed her gun towards the Hollow once more.

"Don't attack, or I will shoot again."

"ORIHIME!"

The Hollow yelled, and because of the wounds it received, it didn't have a choice but to back off, flying into the sky just as Takumi made it to Orihime, tackling her to the ground, him landing on his back, with Orihime on top of him, as the car sped past them.

Rukia looked up at the Hollow who looked like a giant snake, red and brown in colour, with a hole in its chest, and used a portal to get out of the area.

"Ow..."

Orihime winced, but then noticed that Takumi was under her.

Her boobs pressed against his chest, her long hair falling towards his face.

Their eyes met with one another's, and their cheeks turned slightly red at the sight. But they both seemed to be oddly comfortable with the position that they were in.

"A-Ah, Orihime-chan, are you okay…?"

"Taku-chan...yes, I'm sorry, I froze and..."

"No, don't worry about it. I'm glad you're-"

"You're in the middle of the road, you might want to move out of the way."

Takumi and Orihime giggled awkwardly, and stood up on the advice of Rukia.

A small graze appeared on Takumi's arm, and it bled a little bit, Orihime looked on with concern, as they walked to the side walk.

"Wow, that car came out of nowhere, huh~?"

"Right, but I used the ancient ninja skills passed on from the days of old to rescue my adorable Princess!"

Takumi rejoiced, while Rukia glanced between them curiously, slightly amused by their energy despite having nearly just been hit by a car.

"But Taku-chan, you're hurt. Are you going to be okay?"

Takumi blinked, and then looked at his arm, smiling slightly at the sight.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Question is, are you alright Orihime-chan?"

Orihime looked over herself, then saluted Takumi.

"Yup, I'm fine! I was saved by Taku-chan so I'm okay!"

"I'm glad that you're safe. Anyway, do you want me to walk you home Orihime-chan?"

Orihime glanced towards Rukia, who raised her eyebrow.

Then her eyes went towards Takumi, shaking her head.

"Oh no no, it's fine~ Don't worry Taku-chan~"

"Are you sure? It isn't an issue."

"No, no!" Orihime bonked herself on the head. "I'm okay, there's nothing wrong with me at all~"

"I-I see...but still, I wouldn't want you to get into another accident or anything."

Orihime stuck out her tongue, and pulled away from the pair. Rukia noticed that Orihime's eyes lingered on her more than Takumi, and drew conclusions.

"Y-You're not like that Chizuru girl are you?"

"H-Huh?"

Orihime looked innocently towards Rukia, who grimaced, putting her hands up.

"I-I'm flattered, but I'm not really into girls...s-so yeah..."

Orihime still looked lost, while Takumi slapped himself in the forehead.

"She's not a lesbian."

Rukia's face dropped.

"Oh...s-sorry, never mind then."

Orihime gave Rukia more confused looks, she didn't quite get what she was trying to say.

"Anyway! See you later Taku-chan! Have fun with Kuchiki-san!"

Orihime waved, and ran away at top speeds.

Takumi and Rukia watched the young girl go, then Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't think she likes me."

"You thought she was a lesbian a second ago in lust with you or something."

Takumi deadpanned, Rukia turned her worried eyes to Takumi.

"T-That's because of Chizuru! You know how she scares me!" Takumi resisted the urge to laugh. "Anyway, it's just...I don't know, how she looked at me, it seemed like she was a little sad..."

"You're overthinking it. Orihime-chan doesn't have a mean bone in her body. I sometimes wonder if she's even capable of hating anyone, even an enemy. So she wouldn't hate a kind girl like you Rukia-chan. But we've got bigger things to talk about."

"That Hollow again."

Takumi inclined his neck.

"Yes. Like at school yesterday. It seems that it is going towards Orihime-chan, and we both know who it is now for definite."

"Yeah...We'll have to be on our guard. Perhaps we should make an excuse to go towards hers tonight. That Hollow was wounded, and when wounded, they became more desperate."

"We could go over for dinner, make an excuse we were worried about her if you think it's for the best."

Rukia nodded.

"I do."

"Then, I guess we should go and buy some ingredients, so we can make an excuse to go over towards her home."

"Yes, lets do this."

"Good...because we have to make sure that Sora-san is stopped from turning on Orihime-chan."

Rukia nodded her head, but there was also something else that she needed to say.

"So, that's what the Hollow wanted after all. A Hollow you knew in life so it would be hard for you to attack it now that it is a Hollow. But Takumi, you have to understand-"

"This is a chance."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"A chance? A chance for what?"

"A chance for the siblings to say goodbye."

Rukia didn't like the sound of that.

"You do realize he's a Hollow, right?"

"Yes...but, did you notice, that the Hollow, as it was coming down...I sensed little killing intent, if any at all. I just felt like it was trying to reach her, rather than kill her. I know Sora-san, he was turned into a Hollow against his will. He's fighting...he's fighting to stay with Orihime-chan, the Hollow is trying to break his control, and trying to attack his loved one. But, he's strong, I know that he is. He can break through to say goodbye."

Rukia wasn't so sure.

But she had to admit that she was rather intrigued to say the least.

"...Alright, but if there's no choice Takumi. If he can't...I want you to slay the Hollow."

Takumi understood her stance on it.

He had to think about how he was going to do this, but he wouldn't give up so easily on Orihime's brother Sora.

"I know...if it comes down to it, then I will. But first, I need to contact a certain someone."

"Who?"

"Don't worry Rukia-chan, you'll soon see hehe~"

Rukia cocked her head in wonder, and had to think what he was planning to do.

Rukia and Takumi turned around and began walking away together, to make sure that Orihime was okay.

* * *

That night, Orihime sat within her small apartment, conversing with Tatsuki on the phone.

[Seriously? They were even walking together.]

"Don't jump to conclusions Tatsuki-chan! I was just saying that they seemed to be quite close..."

[Ugggh! Kuchiki-san is going to ruin it! You have to make a move girl! You like him, he likes you! Just ask him out! Even if I think you are a weird pairing! Just do it! Go and ask him out! I can tell you he'd say yes to you! I know that he will!]

Orihime's cheeks began to burn red, contemplating on how she was going to actually do that.

She didn't think she'd be able to confess her feelings for Takumi.

She didn't even know how she would go about doing that.

"Tatsuki-chan that's..." Before she could continue, there was a knock at the door. "Oh, someone's here. I have to go Tatsuki-chan. Speak later."

[Alright. Remember what I said Orihime.]

"Y-Yes...I will think about it Tatsuki-chan."

Orihime hung up the phone, and went to the door.

She opened the door, to reveal Takumi stood there with Rukia and showed grins on their faces.

"A-Ah, Taku-chan, Kuchiki-san! W-What are you doing here?"

"We're here because we wanted to see how you are Orihime-chan! And also to eat dinner with you!"

Takumi cheered out, swaying side to side.

Orihime's face curled upwards, while glancing towards Rukia.

"O-Okay Taku-chan! Kuchiki-san! Lets eat together!"

"Great, then I'll cook Orihime-chan! You can relax~"

Takumi and Rukia were allowed inside of her apartment, Orihime shut the door.

Then Takumi went into the kitchen and began making food, while Orihime and Rukia sat down together.

"Oh, Kuchiki-san. Taku-chan's food is...it is an acquired taste, so I'm told. So you might not like it."

Rukia grimaced, wondering what the food was going to be like.

"I-I see...that makes sense."

Rukia chuckled awkwardly, while Orihime glanced towards Takumi in the kitchen, happily cutting some vegetables, before putting them into some curry.

"B-By the way, Kuchiki-san...erm. A-Are you and Taku-chan...n-no, it doesn't matter..."

Rukia looked between Orihime and Takumi.

She furrowed her eyebrows, seeing how Orihime was looking at Takumi, and how he was smiling towards her.

Then it clicked in her head.

"Takumi adores you, Inoue."

"Waaaaaaah!" Orihime let out her voice in a cry. "W-W-What a-are you saying Kuchiki-san!?"

Takumi looked towards Rukia, who waved her hand.

He slitted his eyes towards them both, before turning back to the cooking at hand.

Rukia then turned to Orihime and whispered so Takumi didn't hear.

"He talks about you a lot, he even told me about how you both met, and from the way he spoke, it sounded like he truly cherished you."

Orihime's face softened slightly.

"Really...? Taku-chan..."

"Yes, he definitely does cherish you. He cares a lot for you, and while you don't know it, he's truly going above and beyond for you, to make you smile. He's gone to great lengths to make sure you get a happy resolution, you'll soon find out what that means Inoue."

Orihime was caught by surprise that she said something like that.

To make her smile...

She wondered what he was doing for her.

Rukia didn't reveal it, but Orihime understood that

"So, what are you two talking about?"

Takumi wondered, walking into the area.

Orihime's face gained a nervous disposition, shaking side to side.

"Nothing at all! Kuchiki-san and I were just speaking about girly things, that's all~"

"I...see. Well, I'm glad you're becoming friends!"

"Y-Yes, me too."

Orihime smiled out, and together, the trio began eating together, laughing together, and enjoying one another's company. Orihime's feelings of slight jealousy began melting away when seeing that Rukia and Takumi were just friends, and it made her question how deep her own feelings ran for Takumi if she felt such things to begin with.

* * *

Though that came to an end when a sudden cry came from outside, Rukia and Takumi noticing the barrier going up. The one that Takumi had placed with his device the other day to make sure that she was safe, and it seemed to have worked as well.

"Rukia-chan..."

"Yeah, seems to be here." Takumi walked to Rukia who placed on her glove, and high fived Takumi, releasing his body from its Gigai. "Go, I'll make sure Inoue knows what's going on."

"Right, leave it to me!"

Takumi withdrew his sword, as Orihime bent to the Gigai of Takumi's.

"T-Taku-chan!? What's wrong!?"

"There's nothing wrong with him Inoue." Rukia spoke up, and pulled out some glasses, and earrings. "Put these on quickly."

"But, what's going on…? Why is Taku-chan like this…? What happened to him?"

"He's alright. But there's something that he wants you to see, and you have to wear these. Follow me after putting them on, it will begin making sense."

Orihime didn't get what was going on, but it seemed like Rukia was being strong right now, so she put on the glasses, and the earrings, and then followed Rukia outside of the room, out of the apartment, and saw Takumi outside, and looked back into the apartment to see Takumi on the floor.

"Wait...what's going on?"

Orihime didn't get it, but Rukia folded her arms.

"The short version is that Takumi right now, is facing off against a beast called a Hollow. But it isn't an ordinary Hollow. Just watch what is going to happen, then it will begin to make more sense than it does right now."

Orihime didn't get it, but she watched Takumi pull out his blade, and faced off against Sora as a Hollow.

"Sora-san! It's me, Takumi!"

He called to the Hollow, which turned towards Takumi. It's darkened eyes made Orihime flinch at the sight, Rukia herself could understand why she did.

"You...You didn't save me...I wanted to be with Orihime! And you didn't save me!"

Takumi's eyes lowered slightly.

"Yes, you're right about that. I'm sorry, I wish I could of saved you...but, I couldn't in the end. That's my fault, but I can make it right Sora-san."

Orihime could hear what Takumi was calling it, and she didn't get why that was.

"Kuchiki-san, why is Taku-chan calling that monster Sora-san?"

Orihime had to ask Rukia.

She seemed to be more aware of what was going on than she did.

Rukia cracked her neck and explained.

"Because that's what his name was before becoming a Hollow."

"But, Sora's the name of my big brother...i-it couldn't be the same person, right?"

Orihime was in a state of disbelief, she didn't think she'd be able to accept it at all.

Takumi stepped forward towards the Hollow, holding onto his sword.

"You've been turned into a Hollow Sora-san, but you're still in there. I know that you are. You keep going to Orihime-chan, because you want to be seen by her. She can see you now. You and her can speak to one another and-"

"Lies!"

Sora opened his Hollow mask, and bullets of acid came out towards Takumi as rain. Orihime looked worried, as Takumi used his speed to dodge all of the strikes of acid towards him, only for the Hollow to come right at him with his large fist.

"Taku-chan!"

Orihime cried out, not wanting to see him be hit…

Sora stopped.

His eyes went towards Orihime.

Desperately...lonely.

"How could you forget me Orihime? How could you forget the sound of my voice?" The Hollow cried out from his soul, and budged closer to the frightened Orihime, who shuffled back on the spot. "Why...Why do you turn away from me Orihime? Is it that boy, that Shinigami boy that you see now? Your friend there, does my pain and suffering not mean anything to you!?"

"I don't..."

Orihime was torn on what she was doing.

What she was trying to say.

She just couldn't...

"Hey Sora-san! Listen to me! You have to fight it! Fight against the Hollow and come back to speak to your sister! Just once more!"

Takumi yelled upwards, only for the Hollow to turn to Takumi, and swung its tail at him. Takumi tightened his hand on his blade, and then swung his sword upwards, at an angle to cut deeply into the Hollow, slicing a good chunk of the tail, blood raining down towards Takumi himself, as the Hollow pulled away.

Orihime watched on with unsure feelings entering her body, Rukia closed her eyes a single time.

"I don't want to fight it! I want to kill you, and then Orihime can become like me!"

"You really feel like that? You want Orihime-chan to suffer like that? The kind Sora-san would never wish ill will on anyone. Especially the girl he raised for many years! The girl he thought of as a daughter rather than a sister! So you're telling me that you want to make that kind innocent girl suffer!? Hasn't she suffered enough already!?"

Takumi's words paused Sora for a few moments.

The words were beautiful, and it touched Sora's soul.

The way that he said it, the way that the words were so naked with the truth...

But the Hollow that he had become, let out a deadly raw.

"She will become like me! She wont ever forget me again!"

Orihime continued to watch and felt pain etching into her heart.

Rukia carefully watched on, wondering what was going to happen next.

"She never forgot you Sora-san."

"My name is Acidwire!"

The Hollow called Acidwire, came at Takumi with a series of punches.

Takumi went to defend with his sword, when a portal opened up beside Takumi once more, with hair coming out of it to try and bind Takumi, but Takumi smirked, and yelled "Not this time! Hiyori-chan!" and who came shooting down with her sword in hand, slicing through the hair, was Hiyori herself, and stuck her blade into the hole, causing a good amount of blood to erupt outwards.

"Die you bastard!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

While the voice in the hole cried out, Takumi parried the punches of Acidwire, and then leaped upwards. Using the air as a platform, he spun around in the air, and kicked Acidwire in the face, sending him down to Hiyori who smirked and took off her shoe, slapping the Hollow in the face so hard that the mask cracked, and sent it smashing into the ground nearby, Rukia was surprised.

"Who in the heck is that?"

Rukia wondered aloud, while Hiyori withdrew her Zanpakuto from the hole in the sky.

"Yo Baldy in the hole! Trying to attack Takumi like that!? As if you asshat! Try it again and I slice you down bastard!"

"You small bitch!"

The voice cried from the hole, Hiyori's eyebrows twitched with her anger being shown on full force.

"Oh no..."

Takumi murmured, seeing the rage within Hiyori bubbling to the surface.

"You what?! You want some you little bastard!? I'll teach you about pain and suffering! I'll kill you! Call me small bitch again, and we'll see how far you get!"

The thing that was in the hole let a sweat drop from its forehead, and sent off many attacks of fur that could suffocate most people, but Hiyori swung her sword left and right, cutting cleanly through the fur, and then sent her foot into the hole, smashing into the face of the creature, forcing it back away from the others, leaving Takumi to deal with Sora.

The Hollow rose its pained body up from the floor, looking directly towards Takumi.

"Why are you stopping me?! I want Orihime!"

"I wont let you hurt her Sora-san. I want you both to have the goodbye you didn't get in life! So fight it Sora-san! Fight the Hollow, and pull yourself together! You were turned into a Hollow against your will! The real you wouldn't ever do this! The kind Sora-san wouldn't-"

"Shut up you bastard! You did this! And she did this! She forgot about me, day by day, she forgot about me, and she turned me into this! If she even has a shred of love left for me, then she should commit suicide and join me! I hate her, and I hate you for taking her love away from me! You both should just dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Acidwire continued coming towards Takumi again and again with a series of fist strikes, but Takumi was speedy enough to avoid it, as he did Hiyori sliced through the hole once more, and caused it to back off.

"You really are pissing me off..."

The voice called to Hiyori who snickered.

"Exactly. That's the point. Targeting Takumi. What is it you're after anyway?"

"We both know what I'm after."

Hiyori's face twinged, and she saw the hole closing once more.

"Running away are we!? Scared to fight me are you!?"

"It seems that I've lost, but I wont next time..."

And then it disappeared, Hiyori furrowed her eyebrows, and casually watched Takumi fighting the Hollow. She didn't see the need to get involved, since she was sure he'd be able to take it on his own quite well.

After dodging for a few moments, Takumi placed his finger out.

"Come on, come on...channel the power..." Takumi murmured, and briefly closed his eyes. "Hado 1: Sho!"

From his finger, a small burst of energy came out, and landed against the chest of the Hollow, forcing it backwards slightly, allowing Takumi to leap upwards, and swing his leg towards it in a strong manner, kicking it hard and it flipped onto its back.

Takumi jumped up towards the Hollow, landing on its chest, and withdrew his blade, holding it to the Hollow's throat, pinning it down to the floor. Takumi then pulled out some strange green liquid, to the confusion of the girls, and dripped some of them on Sora's Hollow mask, which began soaking into the mask itself.

"That's enough now." He spoke softly. "Your pain...you can let it go now. Orihime-chan can see you...she's watching you. You've wanted it for so long, for her to see you, to acknowledge your existence...to see your love. That's what she wants as well. So calm down, and fight your Hollow to say goodbye to her. To finally say goodbye her and to pass on. I know the real you wouldn't ever want Orihime-chan to commit suicide, the real you would want her to be happy."

The Hollow watched on towards Takumi, and listened to his kind words.

Takumi smiled down towards him, hoping that he was getting through.

But that didn't seem to be the case when Acidwire spat out towards Takumi, his acid spit, forcing Takumi to jump backwards, and the remanent of the tail came outwards, swiping at Takumi who used his blade to block the attack, forcing Takumi to skid in the air, then Acidwire charged for Orihime.

Rukia let out "Damn!" and got between them, holding out her gun, ready to fire at the Hollow.

Hiyori went to move, when she saw Takumi holding out his fingers, channeling his power around him with the Hollow coming closer and closer.

"How could you abandon me Orihime?! How could you forget about me?!"

The Hollow within Sora cried out from the bottom of his soul.

Rukia went to fire, when Hiyori got before her, and pulled her hand downwards.

"What are you doing?"

"Just watch."

Rukia listened to the gruff tone of Hiyori, and saw the Hollow raise its hands, ready to smash downwards.

But then the Hollow suddenly felt a little dizzy. His eyes swayed side to side, and its hands began to shake a little bit, Rukia gave it a strange look.

"What did Takumi do?"

Rukia's question was met with a smirk from Hiyori.

"This seems about right. Him, and his damn Father always plan for things like this. If I had to guess, then it probably was a Hollow Suppression drug."

"Hollow Suppression drug?"

Rukia hadn't heard of things like that before.

"Haven't you realized? He could of killed the Hollow several times already, but he didn't so he could give that drug to the Hollow for that girl to have a final goodbye."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"I guess that you're right..."

Hiyori snickered slightly, as Takumi swung his hand outwards.

"Bakudo 1: Sai!"

Rukia watched with surprise as the Hollow's hands flipped around, and went behind the Hollow's back, binding the Hollow.

"Heh, about time Baldy."

Hiyori pulled out her blade, and went to strike, when Takumi jumped up towards them, and lightly pushed the Hollow away, which fell down to the floor. Takumi cracked his neck while Rukia spoke up.

"Takumi, what did you do?"

"Oh, the drug I just administered is like an anesthetic, but tailor made to Hollow's rather than the entire being itself, suppressing the rages of the Hollow's you could say. With those that have lower spiritual pressure like Acidwire, it's suppressing the Hollow, and Sora's personality is able to shine through a little bit more."

"So, that's what you were doing for those few days...I suspected you were up to something."

Takumi winked adorably at Rukia, who let out a bemused laugh.

"I said that I wanted Orihime-chan and Sora-san to have a final goodbye. I didn't know if this was going to happen, but what you said that night got me to thinking that if the Hollow knew my name, then it would change someone I'd be hesitant to strike, so it would've converted Sora-san, someone that I've got to know over the three years, into a Hollow. But, rather than it be a curse, I chose to take to my scientific research into Hollows, and their moods, among their biology which I've been studying for years, to create this to quell the rage of the beasts. Quite cool, no?"

"Indeed, quite cool."

Rukia was impressed, and more intrigued than ever before by Takumi and his inventive ways.

"As I said, he's like his Father, so intelligent, and can, with enough time, think of many different scenarios, and how to counteract them. Together, those two would probably be able to take on the world, it's kinda scary, huh~?"

Hiyori swayed side to side, seemingly impressed with what was going on, which impressed Rukia even more.

Orihime looked down at Takumi who smiled, and flashed up towards her.

"Orihime-chan, I know that this sounds insane, but that Hollow is-"

"Sora...he's my big brother, isn't he?"

Orihime didn't question it, after seeing everything she saw.

Takumi gave a small nod.

"Yes, that's your brother Orihime-chan. I'm sorry that I couldn't save him in time."

"Taku-chan...is he always going to be like that now?"

Takumi chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, I'll purify him and he can go to Heaven. But, how about coming to say goodbye to him, with me? I promise to make sure you're safe."

Orihime wasn't sure at first.

She did feel fear…

But this was her brother. The brother that she loved more than anything, the brother she wanted to be with. She couldn't allow those feelings to go.

She took Takumi's hand, and flashed down towards the Hollow, while Rukia and Hiyori joined him, though Hiyori was mildly annoyed by how Rukia latched onto her, and allowed her body to be dragged down to the ground.

Takumi held onto Orihime's hand as they walked to the Hollow.

The Hollow's eyes went upwards towards Orihime and let out a roar which scared Orihime…

But then she looked at Takumi who offered her reassurance, so she pulled closer.

"Big brother...that's you, isn't it big brother…?"

The Hollow's eyes briefly turned back to being the normal Sora's, Orihime gained confirmation that she was seeing her elder brother now, holding her hands to her mouth, and let out sob after sob, tears of joy and sadness rolling down her face.

"Orihime...I became lonely...after you stopped praying...you made friends, and forgot about me...you forgot all about me, and moved on with your life...and I turned into this...because you didn't pray to me anymore…"

It was a mixture of the Hollow and Sora.

Orihime walked closer to the downed Hollow, her hand extending outwards to the Hollow. She was scared, but she needed to do this, to be able to connect to her brother once more, for the final time in her life.

"Sora..this is my fault...I made you turn out like this...I-I refused to allow you to go to Heaven...I asked you to stay with me, and you did...I always felt you, watching over me. I was selfish, and couldn't let you go...I wanted to see you again one last time..."

Takumi looked between the pair, and then pushed a bang behind Orihime's ear, to reveal her hair clip to Sora, Sora's face within the mask turned upwards at the sight.

"You see...she wore these for you, Sora-san. She told me, that she wore them because she fought with you over them, but they were the last thing you ever gave her, so she cherishes them more than anything in the world. She never forgot you."

"I...I didn't want to make you suffer anymore...so, I stopped praying, showing you that I was okay now. I wanted you to go to Heaven...so you didn't have to worry about me anymore...I have Taku-chan and Tatsuki-chan with me now. They help me all of the time, we're friends. I wanted to show that to you...I stopped worrying you, so big brother can finally rest in peace."

Upon hearing that, the mask around the Hollows face turned to Sora's face, revealing his shock and finally able to free himself of the control.

Orihime's face and Sora's own lit up at the sight of one another.

Rukia was astonished by what was happening, while Hiyori noticed a small glowing coming from Takumi, narrowing her eyes at the sight.

"Orihime...you truly never forgot me…?"

"No...I never forgot you big brother...I never did."

Both of the siblings shed tears.

"Orihime..."

"Sora..."

They both whispered the others name, which brought comfort to them. Their hearts were resonating with one another's.

Takumi then held out his sword, and pointed it at Sora.

"Sora-san...it's time, you wont be able to hold on for much longer. I'm sorry, I wish you had more time."

Sora shook his head.

"No, don't worry. I understand. I'm sorry Takumi-kun, I said awful things...it wasn't your fault, it was my own. I should of left sooner, then I wouldn't of endangered you."

Takumi allowed a small laugh to escape.

"Don't worry about that, Sora-san. Seeing this, seeing you both back together, even for a brief time, is enough for me."

Sora nodded, and allowed his hand to overlap Takumi's, taking his Zanpakuto off his hands.

Then the sword slowly went to his neck.

"W-Wait, big brother! W-What are you doing? Please don't do this-"

"It's alright Orihime-chan." Takumi soothed. "He's doing the right thing."

"But Taku-chan..."

Orihime naturally was worried for her brother.

But, Takumi assured her with his kind smile.

"You see, my sword is called a Zanpakuto, and it allows Hollows like Sora-san to be cleansed of sin, and go towards the Soul Society...erm, Heaven basically, with a fresh clean slate. The acts of sin committed by a Hollow, wont go with them when they go to the Soul Society. He's doing the right thing Orihime-chan, he'll go onto a better place."

"R-Really Taku-chan…?"

Orihime cried out, Takumi chuckled softly, brushing under her eyes, getting rid of the tears.

"Of course. He'll be alright now. I wouldn't lie to you Orihime-chan, this has to happen for your brother to get a happy ever after."

Orihime nodded as if she accepted it, and looked upon her elder brother, and smiled softly, knowing that this would be the last time she would get to speak to him.

"Sora...on the day that you left the house...we had a stupid fight about my hair pins. I thought they were childish, and refused to wear them. That day, I never got to say what I wanted to say all along..." Orihime smiled, as she moved closer, and held a hand out. Sora held out his hand, and touched his palm with hers. "...Have a good day, big brother, and I love you. Don't worry about me, I'll be with everyone now."

Sora's eyes welled up with tears as did Orihime's, and then his eyes went to Takumi.

"You'll stay with her now?"

"Of course, I'll always stay with her Sora-san, you have my word."

Sora accepted that.

He trusted Takumi.

He allowed them to speak one last time.

It was beautiful for the pair of them.

They finally got their happy ever after.

Then the sword of Takumi's went through his throat.

Lights danced within the area of Sora, as his body began to disappear.

Orihime watched with saddened eyes, shedding a few tears at the sight, but then she felt Takumi's hand on her shoulder, allowing her arms to wrap around him, and shed tears into his chest.

"It's alright now, he's going to be happy Orihime-chan, and free from the Hollow now, he's been purified."

Orihime continued to shed tears, but because Takumi was there, Sora's passing was easier on her.

Rukia and Hiyori watched and had to admit that was quite the scene they watched, and how beautiful it was for it to even happen.

Right now, it didn't matter about anything else, other than this moment between them, knowing Sora had gone to a better place, having been cleansed.

Unknown to them however, someone was watching from afar, their keen eyes on Takumi, Rukia, Orihime, and Hiyori. Their eyes dangled between the four of them, and placed a finger to their chin, licking their lips sensually.

"So, a few Shinigami have come to town have they? Ooh my, they all look so adorably cute. Maybe I should make them into my Zombie's~" Their eyes went to Takumi, and a blush adorned their cheeks. "So cute~ He's really adorable~"

A giggling came from the figure, stepping out of the shadows to reveal a teenage girl with long black hair extending down to her lower back, with two strands on top of her head sticking out like antenna, and her blue eyes went across all four of them down on the ground, but her eyes continued staying on Takumi, blushing more and more, twitching her body around sensually.

Her name...Giselle Gewelle.

* * *

The next day, Orihime sat with the other girls on the roof, eating some food together, and was laughing happily together. Fortunately, they managed to avoid damage to the nearby area, and Orihime's apartment wasn't affected as much as it could have been.

"So, did you have fun last night Orihime?"

Tatsuki asked Orihime slyly, Orihime cocked her head.

"Yes, why do you ask…?"

"No reason. It's just, Takumi contacted me last night saying that he'd be going to your apartment, and he wanted to be alone with you~"

Orihime blushed lightly…

But then her mind worked, and she thought about the reason.

It was probably so Tatsuki didn't become involved, and get hurt or anything like that.

"Kuchiki-chan and Taku-chan came together~"

Tatsuki's face fell into a frown.

"Oh God...they are together, aren't they?"

Orihime wagged her fingers.

"Actually, Kuchiki-chan and I had a nice conversation. It seems that I was worrying for nothing~ Even then, if she did like Taku-chan and Taku-chan liked her, and me...then Taku-chan and I could...eeep! W-What am I thinking!?" Orihime waved her arms up and down with a flustered expression on her face. "Anyway! Taku-chan, Kuchiki-chan and I all had a large dance off with one another!"

"A dance off, huh."

Karin mused.

"That's right, Taku-chan and I did the mambo, and then Kuchiki-chan and I did the fox trot, and then Taku-chan and Rukia-chan did three sixty spins on their heads! It was absolutely amazing! I'm sorry you missed it everyone!"

Rukia and Takumi stood at a small distance while Karin and Yuzu listened to Orihime speaking about random things. Chizuru who was sat near Orihime, waved to Rukia while frowning at Takumi. Takumi thought it was quite funny, while Rukia instinctively pulled closer to Takumi himself, fearful of Chizuru.

"You know Rukia-chan, I'm surprised you didn't try and remove Orihime-chan's memory of the event."

Rukia adopted a small smile.

"Truthfully, I would of done it before meeting you. It wouldn't of even been considered to just allow her to have her memories...but, after witnessing what I did last night...yeah, she can keep her memories. That was a wonderful night, the emotion around his passing, what you did for her, the lengths you went to make her happy, and to keep her safe. A big brother proud of their little sister..."

Takumi sensed that there was something more to it than what she was revealing.

"Rukia-chan, do you have a big brother by chance?"

Rukia paused, and thought about a certain someone from the Soul Society.

Takumi could see the uneasiness on her face, so he changed the subject.

"Anyway, we managed to help Sora-san cross over to the Soul Society, huh."

"Indeed. But, we still have to be wary about who it was that knew your name. We'll have to be ready for whatever challenge is going to come up next."

Takumi inclined his neck.

"You're right, we'll have to make sure we're ready next time. Which means, you'll teach me more Kido, right~?"

He playfully pushed against her cheek with his own, making her smile lightly.

"I suppose that I could."

Takumi pulled away, and clicked his fingers.

"I'm going to get a drink, want one? My treat~"

"Hmmm...alright then. I'll have a cola, thank you."

"One cola, coming up~"

Takumi waved his hand, and ran towards the roof access.

Orihime watched as Takumi ran towards the roof access, and then stood up.

"Erm, I'm going to go to the bathroom."

Chizuru's face lifted up.

"Then I'll-"

""Don't even think about it pervert!""

Karin and Tatsuki punched her in the head, forcing her down to the ground.

Orihime took off from the roof, going down the stairs, and saw Takumi walking through the corridor towards the vending machine.

She walked fast towards him, and got behind him, running her fingers up his back like spider legs.

"Ahahaha!" He let out a laugh uncontrollably, turning around to meet the smiling Orihime. "O-Orihime-chan, what are you doing here? Do you want a drink as well?"

Orihime shook her head, pulling closer.

"Taku-chan, last night was really beautiful. Thank you for helping me say goodbye to my brother."

"It was his will power Orihime-chan. My drug helped sure, but it was his own determination to break through. He loved you that much."

Orihime thought that was beautiful that her brother broke through just for her, and Takumi helped him out.

"You've seen him for so long, haven't you? Ever since he died. You said he was watching me, and now knowing you can see spirits...you saw him watching me, right?"

Takumi inclined his neck in agreement.

"Yes, that's right. I thought that it would bring you comfort. I've worked on those glasses, and earrings you had for a while so you could speak to him once more."

Orihime allowed a smile to appear on her face, it looked so beautiful in Takumi's eyes.

"Taku-chan, ever since we met, you've been looking out for me. You saved me from the bullies, and you kept bad people away from me. You even made sure that Chizuru-chan didn't get too excited with me~"

"Yeah well, that last one is for both you and her really, so she's not sent to prison for sexual harassment."

The pair let out small laughs.

Orihime though stopped before Takumi, her eyes going up and down his form.

"Taku-chan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"You're a super hero, right?"

Takumi scratched his cheek in thought.

"Super hero...erm, I'm a Shinigami now, which is I guess like a super hero."

"And...that's why you've been with Kuchiki-chan, right?"

"She gave me her power to save her, Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan and myself. I need to repay back that kindness, because...she did something that could land her in a lot of trouble, I want to make sure that she's not blamed for this, because she did it to keep us safe. So, while her powers recover, I'll do my best to make sure that this town is safe."

Orihime felt her cheeks reddening.

"_It's so like Taku-chan to be like that. He's really doing this because he wants to make sure Kuchiki-chan is safe from what problem she's in. He's got a really beautiful heart, and that heart, is clouded in sadness, I'll bring happiness to Taku-chan's heart._"

Orihime pulled closer while thinking that, hugging onto Takumi who's face turned slightly red.

"O-Orihime-chan?"

"Taku-chan, since you're fighting these Hollows, and helping them pass on...can I help you too? I don't have any powers, but I could lend assistance to you Taku-chan. I love the mission you've got. To help the world, and to protect Kuchiki-chan."

Takumi lightly smiled, lifting with Orihime, and span her around in his arms.

"Sure~ We could form a team of super hero's!"

"Yes Taku-chan! We'll be the defenders of Karakura town!"

"Right, Karakura Superhero's!"

Takumi and Orihime let out small laughs while continuing to spin around childlike, free, happily.

Then after a minute or so, Takumi and Orihime stopped, and Orihime surprised Takumi by holding onto his hand.

Her delicate fingers on his hand, sent his mind into happiness.

"If you hold my hand, people will assume we're dating~"

"Then...they can assume that, Taku-chan. I wouldn't mind. Would you mind?"

She asked looking innocent, and yet, with a smile on her face.

"N-No, of course not."

Orihime then pulled Takumi along.

"It's a beautiful day Taku-chan, lets spend it together!"

"Yeah! Lets!"

Giggling to one another, they ran down the corridor together, glad that they could be more open with one another now.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, that's the end of the chapter, and with it, sees some more of Takumi's prowess at making items, creating weapons for Rukia, Karin and Yuzu, making watches that can do all sorts of things, and even showing his skills in chemistry and biology by creating a drug to suppress a Hollow's anger. Hiyori and most of the other Vizards also were introduced this chapter, and have some fun back and forth's with Takumi, Takumi convincing Hiyori to help with some methods, and Sora's now gone to the Soul Society, maybe we'll see him again in the future~ But Giselle has now appeared on the scene! What she's up to, we'll see in the future!**

**Next time, we'll be going more into developing of Karin and Yuzu with the bird, and I should bring up now that with Ichigo not in the story, Chad isn't going to be in the story either, nothing against Chad, but he doesn't do much in the story, and without Ichigo, he doesn't really have a connection to the others.**

**Also, wow! A good number of people voted, so thank you for the votes everyone! It seems that lightning came out on top in a staggering, so Takumi's gonna be a lightning user! I've got some good plans for that, and mixing together with Takumi's intelligence, to use it in some unique ways!**

**People talked about a duel element type sword, the only few ways it could happen is if, Takumi gained the power from another Zanpakuto by someone fusing it to Takumi's, he finds a deceased Shinigami and uses his intelligence to modify his own sword with their power. The one I'd say it could happen is if Rose (who I left out this chapter to explain this part) had died, and passed on the power to Takumi's blade to create a lightning sword with sound based powers, like creating a sonic boom with lightning and sound. If that was to happen, I'd just have Love take over Squad Three since he was a Captain 100 plus years ago and would have Bankai.**

**Now, onto the Squad he's gonna take over. Again, thank you everyone for voting for the squad, and a lot voted for either squad 12, or squad 5, and gave good, and valid reasons for which one Takumi should be Captain of and why, so thanks for that. It was quite tied for the most part, and some suggested cool ideas as well, but in the end, Captain of Squad 12 edged it out, so sorry for those who voted for the others, but this one won. People have validly questioned about, why would Mayuri join Aizen in this when he didn't in canon, and I do have a few reasons why he would do that but it would be major spoilers on Takumi's past so I can't reveal them yet, and some people have suggested some cool reasons, so thanks for those!**

**Now that he is the Captain of Squad 12, in the future, he's gonna have Nemu as his Lieutenant! Nemu and Takumi together, are going to shake things up quite a bit, he might even make some items for her to use her power easier.**

**I might even make Hiyori one of his Lieutenant's as she was Lieutenant of Squad 12 over 100 years ago, and under Takumi's Father, so her being under Takumi, who can keep her aggressive nature in check would be cool. Some people suggested for Momo to go to Takumi's squad no matter what, so that could still happen, I wouldn't be against that. In that case, maybe Hachi could become Shinji's Lieutenant or something. Just some ideas I thought I'd share.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel.**


	4. The parakeet part one

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! Yeah, she's gonna shake up quite a few things! Sure, I could see that happening, Giselle in the Soul Society...she might very well be facing off against someone there. I guess that they could, that would be a nice tie in for the future. Karin's gonna get her powers soon yeah. That's how I was thinking of it anyway, Hiyori will probably join around the time of the Hueco Mundo arc or something, I haven't decided yet, but Nemu will be his first Lieutenant, I thought about having Rukia join his squad until the time skip where she can become the Lieutenant of Squad 13, but I don't know yet, I might have Hanataro join Takumi's squad as well. Yeah, that's how Hiyori should be, beating up Shinji lol. Sure, it could be Nemu who comes, it would be nice to establish that relationship sooner. She could do that. That would be pretty cool for her power.**

**Derek 23; Thank you!**

**Crenin; I don't know about Tatsuki yet, perhaps she could. And thanks very much!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! He surely has yeah, he can whip up a few things if given enough time, we'll be seeing that definitely more during the Soul Society arc, seeing his intellect shining through. He did yeah, he helped the siblings get back together once more, and yeah, Orihime and Takumi are definitely getting closer. Ooh, Giselle's got some plans. It's going to be fun when he unlocks his Shikai, and yeah, going to Captain's gonna be fun, Captain Takumi~**

**Guest 1; She has yeah, and perhaps they could join~**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! And yeah, it's been sorted now~ Yeah, but that would be difficult for even Takumi to achieve. The only other possible way is if Takumi's either a Quincy, or Fullbringer, or both and had elemental powers like, I don't know, he could be W the Water or V the Vibrations or S the Shaker something for the Quincy side or a Fullbring that does one of those aspects, just a scenario if he is Quincy which I can't confirm or deny right now, and we've seen with Ichigo who incorporated his Fullbring into his Zanpakuto though since it basically was the same power as his Zanpakuto's so nothing really changed besides a power boost, so it could be possible either way. It would be cool if she did join back up since I remember reading about how she missed the Soul Society. He's not no, Chad's powers are alright, but its basically arm armour and energy blasts, something other characters could do. She has yeah, and it seems she has got her eyes on Takumi huh~? He did yeah~ They'd be cool polar opposite friends. Takumi and Yachiru's relationship is gonna be fun. Well, Yama and Takumi are gonna have some, interesting interactions. He surely is yeah. And yeah, by that time, Ichigo was throwing around four Sternritter's easily so Takumi could too. Well, how do you know Takumi wasn't raised in the Soul Society? Hehe, can't spoil anything though. Yeah, those sound cool for Takumi's sword. That would be funny from Candice. Sure, sounds good to me. Well, I couldn't spoil if he has or not. Well, Takumi will prove his worth during the Soul Society arc, I can't spoil how though. Maybe yeah. Perhaps she might be yeah. I'm not sure he needs Hollow powers, he could have Fullbring. Yeah maybe. Yeah, I've got some ideas for his sword, and some of those might appear. Yeah, Takumi would probably deal with him, and yeah, he could do that. Takumi might share those thoughts on perfection, but with a twist on it. Yeah, he's going to be able to do normal things you'd expect, electrocute people, shock them, increase his speed with electric, I've also got some fun ideas for some unconventional uses of lightning mixed with Takumi's hobby. Sure, he could yeah. They'd be cool! He could yeah~ It would have to have a purpose, maybe the level of power it releases or something.**

**Ragna; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, I'd be changing somethings in the last arc, most of its pretty fine, I like most of the fights, I wouldn't make it so the main Villain could not only see the future, but change it too, as that's horribly broken, seeing the future is fine as that can change if used in the right way or if he only saw one persons future at a time, and couldn't see someone else's allowing surprise attacks or something and had to switch between people which could bring out an interesting battle, but changing the future it means there's no way you'd ever win without a miracle or something happening to stop all his powers. And yeah Tier, she'd be saved if I wrote that arc, it just kinda never came to anything and we don't know what happened to her unless it's been revealed in a light novel or something. I love Bleach as its one of my favourite series, but yeah, towards the end with the main Villain, it kinda went off the rails, just changing a few minor things could make Yhwach into a menacing and dangerous antagonist, but also a defeatable Villain without relying on a miracle to happen but relying on tactics, and overcoming his power with techniques and such.**

**Guest 2; Sure, I'm sure Soi Fon would even request those things~ Sure, I could see inner Karin/Zangetsu being like that.**

**Guest 3; Sure, I could see that happening, I like the sound of that! And yeah, those reasons for the other Captains are pretty sound, Kenpachi would want an enemy to fight, and Soi Fon would want Yoruichi around more, who'd be with Takumi most of the time so she'd be with him in the Soul Society maybe~ Yeah, I was thinking something like that in regards to his Lieutenants. That would be quite funny, and that would be a Nemu thing to do~**

**Guest 4; Yeah, they could do by, by the time he's in Soul Society, they could make Squad Twelve their meeting place when he's the Captain. And yeah, Rukia giving him the haori would be quite the moment, since she was the one who birthed his powers, so her giving him the Captains haori could be a symbol of their meeting and trust in the other.**

**Guest 5; I could see Takumi being interested in such things, maybe it could end up being Takumi's and Nemu's 'child' or something, like Nemuri Hachigo, only difference being having Takumi's blonde hair or something. Yeah, they'd be cool for Nemu, she seems more of a hand to hand fighter. That would be awesome!**

**Guest 6; Yeah, they could become friends. At the end of the series it wasn't confirmed, but yeah, by the Quincy war, both Nel and Grimmjow were around. That would be nice to have a bond between the two of them.**

**Guest 7; Any of those would be pretty awesome, I like the idea of the stealth one, it could be used for some interesting things, then again so could the portal, she'd be able to attack from different directions, the opponent wouldn't know where she'd be coming from, and then gaining power from being damaged, that would be awesome.**

**Andrew123456; A female Renji, I hadn't considered that, I have had some suggestions for a female Toshiro, female Hanataro, female Luppi (Arrancar), female Yukio (the fullbringer) and female Gremmy (the Quincy), but yeah, Renji could be interesting. And as for the others, they'd be pretty awesome too!**

**Guest 8; Yeah, maybe she could believe something like that~ Yeah, Takumi would have gone about that differently and Giselle could like him for those reasons as well. Giselle and Yuzu will meet this chapter, on a one and one basis, and we'll see them beginning a certain something between them. She's affiliated with them yeah, right now anyway~ That would be quite the funny moment~**

**Insert my name; Those would be quite funny to see, and definitely, I could see Hiyori grabbing Shinji like that, it would be quite funny.**

**Guest 9; I checked it out after reading your review, and yeah, that looks pretty awesome, maybe I could incorporate that into this story somehow. At least for like Nel or Tier or something.**

**Skull Flame; He surely can yeah, quite scary what he can make huh~? I'm sure he would. Indeed, his skills at negotiating with Hiyori seems to be quite good. Well, I can't spoil that right now hehe~ Maybe we do yeah, she's got quite the thing to her.**

**Oblivious IJ; Yup, they're in it~ Maybe there will be~**

**Guest007; Thanks, I'm glad that you liked it~ Sure, that sounds pretty cool to me! Those would be pretty cool choices! And I'm glad you're my fan!**

**Guest 10; Sure, those ideas sound great to me! Yeah Nel could do that! Takumi vs Tier would be pretty cool.**

**Guest 11; Sure, I don't see why not. Those would be cool, I'd have to think about what they'd do.**

**Guest 12; That sounds pretty cool to me!**

**maxbrevan; Thanks very much! Yeah, Takumi's gonna use his Zanpakuto in some quite unique ways, some that might be surprising. I've got a few ideas on how Mayuri joins Aizen. Those are some cool suggestions!**

**The chosen one; That depends when the Arrancar were made, because in a flashback, it was revealed that Nnoitra and Nel were Espada for a few years in their current Arrancar forms before Aizen got Kisuke's Hokyoku, so right now in the story, Nel should be an Arrancar, so she could technically appear as an Arrancar to Takumi. Maybe even Tier could be considered that as well. Sure, they could do yeah~**

**Guest 13; That would be a fun comedic sequence~ Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 14; Sure, that sounds pretty awesome to me! It would be fun if he was with the Grigori and what not.**

**Tomare tokio; Sure if I do a Pokemon story, I like Ralts too~ Those sound pretty cool ideas to me!**

**Joker; Sure she could do something like that. Soi Fon vs Giselle would be quite interesting.**

**Guest 15; Yeah, that could work quite well. Thanks for the suggestions! That could be cool. Yeah, making a body for Kon, it could be quite fun for Takumi to do that.**

**Guest 16; Yeah, she'd not join right away, probably during the Arrancar arc, when they are ready to go to Hueco Mundo or something, I haven't decided yet. That would be a Hiyori response to Shinji alright~ She could, though probably not fire or ice, since we've got a good number of characters controlling those elements, maybe wind or something.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The parakeet part one**

After a night of killing Hollows, Takumi thought that taking a bath would be nice.

Just a relaxing soak within the bath, and since the water had some healing properties, even though he wasn't injured, it seemed to enhance the experience more than anything else, causing Takumi to feel good within the water.

However, he wasn't alone for long.

While his eyes were closed, and allowed the water to do its magic, a young woman came into the room. With a very endowed figure, beautiful golden irises, long hair that came down her back, and she wore...nothing.

Not even a towel.

Everything could be seen.

"Yoruichi-chan, have you come for a bath~?"

Takumi sang out, while his eyes remained closed, knowing her power, but thought that she was in cat form.

He was wrong.

"That's right Takumi." Takumi's eyes shot open at the feminine voice, and saw Yoruichi's naked form slide into the water, his cheeks turned slightly red, she looked like a Goddess in his eyes. "My, you're blushing Takumi. You do look quite cute when you're blushing."

"I-I didn't expect you to b-be like that!"

Yoruichi let out a small laugh, sliding closer to Takumi. Her eyes ran themselves over his own naked form, drinking in every inch of him.

"Well, what can I say? Since you've become a Shinigami, I haven't had much time to spend with you. You're usually dealing with Hollows, or with Rukia-chan."

"Jealous...are we Yoruichi-chan?"

Yoruichi's face lifted into a smirk at the playful tone he used.

She then brought his head to her bust, his face burned red even more at the softness of her chest.

"I don't need to be jealous, I still know how to make you squirm. I know your likes..." Yoruichi's teasing finger slowly slid up his chest, going up his abs, making her smirk. "...I know your desires, so do you desire me…? I'll teach you about women Takumi, I'll teach you how to make us feel good, how about that...?"

Her tongue licked against his ear, making his cheeks turn more red by the second, and a small moaning sound escaped his lips.

She definitely knew how to tease someone.

She definitely knew how to make others feel good with touch alone.

Her soft fingers brushed against his face, lifting it up so they met one another. Their eyes met one another's, their breathing matched one another's.

"How about we share a kiss right now?"

Takumi stared at her blankly.

He could never tell if she was serious or not.

But to kiss Yoruichi…

She then stuck out her tongue.

"Just kidding. I wouldn't do that like this. Maybe later. Maybe I'll do it when you least suspect it hahaha~"

Laughing like a true cat, she was quite the trickster, Takumi thought that for sure.

Yoruichi then casually placed his head back onto her breast once more, and her fingers slid through his blonde hair. The feeling of his hair was what captivated her more than anything else, she really liked it.

"Takumi, you ever need anything, you just come to me about it, okay?"

"Yoruichi-chan..."

"I'm just saying, I'll make sure you're safe, no matter what. Because, I really do care about you." Takumi's face lifted upwards ever so slightly, Yoruichi's face lifted up as well, and forced his head deeper into her boobs. "You're just so adorable! I can't believe someone so cute came from Kisuke! Honestly, it is so surprising!"

Takumi's face brushed against her breasts, while she moved up and down in time with him, causing him to feel many different things in his life, though he couldn't deny that he was enjoying the time with Yoruichi, it was a welcome change from the Hollows.

* * *

Walking towards school in a hurry, was Yuzu Kurosaki.

Since she was in a small rush, due to having some duties that she had to do in the morning, she was a little late. Karin had already gone to school, so she knew that she was late then with her being the late one for a change.

While she ran through the streets of Karakura, her skirt swayed in the air, and she felt herself panting from running so fast…

But then she was stopped when a man who was running in the opposite direction came crashing through.

She was knocked onto the ground, and she groaned.

"Ow..."

She looked up to see the man holding a bird.

The birds eyes looked towards Yuzu who cocked her head.

Something about the bird, which she believed was a parakeet, seemed quite interesting to her.

Yuzu then stood up, seeing the man continuing to run away.

"H-Hey, you could of at least said sorry or something!"

Yuzu complained, only for the man to turn around and his eyes…

They looked like he had been through a lot.

"Don't say such things you annoying girl."

Yuzu blinked at the new information hitting her.

But then she heard her watch going off, just as a Hollow appeared above her.

"A Hollow..."

She tapped her watch, and summoned her bow, looking around the area, but couldn't see one. She even had her glasses, and earrings on, but she still didn't see anything at all.

From up above, there was some bricks that were loose, the Hollow smirked, looking down at the bird, and then chuckled darkly, pushing the bricks off the roof, and they headed down towards the man and the bird.

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The man screamed, and closed his eyes.

Yuzu however pulled back her bow, and fired off a multitude of arrows. With precision, her arrows pierced the bricks, breaking them into smaller harmless stones, with small dust coming off them, and eventually, Yuzu managed to destroy all of the bricks, the Hollow's eyes widening at the sight, and turned towards Yuzu with her bow and arrow.

"That girl, she has some power, does she? Hmmm, maybe it would be interesting to take her soul away from her hahaha."

The Hollow laughed to itself, and moved away from the area.

Yuzu scanned the roof with her eyes, and couldn't see the Hollow, she had just missed it. Then she looked at the man who was looking at the bird with angry eyes.

"You're a cursed bird you are!"

The man raised the cage in his hands, and swung it outwards, ready to hit the cage against the wall, when Yuzu stepped in.

"Hey! Stop it! Why are you doing that to the bird?!"

Yuzu cried out, but the man turned towards her, his face dipped into annoyance, and anger.

"You don't understand you annoying girl. This bird has been ruining my life."

"It's only a bird though...how can it ruin your life?"

"Because its cursed!"

The man snapped at Yuzu who backed away slowly.

Running up however, was Takumi alone in his Gigai, and looked around.

"Damn, it seems to have gone." His eyes scanned the area, then looked towards Yuzu. "Oh Yuzu-chan, you're here too."

Yuzu's face lit up, turning around towards him, then moved towards him at a quickened pace.

"Takumi-kun! W-What are you d-doing here?!"

"I felt a Hollow around here. But I can't sense any now."

"Yeah...my watch went off, and up there Takumi-kun-" Yuzu pointed towards the tall building while the man with the bird began moving away. "-some bricks came off, but I managed to fire some arrows to save that man there."

"What man?"

Yuzu's finger went towards the man...but he was already gone.

"O-Oh, he's gone. Strange...he said weird things, like his bird, he was saying that the bird was cursed."

"The bird being cursed...huh."

"Is that possible Takumi-kun?"

Takumi furrowed his brow.

"Curses as far as I am aware don't exist, but there are certain powers that could bring bad luck to people but it isn't exactly a curse. If anything, he's probably just blaming his own bad luck on the bird."

Yuzu cocked her head, but then realized that they were alone.

Her eyes went between herself, and Takumi, and her cheeks turned a little dark red.

"S-So, Kuchiki-san isn't here..."

"Ah, she went on ahead to school. We got the Hollow signature, and it wasn't that tough, so she went to school to explain that I'd be late."

"I-I see...w-wait! I'm late too! Ooh! I'm going to be told off!" Yuzu's body moved up and down to the bemusement of Takumi. "I'm going to be told off! My perfect record will be laid to waste! I'm not going to be able to get into the best university Takumi-kuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!"

Takumi let a small laugh to escape his mouth.

"Alright, calm down Yuzu-chan. I'm sure your record wont be tarnished with one late."

Yuzu calmed down slightly, feeling a little foolish for getting hyper.

"I-I guess you're right..."

"Then, you get onto school, I'll just go up there to see if it was indeed a Hollow, or just a bad coincidence."

"And if it was the Hollow?"

"Then maybe the bird being cursed wasn't an exaggeration."

His reply made her furrow her eyebrows.

"Then, I can help you Takumi-kun."

"Aren't you worried about being late?"

Yuzu giggled awkwardly.

"Ma-Maybe a little, but being with Takumi-kun is fine for me….I-I mean! Helping Takumi-kun is fine for me! D-Don't worry about the incredible details! J-Just being with you alone...w-wait, I didn't mean...ooh! I'm sorry for being weird!"

"Don't worry, I find weird adorable~"

Yuzu's cheeks erupted with redness.

The thought that Takumi found her weirdness cute was something that lifted her heart upwards.

"T-Then, I'll do my best!"

Takumi's hand lightly petted her head, making her face erupt into a small smile.

* * *

It was a normal day in the school and they currently were on break from lessons so they went to the roof to have normal conversations, Takumi and Orihime were talking together with Rukia. Karin and Yuzu were also chatting away normally with Tatsuki, Rukia was glad that Chizuru wasn't trying anything with her right now, but felt eyes on her.

Rukia looked at the drink that was before her, something that she had gotten from the fridge at the Urahara shop.

But she didn't see an opening.

"What is this? Where do you open it...?"

Takumi's eyes went towards her, seeing her lifting up the juice box, unable to see an opening.

"It's a juice box. Use the straw to poke a hole."

"Straw…?"

Rukia examined the juice box, lifting it up, and swirling it around.

Takumi had to admit that it was quite cute that someone as intelligent as Rukia didn't know what a juice box looked like and how to use it. He thought the Soul Society probably didn't have them, or she just hadn't encountered one before.

Either way, it was adorable in his eyes.

"Ah, Kuchiki-chan. Here, your straw."

Orihime pointed out the straw to Rukia, who furrowed her eyes.

"I see...thanks Inoue."

Orihime placed her hand to her forehead, and smiled brightly.

"No problem!"

"Now, how to use this...where do I pierce the juice box…?"

Takumi couldn't let her suffer, so he took the juice box, and straw, and poked a hole in it for her.

Rukia's face lifted up slightly.

"Thank you Takumi."

"You're welcome."

Rukia then began to drink the juice, while Takumi couldn't contain the smile on his face.

It was times like this that he liked.

Quiet, happy times between classmates, just enjoying one another's company and speaking about things that truly didn't matter in the end, yet were important to the people that were involved, like Rukia's juice box.

But then Tatsuki left to get something to drink, so Takumi gathered the others around so they could talk about the supernatural.

"Now, we've got a new mystery! Yuzu-chan may have come across a cursed bird."

"A cursed bird?"

Rukia gave suspicious eyes.

"Right. According to Yuzu-chan, a man was calling a bird a curse, and blaming it for his problems. Usually, I'd just say that it is nonsense. But then a Hollow showed up, and he almost had a ton of bricks dropped on him, right Yuzu-chan?"

Yuzu nods.

"Yes, that's right Takumi-kun. He ran off though so I couldn't see him. He had a parakeet bird, it had nice white feathers. But since he called it a curse...and with the Hollow showing up as well...I was worried that they might be connected."

Rukia continued furrowing her eyebrows, while Orihime glanced at her.

"Kuchiki-chan, since you know more than us, is it possible for a bird to be cursed?"

"Well, it depends what you call a curse. There is a way to place Kido spells on animals, and then there's genetically altering them to do peoples bidding's, and what not. But, a straight up curse, like voodoo magic...I'd say probably not. But, it can't be ignored that this could happen. I believe that we should search for this bird. Though to look for him...I guess that it would be difficult. But, finding Hollow's would be easier. If the Hollow appears again, then we can track that down."

"Ooh yes! We're going on an adventure it seems!"

Orihime cheered, while the others smiled at her infectious attitude.

Looking from a distance, was Giselle Gewelle.

Her eyes danced between the people that were sat together, and then tilted her head curiously, her eyes fixated on Takumi himself, making her face lift upwards.

* * *

Later on as the sun was setting in the sky, Karin and Yuzu walked home together. Yuzu kept looking at her watch from Takumi, and it made her blush. It was quite cute, the watch, and the fact that she got it from Takumi, made it all the more better.

It was a present from Takumi, something she didn't think that she would receive.

Even if Karin and Rukia also got one, it was something that Yuzu thought was quite lovely.

Karin also noticed that Yuzu seemed to be silently blushing of what she was doing.

"Geez, it's only like a watch or something."

"But even then Karin...Takumi-kun gave it to me. It's like a present, he wants us to be safe." Yuzu let out a soft little sound, but then stopped when her, and Karin's watches began to beep. "Karin..."

Yuzu put on the glasses, and earrings, while Karin summoned her sword from her watch.

"Yeah, it seems that there's no one around. I guess it's time to test these things out."

"Right!"

Yuzu brought out the bow from the watch, and pulled the string back, revealing an energy arrow.

She looked at it, and smiled slightly.

"It really is amazing that Takumi-kun invented things like this."

"I guess that it is pretty amazing. But this is going to be quite interesting. Now where is that Hollow…?"

"Sh-Should we go and get Takumi-kun Karin?"

Yuzu asked her sister, but Karin shook her head.

"Nah, we can deal with it. Besides I'm sure he's already been alerted. So if it is too much for us, then he'll come and help us out. But, we have to prove that we can stand with the best of them Yuzu, so don't show a worried face."

"I guess..."

Yuzu still displayed worry despite what Karin said.

Then a howling came from up above, and a small Hollow came down towards them. It looked like a small bird type Hollow, Karin smirked at the sight, and raised her sword up into the air.

"Yuzu! Fire at it, and lure it towards me!"

"Y-Yes! I will do my best!"

Yuzu took aim at the Hollow as Takumi arrived with Rukia.

He looked between the two girls, and the Hollow.

"Takumi, slay it."

"Give it a second, lets see what they can do."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows as Yuzu fired an arrow into the air, at a good precise timing that it pierced the arm of the Hollow. It let out a small cry, and blood came from its wound, Karin's face lifted up.

"Yeah! That's it Yuzu! Now, draw it down here, and I'll slice it apart!"

"Yes Karin!"

Having some more confidence, Yuzu fired a series of arrows towards the Hollow. She missed deliberately, due to her luring the Hollow downwards towards them, firing one above the Hollows head, forcing it to dive downwards.

Rukia watched with a small smile on her face, as Takumi grinned.

"You want them to know they can defend themselves, right?"

"Sometimes, I might not be able to make it in time. Not just me, but they also need experience, don't you think so? Of course, if it becomes too hairy, I'll step in to help them out, but this seems pretty good to me. Besides, I can't see any bird around here, so this Hollow probably isn't connected to the one that we are looking for."

Rukia slowly nods her head, as Yuzu fired a precise arrow at the Hollow's face, clipping the side of the Hollows head, sending it into a spin, allowing Karin to rush forward towards him.

"Time to slay you Hollow!"

Takumi let out a small laugh as Rukia gave him an intrigued face.

Karin came up against the Hollow, and swung her blade. The Hollow that was spinning, managed to pause, and thrust its hand towards Karin's body.

Karin however raised her blade and pulled backwards, swinging downwards, and unleashed a thin wave of energy, which left a deep gash in the Hollows hand, and arm, and blood erupted outwards.

"Ewwww, I don't like this part."

Karin grimaced, seeing the Hollow pulling backwards in pain, which allowed her time to get close to the Hollow, and bring her blade down towards the mask of the Hollow. The blade managed to cut through the Hollow's mask, slicing it down the middle, and it began to disappear from the world, Karin smiled to herself, as Yuzu giggled.

"We did it Karin! We did it!"

Yuzu hugged her sister tightly.

Karin gave a slight smile, tightening her hand.

"Yeah...you're right, we managed to stop it ourselves."

Karin let out a small pant, while Takumi smiled down at the pair.

"I suppose we weren't needed after all."

"I guess not."

Takumi, who was carrying Rukia, jumped away with her in his arms, leaving the girls to have a good night to themselves.

* * *

The next morning, Yuzu woke up with a small cry coming from down below. She didn't get what it was, it didn't sound like her Father, or her sister.

So she slipped on some clothes, and went to investigate.

She went down the stairs, and saw that the lights of the clinic were on. It was barely seven in the morning, it was surprising that anyone would be there unless there had been an accident in the town and they had been brought there recently.

"I don't want it!"

A strong yet scared voice came out, and Yuzu, who went to round the corner, got a surprise when a cage was thrown at her, she caught it, and saw a white parakeet inside of it. She saw the bird, and remembered it being the same one that she saw yesterday, knowing that she'd have to take it to Takumi and the others.

"Wait a second!" Isshin came around the corner. "You need treatment! You were in a serious accident!"

"I don't want it! If that creepy bird is around!"

Yuzu looked at the bird, and then towards the man who was storming off.

"Wait, what's wrong with the bird exactly?"

Yuzu asked the man, who gave it an odd stare.

"It's...It's cursed! I should of listened to the others! They all said that there was something wrong with it! You keep it! But be warned, it will only cause you pain and misery, that's what's wrong with that bird!"

Yuzu didn't quite get it.

She wondered if this curse was real or not.

But the man stormed off, Isshin gave him a curious stare.

"Weird, why would he say it is cursed? Isn't he a little weird Yuzu~?"

"Yup, he surely was Dad! Anyway, I'll go and begin making breakfast. Don't worry about the parakeet Dad, I'll take care of it! And then take it to a rescue center!"

"Aah, that's my girl Yuzu! You are too nice! Now, give Daddy a hug!"

Isshin jumped Yuzu, but she casually dodged to the side, and left down the corridor, Isshin's head hit the wall, making him cry out in pain.

Yuzu swayed side to side, and walked towards the kitchen.

But then there was a knock at the door.

"Odd, someone coming here this early...maybe Takumi-kun found out about us already huh..."

Yuzu walked towards the door, and opened it, revealing Giselle to be stood there. Her eyes swayed side to side, then focused in on Yuzu and smiled happily.

"Hello there. Sorry for coming so early, but I couldn't wait anymore~ I simply had to do something and come to see what was going on~"

"Ooh, you're coming to see...Karin?"

Giselle showed a smile on her face.

"I'm not sure who Karin is. I've come to see Masaki Kurosaki-chan. Hehe, you kinda look like her, so are you her daughter or something? I know she lives here, she has done for a good while now."

Yuzu's face fell down slightly.

The hard truth.

Since it seemed like Giselle didn't know...she didn't know how she was going to explain this.

She didn't want to break anyone's hearts.

But now she was going to have to do it.

"...You haven't heard."

"Heard...what? I can't feel her...so, is she out at this time. Though I haven't sensed her for a few days, so maybe she's not in this town at all right now~ Haha, that's like Masaki-chan, she always disappeared weirdly~ So, can I come in and wait for her to come back? Or, tell me when she's back and I'll come back then."

Yuzu's face continued to fall, Giselle gave her a curious face.

"You best come in then. I have something to tell you."

Giselle didn't get it.

And she didn't like the tone Yuzu used either, it was worrying.

But she followed Yuzu into the nearby living room, and sat down beside her.

Giselle found that this was a little weird.

She glanced at the bird, and sensed something within it.

"So, what's going on with Masaki-chan? I'm sure that she's being weird, and playing tricks on me. She usually did anyway."

"Erm...I'm sorry...I didn't...It's just, Masaki Kurosaki is..."

"She is…?"

Giselle felt a little worried now.

It seemed like Yuzu was on the verge of crying.

She didn't understand.

Yuzu steeled herself.

She didn't want to lose herself now, she couldn't do that.

"...She's dead."

As soon as Giselle heard that, her eyes looked as if they lost life.

She looked as if she was going to pass out.

She didn't think she'd be able to carry on.

"N-No, she couldn't be dead. Did she get sick or something? D-Did she get an illness!?"

"No...she was...she was killed, a few years ago now..."

Giselle couldn't accept that for even a second.

"K-Killed...she was killed...she was killed...b-but, she couldn't of been killed. She wouldn't of been killed, she's strong...she's very strong, she wouldn't of lost to anyone...it had to be someone powerful, right? It had to be someone that..."

Yuzu saw how distraught Giselle was getting.

Tears threatened to escape her eyes.

Her body convulsed in place.

It was like she was ready to break.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking the news like this...I didn't know how else to say it...a-are you going to be okay?"

Giselle didn't register what she said.

It didn't even cross her mind what she was saying.

Isshin walked into the room, and saw that Giselle was stood there, his eyes widening as if he had seen a ghost.

"So, it's you..."

"Dad, you know her?"

Yuzu's innocent question was met with a disgruntled look from Isshin, something that actually surprised her.

"She...She was a friend of your Mom's Yuzu!" Isshin tried to appear as his usual self, but he could see the pissed off eyes of Giselle. "S-So, it's been a while since I've seen you Giselle-san. What's going on with you?"

Giselle's eyes narrowed upon him, and strolled forward.

She looked ready to strike.

But as she got close, she noticed a picture of Masaki on the wall, and then her eyes returned to Isshin.

"You failed to protect her."

Her voice was low, almost too cold for a girl with her kind of face.

Isshin's head bowed in defeat.

"...Yes, I did. That day..."

Isshin tried to explain, but Giselle wasn't having any of it.

"I'll find her killer, and kill them myself, along with anyone who gets in my way. Is that okay with you Isshin Kurosaki, or should I say Isshin Shiba, the Shinigami?"

Isshin's eyes narrowed upon the young girl, who smirked, pulling backwards.

"Wait a second-"

"Well, goodbye~" Giselle showed a happy smile, turning to Yuzu. "Thanks for letting me know about Masaki-chan! I'm sorry about losing your Mom!"

"T-Thank you, I'm sorry that you had to learn this way..."

Giselle waved her fingers out in front of her.

"No worries at all. You've just helped me that's all." Her eyes went to the parakeet. "Oh, that bird. You better take it to Takumi-kun, he might be able to help you out with that bird."

"Takumi-kun...why him?"

Yuzu wondered aloud, only for Giselle to smile, and run off.

Yuzu was left wondering what was going on, she didn't get it at all.

* * *

Giselle went towards a secure area that looked to be something of a bedroom with large beds scattered around, couches, a bar type area, and even some arcade games in the corner, and walked inside to see four girls sitting around. One girl had black hair with a scowl on her face named Bambietta, another girl had light green hair was quite busty along with having an angry face called Candice, another had blonde hair and she was a lot shorter than her comrades, eating a lollipop and her name was Liltotto, and finally, one had pink hair, and she was the bustiest of all of them named Meninas, each wearing what seemed to be school girl outfits.

Upon seeing Giselle, the girls moved forward, all looking concerned.

"What's wrong Giselle-chan?"

Liltotto's question was met with a sad face of Giselle.

"It's Masaki-chan, I just found out that she's dead."

"It was the Shinigami!" Candice roared, sparks of electric surrounding her. "Seriously, they are running this town like they own the damn place!"

"They do own the damn place you bitch."

Liltotto explained with a scowl on her face, Bambietta however growled.

"Not for long. Don't worry Giselle, we wont allow these damn Shinigami get away with it. We only came here to meet this Masaki, but now that we're here with these Shnigami's, lets tear them to pieces."

"Oh, but don't hurt the blonde one, I really like him~ He's adorable~"

Giselle pulled a funny face, sticking out her tongue.

"He's our target! Of course I have to hurt him! Him, and any others! Do you understand!?"

Liltotto, Meninas, Candice and Giselle each furrowed their eyebrows.

Bambietta didn't look pleased that they weren't speaking at all.

"Well?!"

All four gave her curious looks, before rolling their eyes.

"You're such a bitch."

"I know, your voice is so grating."

"Shut up Bambi, I've had enough of you!"

"Hehehe~ I don't feel like hurting Takumi-kun though~ He's really kind~"

Liltotto, Meninas, Candice and Giselle answered her.

Bambietta gripped her head angrily.

"Well, it doesn't matter! Giselle, begin making Zombie's! Meninas, we're going to show them your power! Candice, we're going to shock them! And you Liltotto-"

"No, you're going about it the wrong way."

Bambietta fell down to the ground.

"W-What?"

"I said, you're going about it the wrong way. Remember, it isn't just the fact that the Shinigami are here. Remember, Kisuke Urahara is also in this town. If we go after his son recklessly, then we would also perish, don't you get it?"

Bambietta's cheeks burned red with annoyance.

"Seriously, don't even try such things with me. It doesn't matter if he's here or not."

"It does if we want to survive. We aren't strong enough to take him down yet. We can't go in recklessly-"

"Lets keep Takumi-kun and cuddle him~"

Giselle swayed side to side, Bambietta shook her head with annoyance once more.

"Whatever, I'm going to do whatever I want. I'll even take down this bastard Kisuke if he shows up. In fact, I'll blow him up along with this town! We wont lose to Shinigami! We are the Quincy's! We can't lose!"

Each of the girls looked on curiously, and didn't know what to say as a result.

But they did know one thing…

Bambietta had her eyes on Takumi, and she wasn't going to quit until she had finished him off.

* * *

Chizuru had some bad luck recently. Being unable to win the hearts of the girls that she loved, like Rukia and Orihime, it made her feel quite sad about the event. Though soon, her luck...wasn't going to change.

In fact, it was going to be quite the trial.

However, she saw from across the road as she walked, was Giselle walking with Bambietta and the others, casually having a conversation about many different things, as she watched them from across the road, near a building that was being repaired, so scaffolding was around, with equipment being up high.

"Why are you going to the school anyway Gigi?"

Liltotto's question was met with Giselle sticking out her tongue.

"Because I want to see more of Takumi-kun. You should've seen it, the other day, it was a beautiful scene~ Aah, I get the feeling that there's more to him than meets the eyes, and when he hugged that girl, that got me feeling all tingly~"

Bambietta rolled her eyes.

"Don't get too attached to him."

"Just because you are wanting to get rid of the Shinigami, I don't hold grudges-"

"They slaughtered the Quincy!" Bambietta yelled out. "You really want to let them get away with that?"

"Well, of course it was bad, but Takumi-kun didn't do it."

Giselle defended, Liltotto who ate some cheese string, tilted her head.

"Does this make us any better by going after someone that wasn't even involved with the death of many Quincy anyway?"

"All Shinigami are the same." Bambietta stated, Candice agreeing. "They can't change, they'll always view us as threats to the world, so they'll always want us to die."

"That's generalization." Liltotto spoke up. "We can't be sure, and honestly, I don't want any part of killing this male Shinigami, there's only a certain few I want to get rid of."

Giselle tilted her head.

"See? Lil-chan is with me, we should just leave Takumi-kun alone."

Bambietta tightened her hand angrily.

"If you wont do it, help me at least set up a good situation. I can do it myself. I'll take care of the little one, and the boy too."

As she said that, Chizuru skipped over towards them, and saw that the five girls were together, it was a dream for Chizuru.

"Who are these Angels before me? You all look so cute! My name is Chizuru Honsho!"

Giselle glanced at Chizuru, then pulled her face, sticking out her tongue and wiggled her tongue up and down goofy like.

"Great to meet you, but we've got things to do so..."

When Giselle tried to dismiss her, Chizuru got close to Bambietta who stared her down.

"What do you want?"

Bambietta demanded, Candice threw her head back.

"We have to go! We don't have time to deal with this girl!"

"Alright, calm down."

Liltotto threateningly said to Candice who scowled right back at her, and walked forward.

"We've got to go now, so go away now."

Candice summoned a small bit of lightning to her finger, and poked Chizuru's shoulder, causing her to jump into the road.

"Alright, you didn't have to be rude about it!"

Chizuru huffed, and walked out deeper into the road.

But then Giselle and the others began walking away, and went to round a corner, when they all felt chills down their backs.

"This feeling..."

Liltotto murmured, Bambietta scowled.

"A damn Hollow. No, more than one..."

"It's coming from back there."

Meninas spoke up, pointing in the direction that they walked from.

"Lets go and exterminate them!"

Candice released her battle cry, while Giselle showed a happy smile.

"Always so quick to jump into action, huh Bambi-chan?"

"Yeah, lets..." Suddenly, they heard a scream, a car swerving, and then screams. "What the hell was that?"

Bambietta and the others ran back towards the road they were on before.

They saw that the scaffolding from before had been hit by a car, it left marks on the road from its wheels, and then they saw that the girl on the ground was Chizuru, she was bleeding from her head profusely. For the most part, it seemed that others hadn't been significantly hurt. But they also saw that there was a few Hollows leering over a few humans and looked ready to finish the job.

"They were probably drawn here due to the spiritual power in this area, maybe even after us."

Liltotto stated, Candice shook her head.

"They're weak anyway, lets just kill them alright!"

Bambietta, Candice, Giselle, Liltotto and Meninas all pushed their heart shaped belt buckles, and released their bows.

They pulled back the string, and took aim.

"Fire!"

They all released their arrows at the same time at the command from Bambietta, and pierced the Hollows in their masks, killing off the Hollows.

"Oh shit..."

Liltotto murmured looking at the situation at hand, Meninas tilted her head seeing Chizuru in such a situation.

"It seems that she's badly damaged, she might even die..."

Giselle casually walked forward, and remembered Masaki, and her kindness, remembering some of her past, remembering the kindness that she was shown, so she walked to the young red headed girl, while the others followed after her.

Standing up above her, Giselle's eyes cast down to Chizuru who looked up with blurry vision.

"Hmmmm, since you're an ordinary human, you'll die from a wound like that. So, how about becoming my Zombie~?"

Chizuru didn't quite understand what that meant, and the last thing she saw was Giselle's sweet smile.

* * *

That morning, Takumi and Rukia had gone to school early, which was a surprise for Takumi since he usually stayed in. The only reason why he was there was because they went to deal with the Hollow, though they were unaware of the Quincy girls doing it.

"I wonder where those signals went Takumi..."

"Yeah, it seems that they vanished before we had a chance to get there. Strange...I think they were defeated though. Did you feel it when we were in that area?"

"Yeah, it felt like some strong spiritual pressures had been there. Lets keep our guard up."

Takumi nodded, but then groaned.

"I've got to go to the bathroom Rukia-chan, I'll meet you there."

"Sure, I'll head to class."

Rukia waved him off, and moved forward towards the classroom on her own.

While she did, she played with her watch, and spoke to Chappy as much as she could. She loved her watch, she wished that she could have that watch forever, and ever.

When she got to the classroom, she walked inside, and saw that Chizuru was sat there.

But, she seemed...different.

Her eyes were vacant, like she wasn't even there.

Her body looked to be rough, her skin seemed pale.

Her face was that of a deranged woman ready to strike.

Her eyes rolled around in different directions, then focused in on Rukia, who flinched.

"C-Chizuru, good morning."

Rukia hesitated that she would say something.

But she had to at least say that since she had to keep up a facade.

Chizuru's head rolled around, almost unrealistically, something Rukia noticed.

"Zombie Chizuru acknowledges Rukia Kuchiki's entrance to this classroom. You are alone Rukia."

Rukia found that quite strange.

But she moved inside, while Chizuru let out a snarl.

That frightened Rukia a little bit, and saw Chizuru standing up as she neared her own desk.

"Oh God..."

Rukia murmured, while pulling backwards, Chizuru moved her body towards her. Her body twitched with excitement, her eyes beamed ready to pounce. Rukia inhaled and exhaled deeply at the sight of the young girl.

"Rukia...Rukia...Rukia...come to Chizuru...come to Zombie Chizuru..."

She chanted, her voice sounded broken.

"C-Chizuru...w-why are you calling yourself a Zombie?"

Chizuru let out a "Rukia!" and rushed to her, her arms swaying side to side, and her focus dead set on Rukia herself.

Rukia jumped towards the left off her seat as Chizuru's fist slammed against the wall, shaking said wall. Rukia let out a surprised gasp, Chizuru's face twisting and contorting, looking back towards Rukia.

"Zombie Chizuru, wishes for Rukia."

"What…?"

Rukia felt panic run through her body.

Chizuru had the crazy eyes.

It looked like she was ready to take down anyone that was before her.

"...Rukia."

Chizuru let out snarl after snarl, and came closer to Rukia.

Rukia pulled out her gun, and aimed it at Chizuru.

"Alright, back off Chizuru. Don't make me fire. I will fire at you if you don't stop."

She felt something was different about Chizuru.

No, she definitely knew something was different.

"Zombie Chizuru, wants you."

Rukia felt ill at that moment.

"Ooh come on Chizuru, please don't do anything."

Rukia didn't get it. The eyes of rage from Chizuru were on Rukia, she was sure she was going to get jumped at that moment in time.

"Zombie Chizuru, commences plan."

Rukia gained a question mark above her head, while Chizuru rushed forward. She jumped left, and got close to Rukia, who ducked and jumped away, as she saw an energy arrow going through the window, Rukia pushed her head to the side, barely avoiding the arrow which cut her cheek.

"H-Hey Chizuru! What is your problem?! And who just fired at me!?"

"I want...I want...it...I want you...!"

"Aaah!"

Rukia pulled backwards, while Chizuru swung her arms right for Rukia, who ducked the grab sensing it would be dangerous, only for Chizuru to take Rukia by the shoulders, so Rukia pushed her away, but tripped, and body hit the floor hard.

It hurt.

But she saw Chizuru snarling even more.

"Time to...come to me Rukia..."

Chizuru let out a bellowing sound, and went to grab Rukia, when Rukia flipped her body upwards, doing a hand stand, and kicked upwards, right into Chizuru's chin, pushing her up into the air, allowing Rukia to come to her feet, and slam her foot into Chizuru's stomach as the door opened, revealing Takumi, who's mouth became agape at the sight of Rukia kicking Chizuru.

"Rukia-chan! W-What are you doing!? I know she bugs you, but you didn't have to kick her!"

Rukia panted, seeing Chizuru fall back into a nearby chair, and let out a small groan.

"Takumi, there's something different about this girl. She's-"

Before she could finish, Chizuru's face lifted upwards, and turned towards Takumi.

As soon as she did, Chizuru's eyes fluttered, then rage came to her.

"Takumi...don't get in the way..."

Her voice was disjointed.

It was creepy, eerily so.

Takumi knew something was different about her.

"Chizuru-chan, are you..." Takumi saw that she was turning to Rukia, and looked ready to lunge. "I don't think so!"

Takumi crossed the distance, and pushed Chizuru backwards.

"See? There's something wrong with her."

Takumi couldn't deny that to be the case.

"Yeah, you're right."

Takumi pushed forward, while Chizuru's eyes danced between the two of them.

* * *

Giselle outside, sitting on a tree branch, watched on curiously.

"Geez, Zombie Chizuru, what are you doing? I never sent her to be aggressive...weird. Maybe she's naturally bloodthirsty...Zombie Chizuru, is her love been enhanced to dangerous love...? I really need to begin perfecting The Zombie power so crazy Zombie's aren't made like this..." Giselle murmured to herself, watching Chizuru growling, then turned to the side to see Bambietta readying an arrow. "Hey, you're not going to fire at Takumi-kun, are you?"

"Better to do it now."

Bambietta went to fire when Giselle pulled out her own arrow, and aimed it at her, Bambietta scowled at Giselle who did the same thing.

"Don't try it Bambi-chan. Not all Shinigami are evil, especially this one. If you saw what I did, then you'd say the same thing about Shinigami."

"I doubt it, I hate them all."

Bambietta let out a small growl, but Giselle didn't take her arrow off of Bambietta, so she couldn't fire at Takumi.

* * *

Takumi pushed her away from Rukia, and raised his fingers to the air, announcing "Bakudo 1: Sai!" and her arms went behind her back, and then he went into his bag, pulling out a drug.

"This should stop her."

Takumi placed a few drops on her cheek, which sunk into her skin.

It took a few seconds, but then her eyes rolled around, falling down to the ground, but Takumi caught her, and laid her down onto the ground, Rukia moving closer.

"A drug to knock out people with no, or low spiritual pressure, right?"

"Correct, Rukia-chan. Maybe she might go back to normal after being unconscious. But, there is something weird about this...I'm gonna draw some blood from her, and see what's going on, maybe a screening of her blood might reveal what's going on. I'll also search for unusual spirit particles in her blood."

"I see, then lets do this."

Takumi went into his bag, and pulled out a blood collecting kit, Rukia gave him a strange look.

"You have your hobbies, I have my own." Rukia shrugged, and watched as he withdrew blood, and then he healed her arm with some ointment so it wouldn't show up at all, just as Takumi noticed the cut on Rukia's cheek. "Geez, did she cut you? Are you alright?"

Takumi placed a hand on the side of Rukia's face, making her blush slightly.

"W-What are you doing...?"

Takumi was surprised by how innocent her voice sounded, contrasting to how confident she usually was.

He nodded, then used the ointment, applying it to her cheek, while using some tissue he got from the class to wipe the blood away, all the while Rukia's cheeks turned slightly more red than before at the gentle touch of his fingertips.

"It's a special healing ointment, it can heal small wounds like this. How does it feel?"

Rukia ran a hand across her cheek, feeling the cut being healed quickly.

"Amazing, fast acting...thank you Takumi."

"No problem~" As he said it, the door opened with other students coming in, people gasped when seeing Chizuru on the ground. "Anyone, call the school nurse! We just found her like this!"

Takumi thought quickly, and spoke such words.

Rukia was glad he thought quickly, and managed to get that through.

Giselle watched from outside, and furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what to do next, while Bambietta scowled at missing her opportunity.

* * *

Yuzu casually walked into her room, as she was getting ready for school, and thought about that girl, Giselle, wondering what she was going to do now, it seemed like she was distraught about the death of Masaki.

But as she walked past Karin, Karin noticed the bird, and her eyes widened.

A sudden feeling came over her.

She felt sick to her stomach.

The look of the bird was normal, but images flooded her mind.

Her body felt like it was on fire.

Sweat beads rolled down her face.

Her neck twitched more and more at the sight of the bird.

"Hey Karin, is something wrong?"

Karin gulped, looking the bird up and down.

"W-Where did you get that bird Yuzu?"

"Well, a man just abandoned it here this morning. This is the bird we were talking about."

Karin felt faint.

She felt like she was going to throw up.

The fact that she was staring at the bird like it belong there...

"I'm sorry."

Yuzu blinked at the voice, while Karin stared at the bird.

"What did you say…?"

"I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel sick."

Karin pulled away from the bird…

But then noticed from outside, there was a shining light, and from her wrist, and Yuzu's, the alarm went off.

The Hollow alarm.

The light was heading right for Yuzu.

"Yuzu!"

She jumped Yuzu, knocking her down to the ground, and the glass shattered behind her, with a small creature coming through the window, and went to attack Yuzu, when Karin pulled out her sword, and impaled the creature with her blade.

"Karin...what is that thing?"

Yuzu asked, slipping on some glasses, and gazed at the dead creature.

"I don't know...no, maybe it is a Hollow...but, it seems so small...so, what it is...we'll have to...ugh..."

"Lets assemble the team Karin!"

Karin hoped that they would be able to assist them with the bird. Though she couldn't shake the feeling of the bird itself, and then there was the creature that came through the window.

She walked to the window, peering outside, and looked around…

But she couldn't see anything at all.

Her eyes danced left and right, but nothing was within her vision.

"Karin, do you think a Hollow is nearby?"

Karin looked at her watch, and it wasn't going off.

"No, I don't think that there is anymore. This thing would be going off if it would. But it did go off before so there probably was a Hollow around here. Either way, we should get to school, and..." Karin felt something enter her mind, the feelings of the parakeet, and dropped to her knees. "Damn..."

"Karin! A-Are you alright!?"

Yuzu panicked.

She worried for her sister, and didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

"Y-Yeah, come on, lets go..."

Karin struggled to her feet with Yuzu's help.

Her eyes went towards the bird once more, seeing its eyes on her form.

Honestly, that worried her.

Not because she thought the bird was evil.

But, because she knew something was definitely off about the bird itself.

* * *

Sitting within the nurses office, Takumi, Rukia and Orihime watched Chizuru as she laid down on the bed, unconscious. Takumi looked over her, while Rukia noticed that Orihime was holding onto Takumi's hand. She smiled at that, it seemed that the pair was growing closer...yet, she couldn't help but feel something else.

She didn't know what it was...

It was something different inside of her.

When she looked at Takumi and Orihime's closeness, something was bubbling inside of her...

But she shook her head when Orihime cocked her head with concern.

"I can't believe she attacked you Kuchiki-chan, are you okay?"

Orihime's concern made Rukia smile slightly.

"I'm fine. And it wasn't really her, we think anyway."

"Yeah, there was something very different about her, she's always been very weird, but she's never been that aggressive before, and how she spoke was disjointed...so I don't know what was going on."

"And then there's that arrow that fired at me...it almost got me as well. It was like an arrow you made for Yuzu."

"So, it was a Quincy as we can rule out Yuzu-chan attacking you...but why attack you...? Because you're a Shinigami...?"

Rukia didn't have an answer either, and shuddered when seeing Chizuru's body move.

"She went from loving me, to wanting to being aggressive with me."

"Which do you prefer?"

Takumi wondered, causing Rukia to shudder.

"...At least when she's being aggressive, I can defend myself."

Takumi lightly laughed, Orihime giggled, and raised her arm to the sky.

"It was a battle from lovers to enemies!"

"But we were never lovers."

"Not according to Zombie Chizuru."

Takumi snickered out, Rukia shot him a glare, causing him to flinch, Orihime's arms went around Takumi defensively.

"Don't worry Taku-chan, I thought that was funny~"

"You're an Angel Orihime-chan! You truly-"

"Hime-chan!"

"Aaaaah!"

Chizuru shot up, Rukia cried, and shot behind Takumi.

Chizuru's eyes fluttered, then looked around at the three.

"Whats going on you Hime-chan? Rukia-chan?"

Takumi noticed that he wasn't even mentioned, so he knew this was normal Chizuru...but, a part of him wasn't convinced.

"You were...erm, what do you remember Chizuru-chan?"

Orihime asked kindly, Chizuru's eyes went to the roof.

"I remember...I remember spending time with my Rukia-chan in the classroom, and we were dancing together." Chizuru's face went to Rukia, who grabbed Takumi, and held onto him tightly. "Rukia-chan! Don't go to him! I'll be with you! I've lost my Hime to him, I can't lose you too!"

"S-Sorry, but I'm with Takumi now!"

She panicked and had to say that, for her own sanity at this point.

Orihime's face turned to bemusement, and hugged Takumi too, her large boobs pressing against his face, his face turning slightly red.

"We share Taku-chan! Isn't that modern of us Chizuru-chan?"

Chizuru's eyes snapped onto Takumi angrily.

"You..." Chizuru stood up, and walked to the door. "...have fun, I'll get a group of lovely women, who love me! Mark my words!"

Chizuru left through the door, Takumi, Rukia and Orihime looked towards the door questioningly.

"She seems back to normal~"

Orihime sang out, but Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't know about that. Something still seems different."

"Yeah..."

Takumi murmured, all three having questions about this.

* * *

Outside of the door, Chizuru took off walking, and rounded a corner, to see Giselle stood there.

"Zombie Chizuru did as instructed Giselle-sama, and came back to you."

"Well done Zombie Chizuru. But, you did a bad thing and were aggressive with Rukia-chan. It's the others that hate the Shinigami, I don't have a beef with them, though it seems Rukia-chan is a little too attached to Takumi-kun, but that's fine for now~ Aah Takumi-kun, he's just so adorably cute I might die from happiness~! I need to learn more about him! After seeing him doing that beautiful thing for that orange haired girl, I've become interested in him, I wonder if he'd be kind to me too~?"

Zombie Chizuru hung her head.

"Zombie Chizuru is sorry, and will divulge information about Takumi Urahara."

Giselle placed a hand over her heart, and hugged Zombie Chizuru.

"Don't worry about it, you're a good Zombie really, and thank you Zombie Chizuru. Now, what do you want to do Zombie Chizuru?"

"I...I want to have fun Giselle-sama."

She snarled, making Giselle giggle.

"Me too! Lets go and have some fun Zombie Chizuru, but not the bad kind! Help me forget about my sadness for a while Zombie Chizuru!"

Giselle and Zombie Chizuru began skipping down the corridor together, and went to have some fun.

* * *

When Yuzu and Karin made it to school, Takumi, Orihime and Rukia were called to the roof. They didn't even go into the classroom, since they had the bird with them.

While standing on the roof, they all stared at the bird, Rukia, and Takumi definitely felt something from the bird.

"There's definitely a spirit within the bird. A human soul I should say."

Rukia spoke up, Takumi nodding his head, but then saw Karin looking a little ill.

"Are you alright Karin-chan?"

Karin waved her hand.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Her voice was wobbling, Takumi felt worry for her, as did Yuzu.

"Taku-chan, if there's a spirit inside of the bird, does that mean that he is dead?"

Takumi looked down at the bird, and then moved closer.

"...Yeah, he is dead." The birds eyes lowered, Rukia carefully watched on. "Unfortunately, it seems that this young boy has lost his life." His finger reached out for the bird, while Karin's eyes moved up and down, like she was feeling dizzy. "So, what's your name little guy? My names Takumi Urahara."

"Yuichi. Yuichi Shibata."

Orihime looked surprised that it spoke.

Rukia however focused her eyes onto the bird, and twitched her neck side to side.

"Yuichi-kun, how did you end up getting put into the bird?"

"Getting put into? What does that mean Taku-chan?"

Orihime didn't quite understand, so Rukia explained.

"This spirit didn't find its way into the bird by itself. It was forced into the bird somehow. Though if I had to guess, then I'd say it was either a Hollow, or someone from the Soul Society. However, I can't see a Shinigami doing this, it just wouldn't make sense."

"So, someone placed that poor boy into the bird?"

Rukia inclined her neck.

"Yes, that's right. And now, we should perform Konso Takumi. Then we have to make sure Chizuru isn't still Zombie Chizuru."

"What's Zombie Chizuru?"

Yuzu asked curiously, Rukia shuddered, and didn't say anything else.

Takumi nodded.

"You're right. Hey, maybe he'll meet Sora-san, Orihime-chan~"

Orihime's face curled upwards.

"Maybe he would yes~"

Orihime continued to smile, as Takumi went to go towards Rukia.

But he stopped when seeing Karin's eyes wavering, she looked pale, sickly.

"Karin-chan, you're not okay, are you?"

Karin's eyes snapped open, looking at the others who looked on with concern.

"...I-I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"But Karin..."

Yuzu tried to connect to her sister, but Karin brushed her off.

"I'm fine, we just have to send this bird off to the Soul Society or whatever, then lets call it a day..."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, and moved closer to her.

However, as he was, all five of them picked up a Hollow nearby, the watches and senses going off.

"A Hollow. But where is it?"

Takumi looked around, but couldn't see it.

Orihime and Yuzu banded together, to wonder what was going on.

However, Takumi then moved closer to Rukia, who slipped on her glove...only for him to see from the construction site at a good distance away from them, metal beams were being launched towards them.

"Get down!"

Takumi pushed Rukia down, as he bent backwards, a metal beam flying above his torso, and crashed behind him.

"Ooh my God!"

Orihime let out, seeing another one coming, and ducked downwards with Yuzu, but Karin was dizzy.

She barely could think much less do anything else.

Memories of Yuichi flooded her mind more and more.

A burning sensation ran through her.

Like an infection.

It was overwhelming...

"Karin-chan!"

When she finally did see the metal beam coming towards her thanks to Takumi calling her name, she was slow to react, but Takumi knocked her down, saving her from being hit, only to receive the metal beam right to the head.

Takumi's eyes rolled around and was brought down to the ground harshly, blood coming from the wound and ran down his face, knocking him dizzy from the impact.

"Takumi!"

Rukia cried out, seeing Takumi's head bleeding.

Since he was in his Gigai, he naturally wouldn't have the strength of a Shinigami, and the durability, so he would bleed like that.

"Taku-chan!"

Orihime rushed over, placing her hand on Takumi's head, seeing him bleeding.

She wouldn't allow him to bleed for long, she took off her jacket, and pressed it against Takumi's head wound, while Karin was stunned.

Takumi took a metal beam, just for her.

He got injured willingly to help her out, and to make sure that she didn't suffer any injuries.

Yuzu pulled at her watch, and summoned her bow, and arrow, looking towards the construction site, seeing another metal beam coming towards them.

"I don't think so!"

Yuzu flipped the switch and summoned exploding balls at the end of her arrows, and she fired one off with precise accuracy, coming into contact with the metal beam, and exploded, while Rukia pulled out her gun, and aimed it towards the construction site.

"No doubt about it, it's a Hollow alright. It probably thought that if it attacked at a distance, it would catch us by surprise. Can't say that it didn't work." Her eyes went to Takumi, who sat up thanks to Orihime helping him. "Takumi, you okay?"

"My head hurts...but, can't say that I'm out of it just yet. Get me out of my body...I'll go and deal with the Hollow."

Rukia nodded, moving closer, and pushed against his body, turning him into a Shinigami.

Takumi's eyes fluttered, feeling weird from the attack, against his human body. It still made him feel dizzy.

* * *

But, he didn't stop, and withdrew his Zanpakuto, and jumped off the building, using his speed to cross the distance between Takumi and the Hollow within a few seconds, the Hollow in question had wings attacked to its arms, and its tongue resembled a fork.

"What?!"

The Hollow cried out, while Takumi took out his blade, and swung it for the Hollow at a fast speed, cutting deeply into the Hollow's body, forcing it off the building that was being made, and sent it down towards the ground, creating a cloud of smoke from the impact.

"Oi, throwing beams at me and my friends. There's something wrong with you, isn't there?"

Takumi jumped down towards the Hollow, and hovered above it, which looked upwards, and had pleading eyes.

"Wait, wait! Please don't do this! You can't kill me!"

"Sorry, that's the nature of my job as a Shinigami."

Takumi replied with a small yawn.

However, the Hollow then smirked, and from its fur around its neck, several small creatures came out, and spat what appeared to be leeches towards his form. The Hollow smirked at the sight, and was about to laugh when…

"Hah!"

Takumi swung his blade outwards, slicing through the leech creatures, cutting them apart, but the Hollow revealed its tongue, and a sonic sound came from it, causing the cut up parts to explode around Takumi.

The Hollow began to laugh.

"Hahaha! You might be fast but you couldn't of..." The Hollow's cocky attitude was stopped when Takumi appeared above him, standing in the air without a scratch on him. "...h-how in the hell did you do something like that?!"

Takumi showed a calm expression on his face.

He didn't even seem to be worried about anything, the Hollow also knew that Takumi was stronger. He could feel it. The speed he used was amazing. The fact that he also used his strength to pin him down...it was all over for him.

"It's called being fast. You currently don't have the speed to fight against me. But, I have to ask, why are you interested in that bird exactly? Are you the one responsible for ripping the soul of the boy, and putting it into the bird?"

The Hollow's face twisted and contorted, but it didn't answer.

Takumi scowled, and forced his blade right next to the Hollow's head, causing the Hollow to wince at the sight.

"I asked you a question. I want it answering. Did you rip out the soul of the boy and put it into the bird?"

"W-Why does it matter!?"

"Because I want to know if there's another enemy I have to deal with or not. So, be good and answer me before my sword turns in your direction, and pierces through your head. I sense evil coming from you, more so than normal Hollow's. So, I wonder what you were like before becoming a Hollow, huh."

Takumi demanded from the Hollow, which began sweating nervously.

It felt like he was going to be sick.

Takumi wondered what it was thinking about.

"So, going to tell me, or should I just kill you off now, and take my chances?"

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait one second! Y-You don't have to kill me! I-I was just trying to play a game!"

"A game…? A game of what exactly?"

"Heh, haven't you heard of cat and mouse?"

Takumi's eyes narrowed considerably.

"Cat and mouse? With the boy?"

"Not just him now. Those girls, very tasty twin souls, how do you think they came to possess the bird?"

Takumi's sword raised up.

He had had enough of this Hollow.

He went to stab downwards...

* * *

But then stopped when he felt a pressure coming from beside him.

He turned his neck in time to see an arrow going for him, so he took out his blade, and deflected the arrow away from him, and landing on the ground, was Bambietta, her eyes going for Takumi, and her smirk grew on her face.

"Shinigami, nice to meet ya, the names Bambietta Basterbine. Heh, I can see why she thought you were pretty cute. Say, how about we have some fun before you get killed?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, seeing Bambietta holding a bow, a bow that looked like small explosions, the Hollow looked between the two of them, sweat dropping off his face, while Takumi's full attention was on the girl.

"Attacking people isn't nice, especially innocent people."

Bambietta threw a hand through her hair.

"It doesn't matter. Me and my friends here are going to take care of you, Shinigami."

Takumi looked behind her, but couldn't see anyone.

He looked left and right, while the Hollow began moving backwards.

"Erm...what friends?"

"My friends! These people..." Her eyes went back...but, they weren't there. "...C-Candy? Minnie? Gigi? Little tits? Where are you girls…? Please come out now so we can screw over this Shinigami..."

"You call one of your friends little tits?"

Takumi muttered in wonder.

Bambietta chuckled to herself.

"You'd call her that too if you knew her."

"But, since they aren't here, I couldn't possibly know her..."

Bambietta's face turned into something between embarrassed, and angry.

"Ooh come on! Seriously?! I said we'd go together. And they didn't even show up?! For God sake! I could seriously kill those girls!"

"Wow...that's some problem you got there, with your friends not showing up and all..."

Bambietta turned back towards Takumi, and grinned wildly.

"I suppose you're right. I do have some problems. Some are you!"

Bambietta took to her bow and fired off a multitude of arrows.

Takumi narrowed his eyes as he swung his sword left and right, cutting through the arrows with ease, and dashed forward.

"Did you attack Rukia-chan? Are you the one responsible for Chizuru-chan?"

Bambietta smirked at the sight, and allowed her hand to light up with her energy.

"Maybe, you'll have to find out, wont ya?"

Bambietta smirked, and shot her hand forward.

From her hand, energy had released, Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, and swung his sword outwards.

However, as soon as his sword touched the energy, within a second, it exploded, forcing Takumi backwards, and smashed his body through a nearby metal structure for a building, releasing some metal beams from above, which pierced the ground near Takumi.

Takumi looked down at his sword, and saw that it had some damage to it, and then to his hands, that were bleeding from the impact.

"An explosion..."

"My power, you see. Isn't it amazing? I'll explode you to death!"

"Whoa, hold on there, what's going on with you anyway? You're a Quincy, aren't you?"

Bambietta showed her hand which glowed with her energy.

"My, how observant. Shinigami like you are my enemies. So, forgive me for not exchanging pleasantries. It pains me to kill off someone cute like you, but because you're a Shinigami, you're my enemy, and I wont allow you to walk away from here!"

"Just because I'm a Shinigami, you're going to kill me?"

Takumi asked, while the Hollow scurried away.

"All Shinigami are the same. You hunt down Quincy's, and kill us off, pretending you're the superior race!"

"I never said I was a superior race. And I don't believe that's true at all. Actually, I'm fascinated with Quincy's. I've based tech on Quincy powers, so I've got no beef with Quincy's. So, why don't we just talk about what's going on with you, and settle this peacefully."

Bambietta's face twisted with annoyance, and then placed both hands forward, gathering her energy, while Takumi noticed that the Hollow had escaped, causing him to scowl, though he was sure when it showed up again, he'd be able to take it down, Bambietta was the more threatening concern right now.

"Sorry, but you've got to die!"

Two energy balls came out of her hands, and headed for Takumi.

Knowing the destructive power of the blasts, he lifted a nearby steel beam, and launched it for Bambietta, the spheres came into contact with the beam, and caused it to explode, a large cloud of smoke going up into the air.

"That's not going to..."

Bambietta stopped when seeing Takumi close the distance.

He was fast.

She was surprised.

He was before her with his sword swinging for her.

But she realized that it was the dull side of his blade going for her, she grimaced, and pulled backwards away from the sword, the blade sliced the air in front of her nose, as she cartwheeled backwards, and put distance between them.

Then she shot off a bunch of arrows towards Takumi, who didn't take chances, and flashed towards the right, landing on a fence, and placed his hand outwards, summoning his spiritual power, allowing it to form at his finger.

"Hado 1: Sho!"

The small burst of energy came out of his finger, but Bambietta was surprised when Takumi swatted his own attack, and forced it to head towards Bambietta with a harder attack power, Bambietta however thrusted her hand outwards, and shot off an explosive power, connecting it to the Kido spell he used, and set off an explosion, Takumi noticed something however when it did.

Bambietta smirked, and pulled out a sword made of Reishi, swinging it for the left, seeing Takumi appear there, and parried his blade.

"Did you think I'd fall for that twice!?"

"No, I was expecting that."

Bambietta became confused, only to see Takumi's foot heading for her stomach, Bambietta pulled backwards, and once more, it seemed like he wasn't trying to truly do damage to her, which pissed her off.

"You bastard..."

"By the way, your power...it seems a bit different to what I thought."

Bambietta folded her arms.

"Is that so?"

"Your power...your explosion power. I'm not sure, but it seems like your explosions aren't..."

Before he could finish, Bambietta slammed her foot onto the ground.

"Are you not taking me as a serious opponent?!"

Takumi didn't think she would be angry about him trying to not damage her. If anything, he thought she'd be glad that he wasn't trying to damage her.

"Of course I am-"

"You used the dull side of your sword! Don't pull that shit with me! You aren't taking me seriously!"

"Are you taking me seriously?" Bambietta scowled. "I'll take that as a no. I sensed your power, you're quite strong. so I'm wondering why you aren't trying to kill me?"

"Oh you wanna die? I was going to save your pretty face for me, but I'll take it up a notch for you right now!"

Bambietta used her speed to appear before Takumi, and swung out her blade, Takumi raised his own and parried her blade, creating sparks between their blades, her free hand thrusting outwards, and went to send off her energy when Takumi pointed his finger to her, releasing Sho towards her, forcing her to jump backwards, the Kido spell hit a nearby wall, and caused it to shake.

Bambietta smirked at Takumi.

"Hmph, how about this for taking it up a notch?"

Bambietta thrusted her arms upwards, and around her, the energy came around, and the air itself began to vibrate.

"Shit!"

Takumi went to jump when the explosion was set off.

It was a strong explosion, it destroyed the area easily, carving into the ground a large sized hole. The cars nearby were shaking, and the air pressure around blew people over. Fortunately, it seemed Bambietta contained the explosion to just around them.

But still Takumi pulled backwards, and had some light burns on his body, along with his robes being burnt by the explosion that she gave off, Bambietta however smirked at the sight of the young boy.

"I like a boy covered in wounds. You look sweet. Maybe I should...you know, I just realized. You've not used Shikai. Are you really taking me like a child?" Takumi didn't say anything, Bambietta came to a realization. "It isn't that you haven't used it...it's because you haven't achieved it yet, have you?"

"Cut me some slack, I've only just become a Shinigami a little while ago."

Bambietta showed a superior smirk.

"Then, this is going to be easier than I thought! Hahaha! Alright then Takumi Urahara! I will show you death!"

Takumi's eyes widened when she disappeared from sight briefly, and appeared beside him, an arrow pulling back and ready to shoot off towards him.

But within that second between that she released her arrow, Takumi flashed towards the large structure, and appeared on the second story of the metal beams, Bambietta's eyes shooting for the structure, and glared.

"He's quite fast to dodge in that second, I have to be careful."

Bambietta muttered, and turned her arrows towards him, shooting off a myriad of them in quick succession. Rather than take the chance to slice them down with his Zanpakuto since they could explode, Takumi cartwheeled across the structures beam with Bambietta following him with her arrow barrage.

But his speed and reflexes were great, and she couldn't reach him, angering her more and more by the second.

"I have to admit you aren't bad."

"Thanks. Neither are you, Bambietta-san."

Bambietta showed a deranged smirk on her face, and used her speed to cross the distance in a matter of seconds, and swung out her blade for him, Takumi parried her strike with his own, and sparks doused the area, Bambietta grinned at the sight of this.

"I thought that this might have been boring. But fighting against a Shinigami worth his shit isn't so bad. So, how do you like dancing with me exactly?"

"So far, it's been fun. But, I think we should stop now before one of us becomes seriously hurt."

"No! I can dance all night long, now come here!"

Bambietta allowed energy to circulate her hand, and thrusted it for Takumi while jumping backwards.

Takumi skidded to the left, and jumped to the adjacent metal beam, and ran forward, and within a second of the energy touching the metal beam, it exploded, causing the structure to shake around, losing its balance and some metal beams fell down to the ground, stabbing into the earth.

Bambietta snickered while Takumi scowled, but also began realizing something by how her explosions seemed to have been working.

His sword.

The structure.

The way that she used it around her…

"What are you trying to accomplish here? If you break this, then innocent people could be killed."

"Is that why you came onto this structure? Did you think I wouldn't explode it? Caring about innocent people, yeah right. Good one Shinigami. I didn't think Shinigami cared about innocent people. The Quincy were innocent once too, you know?"

Takumi scowled at the young woman, while Bambietta allowed her energy to circulate her hand.

"Yeah, I realize that, but if you kill innocent people, then you're no better than the people that killed the Quincy, right?"

Bambietta's eyes blazed with her fury.

"You shut up right nooooooooooooooooooooow!"

Bambietta thrusted her hand forward, and shot off her energy.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, and then cut off some metal nearby, and threw it at the energy, which collided together, and then within a second, it exploded, causing wind to rush around both of them.

"Your power...it isn't your energy that is exploding. It is your energy that infects other things, peoples bodies, or inanimate objects, and turning them into the explosive and the power behind it depends on how much energy you yourself release, am I right about that Bambietta-san?"

Bambietta pulled back slightly.

"_He figured it out…?_"

She thought to herself, while Takumi dashed forward, and appeared before her.

"When it hit my sword, if it was your energy, then my swing should of at least diverted the blast a little bit. But no, my sword was caught by the energy and it exploded. If it had been a normal sword then it would've been destroyed. But since it was my Zanpakuto, it managed to survive the attack. Then there's your arrows. You didn't infuse your explosive power into your arrows, because they would explode almost immediately so that would be useless. That's why you tried using your arrows to corner me, and then come at me from close range. Even the space around you, your energy can infect it if you so choose, so an explosion around you can occur, am I right Bambietta-san?"

Bambietta's face turned into more of a scowl.

"I heard you'd be quite intelligent, but I didn't expect you to figure out my power so fast."

"Indeed, it was quite intriguing. I'd like to know where you got that power. I wasn't aware Quincy's could be born with innate special powers."

Bambietta smirked.

"Well, I'm full of surprises. And even if you've figured it out, you can't get away from it. As you said, my power turns anything into an explosive, so even if you tried to bat it away, your sword will explode. All you can do is try and dodge until I get my hands on you, and explode your-"

"Taku-chan! Taku-chan!" Orihime came running up, panting slightly. "T-Taku-chan! It's Karin-chan! T-There's something wrong with her!"

Takumi's worries came up quite high, glancing down towards her.

"What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know, she just collapsed, she looks like she's got a high fever. Kuchiki-chan is doing her best, but she doesn't know what else to try...and what happened to the Hollow Taku-chan?"

"It got away while I was fighting this girl."

Her eyes went towards Bambietta who smirked.

"Taku-chan, who is she…?"

"She's..."

"I'm your enemy little girl. I'll also be killing this guy as well."

Bambietta spoke above Takumi, and showed her tongue sadistically.

"W-Why!?"

Orihime cried, not understanding what was going on.

Bambietta however smirked.

"Because that's what I want. I want Shinigami's to become extinct."

Takumi scowled at Bambietta, and turned his back to her.

"I can't fight anymore, this is over."

"Wait a second! I still want to fight you!"

"A friend of mine is in danger, I wont allow a squabble right now interfere, so I'm going. Also, don't attack Rukia-chan again either. If you want to fight, you fight me, leave her, Orihime-chan and the others out of this."

"Oh no you don't!"

Bambietta charged up her energy in both hands, and went to strike, when Takumi turned back and announced "Bakudo 1: Sai!" and then her hands were forced behind her back, clapping together, and because of that, her energies met, and infused her hands with her energy and exploded from behind her, propelling her forward.

"Sorry Bambietta-san!"

Takumi spun his sword around and hit her in the stomach with his hilt, Bambietta's eyes widening and forced her body through the air, sending her sailing down to the ground in a heavy burst, slamming against the ground and sand erupted around them.

Takumi went to Orihime, lifting her up, and sped out of the area.

"Taku-chan, are you okay? You're bleeding."

"I'll be fine, it seems that we've got a new enemy Orihime-chan."

"Yes...but, when I looked into her eyes, I saw sadness Taku-chan...I wonder why she hates Shinigami so much...?"

"Beyond what I know of what happened between Quincy's and Shinigami's, I don't know. But I intend to find out. Especially since she tried to kill both myself and Rukia-chan. This has just become complicated."

Takumi continued towards the school with Orihime in his arms.

Bambietta recovered a few seconds later and went to take out her sword…

But she saw that Takumi was speeding away from her at a speed that she wouldn't be able to catch, her eyes narrowing angrily.

"Damn it, he's more dangerous than I gave him credit for, and not just a cute face. I guess that I'll have to take it up a notch next time. Heh, the games only begun Takumi, you've definitely intrigued me hahahahaha."

Bambietta's dangerous words made her all the more determined.

She definitely wasn't going to give up anytime soon, no matter what.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, what a thing huh! The Sternritter girls consisting of Bambietta, Liltotto, Meninas, and Candice have appeared with Giselle, and Giselle herself seems to know quite a bit about Masaki, and Isshin and what not, more on why will be shown in the future, and she saved Chizuru by turning her into a Zombie, but it doesn't seem she's mastered that particular ability just yet as Chizuru's running a little wild. Bambietta got quite trigger happy, and came after Takumi along with Rukia, though he managed to duel with her long enough before he had to go and tend to Karin. We'll be getting more into the Sternritter girls and their thoughts in the future, and discover more why Bambietta hates Shinigami, beyond the obvious, the relationship between Giselle and Masaki will be more explored among other things.**

**Karin and Yuzu also took down a Hollow together! And they found the parakeet, which has connected to Karin, and caused her to collapse! Next chapter, we'll see more of their growing strengths with Karin making a decision about her future, and Takum's confronted once more by the enemy.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier.**


	5. The parakeet part two!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Dark King Marcel; Thank you!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Giselle's found out something devastating to her, she's doing her best to hide it, but her friends can see that she's quite sad about it. Sure, I could see that happening, it would be pretty cool. Yeah, they'd be good between them, having a sister like relationship. Bambietta's gonna have an eye opening moment during this arc, I can't spoil where though. That would be a funny moment. It is quite fun, Rukia's naive moments always made me laugh. She's going to come to a realization during this arc.**

**Oblivious IJ; It seems so yeah~ She is yeah, Takumi and Soi Fon are going to have quite the interesting relationship. Yeah, she does have some adorable moments~**

**Striker Studios; Maybe she will do yeah~ It is quite humiliating for her, and we'll see more of the mind of Bambietta during this first arc. Those look pretty awesome, thanks for giving me some ideas!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Yeah, they're surely coming along quite well. Ooh yeah, Zombie Chizuru is back, she's here and she's scarier than ever lol. It seems like Rukia's feelings are beginning to surface, and we'll see something more from her to cement her feelings. Ooh yeah, Yoruichi surely is moving forward with Takumi. She might have been a little serious hehe~**

**Skull Flame; Yeah, they knew one another, more of that to come later on! Indeed, what is she going to do? He did yeah but not for long. She was yeah, she's back, and she's scarier than ever lol~ Well you never know, Bambietta might be in the future, I haven't decided yet.**

**Andrew123456; Yeah, I'm thinking about that one~**

**Guest 1; Sure, I could see that happening, it would be fun to have Nel appear now.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! He did yeah, Yoruichi made a move on Takumi at the beginning~ She did yeah, Yuzu's showing improvement. Yup, they did quite well! She could be something like that yeah~ Yup, the other Sternritter girls have appeared, and are going to be somewhat antagonists during this first arc, though Giselle and Liltotto don't seem to have anything against Takumi, Meninas doesn't really, but she'd help Bambi who hates Shinigami, and Candice just likes attacking Shinigami so she'd be an antagonist as well. It seems that he didn't no. I thought I put her hair was green. She did yeah, she's a Zombie now. They had a small cute moment between them~ He's more under Yuzu and Karin's care, but yeah, Takumi's gonna help out. She'll acknowledge what he did for her, and become a little more softer now. Yup, he's growing stronger huh~? I always found it a little funny in canon when they did it to her, and thought I'd add it here, though in this story, they're more friends than they seem in canon. Glad you liked the fight! Yeah, they might do~ It will become a much friendlier place with Takumi in charge. I dunno about Senna yet. Yeah, what happens to her is pretty sad, I watched the movie recently too. Yeah, there wouldn't be a need for it. Her power would amplify Takumi's since his is the master of thunder and lightning. Haha, that would be funny~ Yeah, they've just recently got their powers, as Giselle said last chapter she needs to begin mastering The Zombie power. Well, she could be any of them, and Takumi's Mother doesn't have to be a Fullbringer for Takumi to be a Fullbringer, all she has to have done to her is be attacked by a Hollow, and survive it. I can understand that, Quincy's are a little more fleshed out than Fullbringer's. I've always been fascinated with both of them, and wonder how many Fullbringer's there could be. And Quincy's do have interesting abilities as well. Sure, those would be pretty easy for Takumi at that point. Well, it will be a little while before the Sternritter girls want to be around Takumi, besides Giselle, and Liltotto. There would have to be a reason for it, other than aesthetics of course. Purple lightning remains of poisoned lightning or something haha~ That would be a nice change, Byakuya deserves happiness after all. He wouldn't have a Hollow hole, if he had Hollow powers, he'd just have a mask, and perhaps transformation. Sure, it could happen. Yeah, they could raise in power. That would be nic if he got the Hollow dog. Those are great suggestions! Maybe they will take a liking to him~**

**Guest 2; The Zoom, would that power just be to lock onto targets from a distance?**

**Guest 3; That would be cool, G for the Guard or something.**

**Crenin; Both feline sexy women yeah~ The Quincy girls, perhaps, I haven't decided yet. About Uryu, check out the bottom for that character. No, it doesn't annoy me, don't worry. And thanks very much!**

**Guest 4; Sure, they could do that, it sounds pretty good to me. That sounds awesome! Yeah, I'd probably do the movies. It would be nice if they had a child.**

**A fan; Mayuri's huh, that would be interesting. Poison and Lightning together could be cool, he could paralyze peoples bodies that the lightning touches which would be fun. Yeah, Takumi's quite intelligent, so he'd be able to do something like that.**

**Guest 5; I don't know about adding them yet, but they'll be a good part of the story.**

**maxbrevan; Thanks very much! Yeah, I thought that making them appear now to set up things for the future, and have the Quincy's have more of a presence in the series since they didn't really till the end. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 6; If going by canon, then she'd be a child since she would have that wound on her Hollow mask, though maybe Takumi could fix that for her, or she could show up as a child, then suddenly switch to adult mode or something. I wouldn't go overboard with it since there's only a certain few that I can imagine gender bent.**

**Guest 7; Karin's gonna have Ichigo's Shinigami/Hollow powers, so Getsuga Tensho, and Hollow mask, and what not.**

**Guest 8; My favourite filler arc huh. That's a good question. I know some people don't, but I like a good number of the filler arcs. My favourite is tough to pin down, probably between the Bount arc as I found that idea fascinating and where it could have gone, and the Zanpakuto Rebellion arc as that idea of the spirits rebelling against their Shinigami is quite fascinating to me. So, yeah, it would be between them.**

**Guest 9; Sure, that sounds pretty cool to me. I like that idea of two katanas that can become shotguns. Sure, I've always liked time powers in media. Yeah, I don't think she has, I'm not fully up to day with RWBY but I can't remember Ruby having a love interest.**

**Tomare tokio; Sure, he could be that age. He could have Jigglypuff yeah~ A worldwide one sounds good. Yeah, I like those movies. Those sound pretty awesome to me, and yeah, that would be a nice twist.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The parakeet part two!**

Takumi, after dealing with the Quincy girl for the moment, had taken Karin back home with the others following. He went to her bedroom, and laid her down on her bed, where she squirmed, and looked as if she didn't feel well.

"Takumi-kun, what's wrong with her…?"

Yuzu was panicked.

Of course she was.

Seeing her sister in this kind of state, she was worried for her and what was happening with her.

Takumi inhaled slowly, as Rukia answered.

"She's having a negative connection to the bird, probably because she has high spirit energy while it being untamed right now. Then there's the fact that she's close to the spirit in age unlike myself and..." She paused when glancing at Takumi who looked over Karin. "...the point is, that she needs to get some rest right now, and we should probably send that boys spirit to the Soul Society-"

"W-Wait please don't!"

Karin snapped out of her cold fever to grab Takumi's hand tightly.

Takumi looked down at Karin who was panting harshly.

"Karin-chan, what's wrong…?"

"That boy...we have to find the truth out for him..."

Orihime leaned closer, having got a wet rag and placed it on Karin's forehead.

"What do you mean Karin-chan?"

Orihime's kind words were met with a saddened expression from Karin.

Yuzu was surprised that Karin was making a sad face.

She usually didn't do that.

But seeing Karin disheartened, even depressed, was a surprise.

"That boy...he's gone through so much...we have to help him...please don't send him yet...we have to...we have to help him..."

"We will Karin-chan. Don't worry, I wont send him to the Soul Society yet." Takumi assured her, laying her back down onto the bed, where her head rolled backwards, and she groaned while closing her eyes, seemingly being in pain. "Now rest, I'll make something to help you with your fever."

"You know something that could counteract his influence on her?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"I believe so. From what I can tell, his soul is overwhelming Karin-chan's with more information than she could handle alone along with introducing a new kind of spiritual pressure that isn't her own which is conflicting with her own, causing her to have flu like symptoms. If I can make something to stabilize her, these symptoms should subside."

"I think I understand. It happened to someone in the Soul Society once. I remember what happened, so I'll tell you the details of it, maybe together we can come up with something to help stabilize her."

"Thanks Rukia-chan. For now, we should leave Karin-chan to get some rest."

The others agreed, and they all walked out of the room besides Yuzu who gave her sister a worried look. She looked at the bird, and then towards Karin once more, who groaned, shifting around on the bed.

"Call me if you need anything Karin."

Karin moaned something that sounded like "Okay..." so Yuzu picked up the cage, and left with the bird in her arms.

Yuzu paused at the door, and then looked towards the bird that was within her arms.

"I'm sorry."

Yuichi spoke up sadly, Yuzu however shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, Takumi-kun and Kuchiki-san are both very smart, I'm sure they can help come up with something to help Karin."

She assured her kindly, glancing at Karin and saw her in pain, and hoped that what she said was true, that they would be able to help Karin out, and make sure that whatever she needed to happen, would happen with the bird itself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bambietta returned back to her base with many cute, and girly things that were around them all, to find Meninas passed out on the floor, and Giselle was drawing on her face with Zombie Chizuru helping her out.

"What are you doing to Minnie?"

"Zombie Chizuru came back here, and Meninas-chan became freaked out when she came onto her! In the end, she passed out, now we're drawing mustaches on her while the others go and get us some food~"

Giselle placed her hands on her face while her mouth made a O shape.

Zombie Chizuru's crazed eyes go towards Bambietta who backs away slightly, looking into her soulless eyes.

"Zombie Chizuru detects lust." Her eyes go towards Bambietta's face, Bambietta's face turns red with anger. "There..." She snarls, sending shivers up Bambietta's spine. "...You are excited, Zombie Chizuru can feel it. Who excited you? Was it Giselle-sama?"

"No, it wasn't Giselle you messed up Zombie!" Bambietta roars, while Giselle giggles wildly. "W-Why is your Zombie not acting like a normal Zombie!? She's weird!"

"I dunno." Giselle waved her hands side to side like scales. "It seems that this Zombie is different to other Zombie's. She'll be a good Zombie, wont you Zombie Chizuru?"

"For Giselle-sama, Zombie Chizuru will do her best...I want Gigi's...give me Gigi's..."

Zombie Chizuru continued to snarl out dangerously.

Giselle's face turns upwards, and lightly pats Zombie Chizuru's head.

"You can have Rukia-chan's if you want~"

"Yes...want Rukia...Rukia..."

Bambietta gives Zombie Chizuru a weird look, before Giselle giggles to herself.

"So, what happened to you anyway?"

"It's that boy!" She roared, Giselle tilted her neck. "That damn Takumi Urahara, he managed to get away from me! Damn it all!"

Giselle pulls back while playing with her antenna hair.

"Well, that's good because I want to keep him around."

Bambietta scowled and ignored Giselle.

"It seems that he's quite fast, he's faster than a newbie Shinigami should be anyway. But, I found out that he doesn't have a Shikai, so we could use that to our advantage…."

"She got excited Giselle-sama."

Zombie Chizuru divulged, Giselle's face lifting into a smile.

"Really?"

"Zombie Chizuru detects elevated levels of excitement. She is, very excellent at, denying her thoughts."

"I'm happy for a challenge, that's all you messed up Zombie!" Giselle laughed. "Don't laugh either!" Giselle laughed even harder, Bambietta's face turning to shame. "W-Well, I would have had him if you all bothered to show up!"

"Yeah well, I don't really have any ill will towards him since he only became a Shinigami not long ago, I don't see why I'd have anything against him. In fact, I quite like him, he's so adorable, and I like the way his hair is soft looking. My, is this love at first sight? I don't know, but I can't get over how cute he is!"

Giselle places her hands on her flushing cheeks, crossing her legs for reasons Bambietta didn't even want to know about.

Bambietta shook her head as Liltotto and Candice came back with bags of food, Meninas woke up and looked around meeting the eyes of Zombie Chizuru who blew a kiss to her, making her cringe, Liltotto resisted the urge to laugh at Meninas' face right now.

"About time you girls showed up! I could of used you when I was being attacked by the Shinigami!"

"You went to him first you idiot. Of course he's going to retaliate."

Liltotto noted, placing a lollipop in her mouth.

Candice showed a superior smirk.

"Don't tell me you lost to a mere Shinigami."

Bambietta felt triggered by that.

"I didn't lose! He ran away before our fight concluded. But, he figured out my ability. The rumours of him being intelligent weren't an exaggeration. We have to be careful when we all face him again. And yes, I said all, because we all are going to be facing him together, I wont tolerate no for an answer."

[No.]

Bambietta face faulted.

"Ooh come on! Please help me out! I wont do it without you girls! Can't you understand that?! We can take him together! And I have an idea on how to lure him out as well."

Liltotto gained a curious face.

"And how are you going to do that? Do you want to piss off Kisuke Urahara? We shouldn't go up against someone that's stronger than us."

Bambietta felt like she was being challenged.

She didn't like how this was happening to her.

She felt annoyed.

"No, I'm suggesting we go after someone that doesn't have a Shikai yet. Then we can make a stance with all of us together. Come on girls, together, no one can beat us."

"But, I don't wanna hurt the cute guy~"

Giselle smiled out, Zombie Chizuru's eyes lifted to the sky.

"Zombie Chizuru sees Takumi as an enemy, for the girls affections. I shall fight for Giselle-sama."

"See?" Bambietta smiled. "She's with me even though she's not really powerful and will be useless in a fight, why aren't you girls?"

"I kinda find him cute honestly. I'm not sure if I want to fight him or not."

"What part of him would you like to taste Lil?"

Candice grinned out, Liltotto gave her a dark stare.

"You're disgusting."

Liltotto murmured, Candice rolled her eyes.

"I'll go and fight him with you. It seems like it might be a good challenge, so I can't see why not. We've all heard of Kisuke Urahara, so fighting his son might give me a thrill. I'm with you Bambi~"

Bambietta looked relieved, and then turned to Meninas.

"And you Minnie?"

"Well, I guess that we could. But we can't kill people you know? They're right about us not being able to fight Kisuke Urahara right now."

Meninas spoke with a slightly apathetic look on her face.

Bambietta showed a smirk on her face.

"Good, then tomorrow, we'll lure him to a place of our choosing, and set a trap."

Giselle and Liltotto shared a small look between them while the others looked to be ready for the fight ahead.

* * *

Takumi currently was within the Kurosaki clinic, and was mixing some chemicals together, with Rukia assisting him, Orihime even was assisting him with what was happening at that moment, Yuzu was sat at a distance, conversing with the bird itself.

"I wonder what she meant about helping the bird boy?" Orihime mused. "Maybe he needs to find resolution somehow...maybe she knows more than we do since she's...viewing his memories, is that right Taku-chan?"

"From what I can gather yeah. Before that girl interrupted me from slaying the Hollow, I talked to it, and it said that it was in some kind of game with the bird."

Rukia folded her arms suspiciously.

"A game? What kind of game?"

Takumi shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't get much out of him, though it was clear he placed the soul into the bird, I got a sense of evil from the Hollow, more than average kind of Hollows."

"So, you think he could've been an evil doer during his life, and that's transferred to his Hollow side?"

Rukia wondered, Takumi shrugged.

"He had that meeting with the twins and the bird set up."

"And what about that girl Taku-chan? What was her deal?"

Orihime's question was met with Takumi's unsure look.

"She was really weird, she said that she had friends, but they didn't show up. And she displayed an unusual ability to turn things her energy came into contact with into an explosive, and would detonate within a second or so."

"That's a small window to do anything."

"Right." Takumi replied to Rukia with a slightly unsure expression on his face. "But, it still is a window to do something. Avoiding the power would be the best rather than trying to fight against it. From what I saw, it travelled at a constant speed. If she could make it faster, I don't know. But she tried to cross the distance between us so she could get off a good hit against me. Plus since she's a Quincy, she also has access to the powers that normal Quincy's can do."

Rukia pulled closer as Takumi spun some chemicals together.

"And a Quincy is?"

"What Yuzu-chan can do with the arrows, that's what a Quincy can do, but on a grander level. They combat Hollows, but unlike Shinigami, they don't purify Hollows, they destroy them so even their souls can't cross over to the Soul Society. I learned a few years ago about their history, it's kind of sad really. But, what happened to them shouldn't of happened, I wish there could have been a peaceful solution instead of mass genocide."

"...What?"

"T-They were all killed? How horrible..."

Rukia and Orihime were in disbelief, Takumi lowered his head.

"Most of them were yeah. Survivors happened of course, but most of them are gone now, and this girl is a Quincy, and she is out for blood. She is no joke when it comes to power either. In the end, the Shinigami didn't have a choice...well, that's what was said. I'm sure if they had worked together more, then they could of survived. But this happened about two hundred years ago now."

"And she still holds a grudge against Shinigami? Even those that had no involvement?"

Takumi nodded at Rukia.

"They seem to be all the same to her. If possible, I'd like to get through to her, and if she truly does have any friends, them too."

Rukia folded her arms while Orihime looked worried.

"I guess we'll have to be on guard...and that girl, Chizuru...something happened to her. Do you think that a Quincy could of done that?"

"She said she was a Zombie now...a Quincy with the power to resurrect the dead...that would be pretty scary."

Takumi replied with a slightly worried face, Orihime wore a complex face.

"But, she doesn't seem dead to me. She had a heart beat, and she felt warm, not like a cold dead person."

Takumi inclined his neck.

"Rather than traditional Zombie that's a corpse, I'd say that she's more of a puppet on strings that has more durability and what not. Perhaps the Zombie Master, whoever that is, could resurrect the dead as well, but from what I've seen from Chizuru-chan, she's alive, she's just being controlled."

"Controlled, huh..."

"Anyway, I'm examining her blood to see if there's anything different about it. If there is, maybe it is like a Zombie virus that's occurred, and if that's the case, then I'd be able to perhaps reverse the effects, and produce a cure for the virus. Though it might take me a little time about how to do that."

"I hope so Taku-chan, but I'm sure you can do it, since you're so smart~"

Takumi smiled lightly at Orihime, as he continued mixing some chemicals.

Rukia looked on curiously, and then glanced towards the bird, who was talking to Yuzu.

It seemed like they truly were having a deep conversation with one another.

But she wished to send the bird off to the Soul Society.

* * *

Later on, Takumi had finished the medicine, and went to deliver it to Karin, with the others following.

Takumi saw Karin on the bed, having flashes within her mind, and it caused pain to come to the young woman. Yuzu didn't like seeing her sibling in pain, she was even surprised to see Karin crying. They were barely noticeable, but she saw that tears were being shed from her eyes.

"Karin..."

Yuzu muttered, as Takumi walked closer.

He sat down beside her on the bed, and shook her shoulders.

"Karin-chan, I've got something for you to drink, it will make you feel better, I promise."

Karin groaned, her eyes opening and met Takumi's own eyes.

She looked at the medicine within his hands, then gave him a weird look.

"N-Not going to k-kill me, is it?"

Takumi released a small laugh.

"Of course not. It will help you, I promise Karin-chan."

Karin gripped her head, and slowly pulled herself up the bed. Her eyelashes batted together, and came into contact with Takumi's own. A level of trust came between them. She felt unsure of what was going to happen in the future, but she was sure that she was going to do her best.

She then took the drink to her mouth, and drunk it.

"Gwaaah! T-That's disgusting!"

Karin yelled, showing a little more of her usual self than before.

"Sorry, but I didn't have time to make it taste good."

"That tastes like garbage!" Karin snapped, the others seeing more colour coming to her cheeks. "I always suspected you'd try and poison me one day! And now here it is! You've poisoned me, haven't you!?"

Takumi gave her a curious look, before turning his head slyly to the side.

"You seem to be a bit more chipper to me."

Karin raised her eyebrows, and then touched her head.

She wasn't in pain anymore.

She felt the memories slowly sliding out of her mind, and her body wasn't so hot anymore.

"W-Well...I-I guess that's right, I do feel a little bit better...but, I feel so tired all of a sudden…"

Karin yawned, Rukia nodded.

"Naturally, your spirit energy has been running rampage for a few hours now. So, it would feel like you've run a marathon or something like that. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Karin lowered her eyebrows.

"Thanks. I'm sorry. I do believe we should help the boy out...more than just passing on, he needs to know the truth about...he just needs the truth."

"We'll be staying tonight Karin-chan so you can rest peacefully."

Karin bowed her head, and watched the others walk out of the room.

Yuzu glanced at her sister, who gave her a soft smile.

"I'm alright, the idiot did the trick. I'm feeling better now."

"I'm glad...I'm sorry Karin. I wish I could do more for you at this time. And you cried...I've not seen that in years."

Karin's face took a small dip.

"...I've not had a reason to cry for a long time. But, seeing that boys past...it has gotten to me quite a bit."

"We'll help him Karin. All of us will help him. Takumi-kun, Orihime-chan, Kuchiki-san and us as well."

Karin allowed a soft smile to appear on her face.

"Heh, I guess that we're becoming apart of the band of weirdos aren't we?"

"But, we're all great friends now so we can rely on one another!"

Yuzu smiled out, and left the room.

Karin gripped her hands on the bedsheets, inhaling deeply.

She thought about how she had endangered lives that day, and she saw Takumi take a hit for her. In his head, he had been attacked, and it also endangered the others. She wished that she had the power that Takumi had, and the knowledge that Rukia had...

"Thinking about your powerlessness, are we?"

Karin's eyes snapped open, shooting her eyes for the window, and saw Kisuke sat there.

"Geez! I almost punched you then!"

Kisuke waved his hand in front of his face.

"I have been seeing you progress."

"My progress…?"

Kisuke sat down on a chair nearby.

"You don't realize it Karin Kurosaki, but you have amazing potential for power."

"M-Me? I do…?"

Karin seemed quite baffled.

But Kisuke continued his weird smile that sent shivers down her spine.

"That's correct. Truthfully, your power has been growing more and more in recent times, but I've felt your power for years now. You, have the potential to become what Takumi is."

"A-A Shinigami you mean?"

Karin was surprised.

How could she do something like that?

As far as she knew, Takumi gained his powers from Rukia.

Did she have the same kind of power?

"That's correct, you have the power to become a Shinigami."

Karin let out a small gasp.

She had that kind of power…

Being able to have that kind of power...

"So, you're saying that I could have a kickass sword like Takumi's sword as well?"

Kisuke let out a small chuckle.

"Yes, that's quite right. But your sword would be different, everyone has a different Zanpakuto. But I can say that you have incredible dormant power. And if you want, I can help you release your powers."

Karin furrowed her eyebrows at that.

Kisuke was offering something that would help her grow in power.

"However, don't be mistaken. Once you gain access to these powers, then you'll be dragged into the world of Shinigami's and Hollows, and it wont be easy."

"Your son is in that world though, and you allow that."

"Trust me, I tried to stop that the best that I could. But since he is in that world now, I can't stop him from doing what he's doing, he's going to want to save the people from the Hollows. In the moment he became a Shinigami, he didn't have a choice, but you have the choice. You can become a Shinigami, but you'll be entering into a world full of danger, and you simply can't just go back to normal either."

"...I've already been dragged into this world already. So what would be different?"

He could understand why she thought it wouldn't be different, but there was a major difference that she didn't count for.

"The difference is, your life would be on the line if you become a Shinigami. Takumi understands that and has accepted it, if you choose to have the power, then the consequences of what that means will also come back to you. Maybe this experience with the boy and the bird will help you decide."

"So you know about that then?"

"But of course, I know about everything hahahaha~"

Karin's eyebrows twitch, and her hand tightens.

"You and Takumi both have that laugh that pisses me off."

"Haha, I suppose so Kurosaki-san. Well, have fun and get some nice sleep."

Karin watched as he slid out of the window, and left her alone.

Karin shut her window, and walked back to bed, thinking about what Kisuke had said to her.

* * *

Later that night, Takumi casually was within an office area within the Kurosaki clinic, and was looking at the blood of Chizuru, examining it as closely as he could. Orihime and Rukia were in the guest room together, he only imagined how that was going. Orihime said she wanted to stay as well, since they were a team, and Rukia stayed because she wanted to be there in case a Hollow showed up.

Takumi was staying on the couch, but he was currently mixing chemicals, and had earphones in, listening to some music, bobbing his head up and down at the beat that he was listening too, with a bunch of other vials nearby, along with strange looking wire.

However, he wasn't alone for very long, as the door opened behind him, revealing Yuzu in her nightgown.

She had Takumi in her house.

She simply couldn't just sleep.

So she walked closer to Takumi, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Zombie Chizuru no!" Takumi whizzed around, Yuzu jumped, but Takumi them chuckled awkwardly, pulling out the earphones. "Oh, Yuzu-chan. What are you still doing awake?"

Yuzu's eyes softened, sitting down beside Takumi.

"So, you thought that I was Zombie Chizuru?"

"Well, that girl was a little weird today...yesterday I guess."

"I guess so..."

Takumi glanced at Yuzu, and it seemed like there was something more than she was saying.

She wanted to speak but it seemed that the words lost her.

"Yuzu-chan, is something wrong? Has something happened?"

Yuzu played with her fingers, and looked shy about something.

"Takumi-kun...today, I saw Karin cry...it was really surprising. She hasn't cried in so long...seeing her like that was really hard for me...Karin sometimes is hard to read..."

"Yuzu-chan...don't worry about Karin-chan, she's quite tough..."

"She doesn't let her emotions out often Takumi-kun. I'm worried about her. I wonder if she'll always be closed off..."

Takumi could understand that.

Yuzu worried for her sister, it was natural. Especially when seeing her crying that day.

"She wants to keep you safe Yuzu-chan." Takumi spoke up to her surprise. "She wants you to be happy, and wants you to be able to do many different things with your life, and not worry about her. Maybe I'm off base, but I feel like she can see how amazing you are, and wants to be just as amazing."

Yuzu's face began to turn red.

"M-Me…? Amazing…?"

"Of course, you picked up after your Mom...you made sure the family was pulled together, and took up the slack. It couldn't of been easy to do something like that."

"W-Well...after Mom died...I just had to...I had to make sure everyone was okay. Dad's kinda useless with housework, and Karin...she seemed so down at that time, it was like she had broke when Mom died...and I don't know how to put her back together..."

Yuzu's eyes became slightly teary, Takumi inhaled slowly, and wrapped his arms around her body.

"Don't worry about Karin-chan, she isn't broken, she's making sure that you don't worry about her."

"Ye-Yeah..."

Takumi gave a happy expression on his face to cheer up Yuzu from feeling sad like she was.

"She's doing it so you don't have to worry. I can see that she really does love you Yuzu-chan. She cares so much about you. You probably don't know, but when you both found out about this, she told me to swear to always keep you safe. She knew that this could be dangerous, so she wanted me to protect you, so that just proves to me that she truly does love you. I thought that it was quite beautiful, don't you think so Yuzu-chan?"

Yuzu's face turned upwards, thinking about Karin and despite her cold nature, she truly did do things to make sure that she was safe. Even when she didn't know about it. It just made Yuzu appreciate how much Karin truly cared about her, and vice versa as well.

"Yes...that's very beautiful. Thank you for telling me Takumi-kun, Karin never would."

Takumi continued to smile at the sight of the young girl.

Then they talked about various things for a little while before she went to bed.

* * *

The next day, Takumi, Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin and the bird were all sat at the dinner table, and having some breakfast that Yuzu cooked.

"So, you're feeling better than last night?"

Karin nodded slowly at Rukia.

"I feel better, I suppose I have to thank you for that Takumi."

Her eyes went to Takumi, who waved his hand while wearing a goofy smile on his face.

"No worries at all~ So, wanna tell us-"

"GOOD MORNING KARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN! AND YUZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Isshin came rushing up behind the pair, and tried to hug them both, but Karin casually slammed her fist behind her, smashing it into her Father's face, and forced him backwards onto the ground, his eyes rolled around in the back of his head.

"Don't be an idiot Dad, we have guests."

"Owwwwwww...your punches are harsh as always Karin..." Karin's eyes snapped towards her Father, who flinched, which Takumi thought was quite appropriate honestly. "Hahaha, Yuzu, your boyfriend is here again. Oooh, he did stay here last night, so...Hmmmmm, well, welcome to the family-" Karin decked her Father while Yuzu's eyes turned to tears. "-son..."

"Dad, shut up! You wanna make Yuzu cry?! Go and sit in the corner of the next room, and assume the fetal position right now!"

Isshin's eyes sprung tears, but complied with his daughter, and went to the corner, getting into the fetal position, looking over to Karin, who raised her eyebrows, his eyes went downwards, and then hugged his knees, placing his head to his knees, Rukia, and Takumi shared a look, while Orihime cocked her head, seeing Karin closing the door so they could speak together.

"Wow Karin-chan, it seems that your Dad is really scared of you."

"Naaaah, he's just doing this to annoy us, he'll be quiet now." Karin wiped her mouth. "Anyway, we have to find that Hollow, and make sure that he promises the young boy to bring his Mother back to him. I saw it in his memories...a killer came and took his Mom away from him...he's so young, he watched her die, and then the killer also died before him..."

Rukia, and Takumi shared a curious look, Yuzu tilting her head.

"That's what you want Yuichi-kun? To have your Mom back?"

The bird lowered his head, nodding slowly.

"I want to be with my Mom again. He said that if I could run for three months and keep myself away from him, then he would bring my Mom back for me."

Rukia didn't even want to say it.

Takumi also knew what he said couldn't happen.

Orihime glanced at the pair, seeing their expressions falling, but Karin and Yuzu remained oblivious.

"If we can find this Hollow, then we could force him to bring the Mother back..." Karin glanced at Takumi who shook his head slowly. "...It can't be done, can it?"

"No." Rukia replied. "The Mother of this boy, if she's dead, then she can't be brought back to life. The only way that she could is if she had her Chain of Fate still attached to her body. But, if she was murdered, she wouldn't have a Chain of Fate attached to her. More than likely, she is probably gone right now."

Takumi lightly petted the birds head.

"I'm sorry kid, but this Hollow was lying to you. He can't bring your Mom back."

The birds eyes began to produce tears, Yuzu placed a hand over her heart, and took the bird out of the cage, and gently embraced the bird, while Orihime's face turned crestfallen.

"Taku-chan, can we do anything to help him? Anything at all?"

"The only thing we can do is help him pass onto the next world. To the Soul Society. His Mom might even be there right now, waiting for him to come."

Yuichi's eyes went to Takumi, who gave him a smile.

"Would my Mom really be there…?"

"I don't know, but it's better if you go over there, or you'll eventually turn into a Hollow."

"I-I'd turn into one too?"

Rukia nodded, continuing the conversation.

"That's right, but we can change that, and make sure you go to the Soul Society."

"We have to get that Hollow first though." Karin interrupted. "To make him pay for doing this to Yuichi here, he forced him to run away and he stole his life from him. Forcing him to run, and be in danger for months on end..." Karin's hands began to shake, while Yuzu gently held onto her hand. "That's what we do, right? Like you did for Inoue's brother, shouldn't we find peace for this boy too?"

Takumi glanced at Orihime who gave a gentle smile. Takumi smiled back at her, then turned to Karin once more.

"Yes, you're right Karin-chan. That's what we do. We will take out this Hollow, and get the true story from him, and then we can slay the Hollow, and protect others from his evil influence, then we can help him cross over."

Karin released a breath.

"Good, then we'll-"

Before Rukia could finish, Takumi's eyebrows lifted and felt a presence.

"That feeling..."

"Yes, I'm feeling it now too."

Rukia looked out of the window.

Takumi went towards the window, peering out of it.

"It seems strange...it feels like the Hollow from yesterday, but not exactly. I don't know, it seems like something is wrong with this..."

"I have a feeling you're right. It seems to be something different..."

"We should go then."

Karin spoke up, but Takumi waved his hand.

"Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan. Stay here with Yuichi-kun. Rukia-chan, and I will go and see what's going on. If it is the Hollow or someone else entirely. I have a feeling that this might not be what it seems. Since you have your weapons, the Hollow that appeared yesterday, your weapons will be enough to take that down if you work together."

"How can you tell that though Taku-chan?"

Orihime's question was met with a smile.

"Because, the feeling of this power is different to what we felt yesterday. Though it is only so slightly. I can't tell if that's because of the distance, or because someone is luring us there. Either way, it very well could be a trap, so we should keep Yuichi-kun here just in case."

Karin didn't like it.

But it made sense if it was going to be an enemies attack.

She merely bowed her head, and Takumi looked to Rukia, who nodded, and released him from his body, revealing his Shinigami form. Takumi cracked his neck, and then walked out of the door, with Rukia following, even Orihime followed after them.

* * *

Takumi, Rukia, and Orihime went towards the location of the Hollows power. Takumi took out his blade, seeing them going to a location that wasn't occupied, and he knew that this could be a trap, so he was being careful, as much as he could be anyway.

It took them about five minutes to get to the location that they needed to be at.

"Orihime-chan, you sure you want to come?"

Takumi showed concern for her, but Orihime bonked herself on the head.

"Yup, leave it to me Taku-chan! I can handle this too! Since I have my glasses, and earrings, I will be able to see the Hollow too!"

The others stayed behind Takumi, Rukia holding up her watch.

"It seems like the Hollow should be around this abandoned warehouse district."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"I suppose so. But this feels very odd. I feel as if we're walking into a lions den right now."

"You think it could be that girl with the bombs, don't you?"

Takumi didn't know how to answer that since he didn't know if it was or not.

"We just have to be prepared for anything, so keep yourselves back."

Takumi continued moving forward while Rukia, and Orihime stayed a good distance behind him.

Then, as they neared the Hollows location, from up above, a bolt of lightning rained down towards Takumi, Takumi saw the flash of light from the lightning casting a shadow on the ground, so he instinctively used his flash step to pull backwards, as a bolt of lightning ruptured the ground.

"Damn it! He dodged it!"

Candice snarled out, landing on a nearby building.

Bambietta, and Meninas also appeared there. Bambietta had a bloodthirsty smile on her face, and Meninas seemed to be quite apathetic to many different things, she didn't even seem to care that Takumi had appeared.

"Takumi...it seems that we were right to be cautious."

Rukia gazed at the trio stood together, Takumi waved his hand towards them.

"Hey girls, what's going on?"

Bambietta smirked, stepping forward.

"There's no way out of it this time. These two are my friends, Candice, and Meninas. As you might have guessed, they're both Quincy's as well. Interesting, isn't it? The fact that three Quincy's are opposing two Shinigami, and a human."

Takumi looked towards Rukia, and Orihime.

"_Orihime-chan can't fight these people, there's no way, and Rukia-chan doesn't have her powers. So, I guess that I'll have to fight them if we can't resolve this peacefully._" His thoughts were paused when Candice threw some electric towards him, forcing him to dodge out of the way. "Hey, why are you throwing lightning at me anyway?"

"Because, Shinigami kinda piss me off. And you hurt Bambietta yesterday."

"She attacked me, I only defended myself."

Meninas stepped forward, and then slammed her hand downwards, ripping off a part of the roof she stood on, Orihime, Takumi and Rukia's eyes broadened at the sight of what she was doing, and then looked at Meninas' small smile on her face.

"But, you're still a Shinigami, you know? We have to take care of you."

Meninas casually threw a piece of the building right at Takumi and the others, Takumi growled, and flashed to Orihime, and Rukia, lifting them up, and flashed away as the building smashed into the ground, causing a large crash behind them, that then was turned into an explosive by Bambietta, exploding behind them and created a shock wave that caught Takumi and the others up in it, sending them skidding across the ground, and nearly hit a building, only for Takumi to return to his feet, and scowl at the three women before him.

"Hey! If you want to fight me, then don't get these two involved!"

Bambietta leaned forward with her knee extended, resting her elbow on her knee, and then her head in her hand, smacking her lips together with a rude expression on her face, it seemed like she was going to do a few things.

"Sorry about that, but if they're with you, then they're involved. If you want to fight us alone, then that's your beef. But if they try and get involved, then I'll attack them as well."

Candice cracked her neck left and right.

"Come on boy, I'll show you some lightning blasts!"

"So, lightning, incredible strength and explosive energy...alright then, I guess that this is going to be quite a fight."

Takumi swung his blade around, Rukia tightened her hand.

"Takumi, these girls together have incredible spiritual power. I'm not sure that you'll be able to handle it alone."

"You're right, this might be beyond my capabilities right now, but I've got some ideas to use them against each other." Rukia didn't understand, but Takumi showed a wild grin. "Lets go!"

Takumi, Bambietta, Meninas and Candice all charged for one another, Rukia looked worried, and Orihime felt a pounding in her chest, as if she was going to see something scary, she didn't want anything bad to happen to Takumi, but Orihime noticed Takumi going into his robes, and allowing something to circulate his hand, wondering what he was going to do with that...

* * *

Meanwhile Karin and Yuzu were left alone together, so Yuzu put on her glasses and earrings so she'd be able to see a Hollow if it were to come. Karin pulled out her sword, and Yuzu pulled out her bow and arrow just in case.

"I guess that we'll have to be prepared Yuzu."

"Y-Yes, Karin. I guess that we can handle this..."

"We can. You heard the idiot, we can handle this Hollow. We did it the other day with the Hollow, so lets do that now. And take care of this Hollow together if it shows up." Her eyes went towards Yuichi, and her face lifted up kindly, something that surprised Yuzu. "Don't worry Yuichi, we'll take care of this Hollow, and make sure that you're safe and sound."

"I'm really sorry, I never meant to put you through all of this..."

Yuzu shook her head.

"Don't worry about that, we can do this together. Besides, Takumi-kun, and the others also are experts at this, since you managed to come here to us, we will be able to keep you safe."

"T-Thank you so much...you're all so kind...before I met you all...I was so lonely, I was always alone...but now it feels like I'm back with my Mom again..."

Yuzu's face lifted upwards, while Karin chuckled lightly.

"You saying that we are old enough to be your Mom kid?"

Yuichi's sweat dropped from his forehead, while Karin continued to laugh slightly.

"N-No! Not at all!"

"Haha, don't worry Yuichi, we'll take care of you. You can be our kid brother."

"B-Brother?"

Yuichi tilted his head, Yuzu's face lifted upwards.

"Yes! That's right! You can be our little brother Yuichi-kun!"

"I'd be your little brother...yes! I-I really want to be your little brother!"

"Hehe, then you'll be Yuichi Shibata-Kurosaki! Welcome to the family Yuichi-kun!"

Karin had to admit that the scene before her was quite beautiful.

Seeing her sister and the little boy getting along made her smile. But more than that, it also showed more to Karin that being with friends, and being with family was important, and protecting them, and she kept going back to her meeting with Kisuke and what he said to her about having power.

But that didn't last long as ten minutes later, both of their watches went off.

"Karin..."

"Yeah, a Hollow."

Karin's eyes shot outwards of the window, and saw the Hollow from yesterday. Its creepy eyes went towards her, and Yuzu, who looked unsure of what to do, but Karin already knew what she needed to do, and put Yuichi back in his cage.

"Karin? What are you doing?"

"We're leading the Hollow away from here so Dad doesn't become involved. Lets head for the old park. That should be empty at this time of day. You take the bird, I'll force the Hollow to come towards us with my sword. We can't leave Yuichi here, we can't be sure if the Hollow might have friends like the little thing it attacked us with yesterday."

Karin seemed determined.

That determination was also quite stunning for someone like Yuzu.

"Karin...should we wait for Takumi-kun and the others?"

"They should feel this power sooner or later. And as Takumi said, we can handle this on our own. We're the Kurosaki twins, no mere Hollow is going to take care of us."

Yuzu nodded, and held the bird tightly in her arms within the cage, and they both got on their shoes, walking outside of the door, and faced down the Hollow that was perched on a house nearby, looking down towards them both.

"My, you tasty morsels are alone~"

The Hollow let out a disgusting tone, Yuzu's eyes slowly went to the bird, whispering "Don't worry, you'll be okay." giving comfort to the bird, Karin glanced at Yuzu who nodded, and began pulling backwards while Karin stepped forward.

"You want this boy, do you?"

"Not just him, but you tasty girls too. Your spirits seem to be too good for me to not devour. I have two for the price of one. Twin souls, I've not consumed twin souls before. This is going to be easy."

Karin smirked.

"Who said we need a Shinigami here?"

The Hollow's eyes turned suspicious.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm about to show you!"

Karin pressed the button of her sword in, and swung it downwards, releasing a crescent energy blade, the Hollow called Shrieker let out a scream while pulling to the side, the energy cutting off one of the Hollows toes.

"W-What the hell!? You're not a Shinigami! How did you do that?!"

"Because we know a smart guy that invented stuff for us. You want us? We wont go down without a fight!"

Yuzu nodded, and yelled "We wont let you bully Yuichi-kun anymore!" while Shrieker narrowed his eyes.

"If that's what you think, then have this!"

From the fur on the Hollow, two small creatures came out. Yuzu pulled out her bow, and aimed, firing off two arrows which pierced the creatures within their torsos, ripping through their bodies, and went for Shrieker, who pulled upwards, and avoided the attacks, but seeing his small frog like creatures being killed off immediately, it was shocking since these girls didn't seem to have any powers.

His eyes shot for the girls, and saw them running down the street.

"As we said, you want us, come and get us asshat!"

Karin waved to the Hollow, and caused it to follow after them, the Hollows face twisting into annoyance.

* * *

Back with the fight with Takumi and the others, Bambietta crossed the distance, and swung her sword for Takumi, who parried the attack, pushing her backwards, only for Meninas to come in with her hand tightening, summoning her strength and sent it off towards Takumi.

"Bakudo 4, Hainawa!"

Rukia was impressed when she saw yellow rope come out of his hands, wrapping around Meninas' fist, and forced it towards Bambietta, who was forced to jump back, Meninas looked towards Takumi, and saw that his sword was heading for her body, but it wasn't the blade, it was the dull side of the sword so he didn't slash her down.

"Impressive, you aren't so bad. But, I'm not alone, you know?"

Takumi gained a question mark by his forehead, only to realize that Candice wasn't with Bambietta, so he turned upwards, sensing her power, and saw her charging up a lightning arrow, using her bow from her Quincy power, and her lightning power from...Takumi didn't know where she got it from, but it didn't matter.

"Time to be shocked bastard!"

Candice unleashed her large lightning arrow downwards. Takumi went to move when Meninas broke through the rope he made with pure strength, and grabbed his hand, lifting him upwards.

"Eh..."

"Sorry, not sorry."

Meninas with one hand, threw Takumi up into the air, and towards the arrow.

He grimaced at the sight, but then smiled at the sight, and threw his sword up towards the incoming lightning arrow, clashing with one another, which allowed Takumi the time to settle his feet in the air, and then aim his hand upwards, shooting off a Sho blast to knock back Candice, but she dodged out of the way, and aimed her arrows right for Takumi, Bambietta, and Meninas doing the same thing.

Rukia looked between all three of them, seeing that they had surrounded Takumi as he caught his falling Zanpakuto.

If he went upwards, Candice would be there. Left and right were Bambietta, and Meninas respectably. And going downwards could work if he was fast enough, and they had all surrounded him.

"Hey! Why are you even starting this kind of fight anyway?!"

Rukia roared at them, hoping to help Takumi out.

Bambietta smirked at her.

"Didn't we tell you? Shinigami are our enemies. They aren't anything good for me. I couldn't care less if they're recent Shinigami or not. All of them are to blame for what happened to the Quincy, and we will enact our revenge on all Shinigami! Starting with this blonde guy right here!"

Rukia narrowed her eyes, Orihime's face turned to worry.

Takumi cracked his neck, then took out a single vial of strange coloured liquid.

The girls all looked towards it curiously, and then Bambietta yelled out.

"Fire at him before he can use that weird shit!"

Bambietta, Meninas and Candice all unleash their arrows towards Takumi, who casually throws the liquid in the air, and slashes it with his sword, which begins raining down towards him.

Rukia and Orihime saw that when the arrows came close to Takumi, the arrows lost their speed and stability, which allowed Takumi to swing his sword outwards, and cleaved through them all. If they had gone at the speed that they had been, then some would have gotten through. But Takumi managed to use his drug to slow down the arrows and cut them all down.

Rukia's face lifted upwards at the sight, while Orihime looked relieved to see Takumi manage to take down the arrows with his intellect.

"W-What the hell?!"

Candice yelled out, Takumi smirked.

"My enemies right now are Quincy's. I've been studying Quincy's for years, did you not think I'd not be prepared in case a Quincy was to attack me? It's a special kind of drug that slows down spirit particles that manage to come close to the area, allowing me to cut through them. Honestly, I thought they might have slowed down more, but it seems that your arrows are stronger than the average Quincy, I'm quite impressed."

Bambietta, Candice, and Meninas were all stunned that he had something like that.

Rukia however was relieved by what was being said, and how he managed to do that.

Bambietta wasn't having any of it.

"Screw this you bastard! I am going to destroy you!"

Bambietta thrusted her hands forward, and shot off some of her energy. Takumi cocked his head, before using his speed to avoid the blasts, Meninas however ripped some of the ground outwards, and threw the ground at the energy behind Takumi, forcing him to go forward as it exploded below him, where Candice had her hands trickling with lightning.

"Come here!"

Takumi span in the air, as lightning came outwards, Takumi shot for the ground, the lightning going over his head, appearing down at the ground, to see Meninas being there, ready to punch him right in the face.

"You're quite fast, but can you dodge a barrage of punches?"

Meninas allowed her fists to sail through the air right at Takumi which left a cut on his cheek from the way her fist was angled, but he managed to use his speed to avoid the rest, he felt the air by his face shifting from the speed and strength of her punches, and he knew that if any punch managed to hit him, he'd suffer a very damaging injury, so he was kept on his toes by Meninas.

"You're pretty good yourself, Supergirl."

Takumi ducked one fist, lowering his body, and contemplated using his sword on her.

But he opted to grappling her legs with his own, twisting his body with his hands on the ground, and then launched Meninas right towards Bambietta who was scowling, avoiding the young woman, and Meninas' body smashed into a nearby building, Takumi hoped that it would at least hinder her for the moment, while he himself had to do various backflips to dodge a myriad of lightning bolts from Candice herself, which themselves broke through the ground and could cause immense damage to Takumi.

"How dare you do that to Minnie?! I'll shock you to death!"

"Hello, she's attacking me! I am defending myself!"

"I'll destroy you with my lightning bolts!"

Candice hurled her hands downwards, streams of lightning rained down at Takumi who continued moving backwards from the blasts, only to see that Bambietta had used that chance to get close to him, with her hand stretched out.

"Oh shit..."

"That's right. Time to explode!"

Takumi grimaced, and swung his sword for her, while she shot off her power, allowing it to come into contact with his body, and it exploded, Rukia, and Orihime gasped at the sight of Takumi being exploded, and the large cloud of smoke that rose into the air.

Meninas who came out of the building she was in, seemed relatively unharmed, her hands tightened, thrusting herself into the smoke, and saw Takumi with his shirt having been blown off, and wounds appeared across his body.

"...I quite like your torso."

Meninas admitted, Takumi gave her a strange look as she thrusted a fist at him.

"Thanks, I think."

Takumi avoided the punch, and swung his blade left for her, forcing her to jump backwards, only to come back with a hard punch for his upper body, but he flipped over her body, and swung his sword downwards, hitting Meninas at the back of her head, forcing her body forwards, Takumi landed behind her, only to see that Bambietta came close and took out her blade.

"Try two at once!"

Bambietta swung her blade, forcing Takumi to clash with her, and create sparks between their blades, Meninas appeared behind him, and swung her fist for his face, Takumi grimaced at the sight of her fist, so he was forced to hit her in the torso with his leg, his strength surprising her, and saw her being pushed backwards slightly on the ground.

"Your strength, you must have a good trainer."

Meninas commented, while Bambietta clutched her blade, and swung for Takumi's neck, though he ducked the sword, and embedded his elbow right into her torso, her eyes widening at the impact, and she coughed up bile, pushing her backwards, where Takumi jumped into the air, spinning his body, and kicked Bambietta in the face, the air bending around his kick, and forced her body away from Takumi's body, but at the same time, she shot her power forward which connected to Takumi's foot, his shoe, so within the split second that it was caught, he kicked it off, and exploded near his body, catching up his body in the power, and forced his body through the air, Orihime saw the wounds on Takumi's body from the blast impact, seeing his legs having been scorched by the attack, and bled as well.

"Taku-chan!"

Orihime panicked, Takumi span in the air, and landed on the ground where Meninas was already there, her fist heading for Takumi's body. He barely had time to use his Zanpakuto to block the strike of her fist, but the force of the impact flung his body through the air, and smashed him through a building, and came out the other side of it, where Candice was appearing up above him, and had her lightning dancing within her hands.

"And have this as well!"

Candice allowed her hand to aim downwards, and her lightning came down towards Takumi who had to avoid the energy that Bambietta had sent out.

Rukia gasped, and took out her gun, shooting it right for Candice herself, Candice's eyes lighting up with worry.

"What the hell?!"

Candice had to abandon her attack on Takumi, seeing that the blast wasn't a joke, so she turned her lightning to the attack, and they collided, destroying one another in a beautiful burst of light within the air, Orihime placed a hand over her heart.

"I wont allow you to harm Takumi!"

Rukia declared strongly, Orihime was surprised she sounded like that considering she hadn't been friends with Takumi for all that long, but it seemed like she was determined to keep Takumi safe as well.

"You really want to get involved?!"

Candice turned towards Rukia, and aimed her hands towards her.

Rukia sent off more blasts of Chappy faces at Candice. Candice wasn't sure if this was going to be too dangerous or not, so she decided to avoid them with the Quincy version of flash step, appearing at a small distance away from Rukia and Orihime, aiming her hand towards her, and gathered her lightning.

"Time to be shocked, you bitch!"

Rukia grimaced, and went to pull away when Takumi appeared there, and pushed the pair out of the way, just as the lightning left her hand, and connected with Takumi, the lightning ran through his body…

But, there was something odd.

It didn't seem to really hurt.

It seemed more like he had been accustomed to lightning before.

He didn't really get how that was.

But the lightning blast didn't do much to him, which confused Candice.

Then she felt his hand touching her own, so she pulled backwards.

"Over here Shinigami."

Meninas ripped a wall off a building and threw it at Takumi, who went to slice through the wall with his sword, while sparks of electric surrounded his form, but Bambietta summoned her energy and it connected with the wall, turning it into a super explosive, exploding right in Takumi's face, and flung him away through the air, smashing his body into the ground, Rukia grimacing at the sight.

Orihime's eyes began to produce tears.

"Stop it! W-Why are you doing this to Taku-chan!? He's the kindest person! You might hate Shinigami, but Taku-chan is the kindest Shinigami!"

Bambietta's annoyed eyes went towards Orihime, and aimed her hand towards her.

"You want to join him in death? Because-"

"Leave her alone!"

Takumi flipped in the air, and shot for her, forcing Bambietta to avoid his sword swing, which sliced the air in front of her, and cut off some strands of her hair, which fell down to the floor while managing to punch her in the torso, forcing her backwards, and skidded across the ground as Meninas came forward, attempting to do a direct fist attack at Takumi, but he ducked, and thrusted his foot upwards, connecting with her chin, and then casually thrusted his palm against her torso, knocking her a good distance away.

"You're quite speedy. I am having so much fun. Even without Shikai, it seems that you aren't so bad after all."

"I suppose, but this has gone too far. You attacking us without telling us why. Saying you hate Shinigami isn't a good enough reason, you can hate Shinigami, but you've targeted my friends, and I wont allow that to happen!"

Bambietta's eyes shot for him, and went to place out her hand…

When Takumi smirked.

Bambietta's eyes narrowed as Candice raged on.

"What are you smirking for?"

"Nothing Candy-chan~"

"D-Don't call me Candy-chan!"

Takumi snickered, Candice's rage soared higher and higher.

She thrusted her hand outwards...but her power didn't come out.

"W-What's happening?!"

Candice didn't get it, Bambietta however summoned her energy in an attempt to explode Takumi, when he casually raised his Zanpakuto, which had a thin wire wrapped around it while pulling it, and then felt her hands being pulled together, and saw that the wire was also attached to Meninas and Candice's bodies, Bambietta's eyes widening as Takumi released the wire from around his Zanpakuto which pulled the girls even closer together, having a sort of pull since it was so tight.

"Ooh fu-"

Bambietta's cries were overshadowed when the energy touched the wire, and spread around the wire, around the girls, and exploded a very harsh explosion, the smoke erupting into the air, the three girls flew into the air with wounds across their bodies.

Takumi casually placed his finger out and announced "Bakudo 4: Hainawa!" and yellow rope came out, wrapping around the three girls, and brought them down to the ground.

"Oh shit."

Bambietta looked angered, but felt the wounds that she had on her too.

Meninas went to move, when she saw Takumi moving closer.

"Hehehe...be kind?"

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

Bambietta, Candice and Meninas all looked up and saw Takumi having his sword out to them.

"Oh, we fucked up Bambi."

Candice sighed, Meninas poked her fingers together.

"Well, we were winning until he did whatever it was..."

"You see, before coming here, I made this wire that constricts around the opponent when I activate it, just for you Bambi-chan." Bambietta scowled. "Because your focus was on me, you didn't notice I was allowing a thin wire to wrap around you girls during this fight. You said you had friends, so it wasn't enough to just stop you, I had to time it right to not only catch you off guard, but deliver blows to your friends to stop them." His eyes went to Candice and grinned. "By the way, when I touched your hand, I put a drug on your skin that destabilizes spirit energy for half a minute depending on the enemy, with the stronger the enemy, the less time it takes to regain control, that's why your lightning didn't come out."

"Seriously...e-even then...y-you planned it out..."

Candice admitted, not because that he used a drug, but because he thought that far ahead to do that and act within such a limited time window.

"I needed the opportunity, and this was it, your guard was down along with your bodies being tired, you thought I was out, and you acted recklessly. Honestly, together, you're more powerful than I am, your abilities are amazing, and very dangerous, that's why I turned them against you. As my Father would say, always make plans upon plans, plan for every eventuality, even during the fight you're in. I was worried during a few times in that battle, I could've seriously gotten wounded, and did end up with some wounds on me."

Bambietta scowl grew more and more.

"You think you've won, but we wont surrender to you. Not until you Shinigami's are extinguished!"

"I don't want to fight you, I want to resolve whatever it is you've got against me peacefully." Takumi glanced at Rukia and Orihime. "You both okay?"

"W-We should be asking you Taku-chan! Y-You were attacked! You saved us Taku-chan...thank you."

Takumi shook his head.

"Her explosions hurt. The lightning not so much, I don't know why that is though. And yeah, the strong girl could of ruptured my organs with a punch, good thing I dodged and blocked that huh~?"

Orihime stifled a laugh, while Rukia gazed upon Takumi.

She saw what he did for her, he risked his life for her again. Even during the first meeting, he risked himself to save her, and did it again. He also did it for Orihime and her brother. Seeing Takumi continue to risk his life for others, and protect them along with how he made her feel…

"Are you blushing Kuchiki-chan?"

Rukia gasped, seeing Orihime's eyes on her.

"W-What are you saying?! I wasn't blushing!"

"I-It's okay if you are, e-even I find Taku-chan's body nice..."

Orihime admitted while poking her fingers together shyly.

But then, Liltotto and Giselle came walking over, Bambietta's face lifted up.

"Gigi, Lil! Attack them while their defences are down!"

Takumi sighed and went to pull his Zanpakuto out, but Liltotto placed her hand outwards.

"We're not here to fight." Her eyes went to Bambietta. "We're going now, and if you want us to save you, you better listen to me and leave the Shinigami alone." Bambietta growled, as Liltotto turned back to Takumi and the others. "Sorry about this, some of us actually know where to place our anger, and not onto Shinigami that had no business in the Quincy slaughter."

Takumi was surprised by how soft Liltotto was sounding.

"N-No, don't worry, I just don't want to be enemies."

"I feel the same way. So, if it is alright, I'll take these girls and leave you guys alone."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't know, you did attack us without provocation..."

Takumi glanced at Giselle who licked her lips sensually towards him, his eyebrows lifting upwards in confusion.

His eyes then went to Liltotto, and bowed his head.

"You can go."

"Takumi!"

Rukia called, but Orihime nodded.

"He's right Kuchiki-chan, we can't keep being at war, both sides will only get hurt like today, and continuing just proves what they believe Shinigami's are to be, shouldn't we try and change their minds? I don't think they're truly evil, they're just angry and misguided."

Takumi nodded at what Orihime said.

"If we can find a peaceful solution, then that's what we should do." His eyes went to Bambietta and the others. "However, I will fight you if necessary, and stop you, I wont allow anyone to be hurt because of your actions."

Bambietta scowl grew, while Candice bit her lip, Meninas tilting her head.

Giselle casually walked over to Takumi, and placed a hand on his body, slowly running down his chest, Orihime's eyes flared with jealousy.

"Hehe, you're so adorable up close~" Giselle stuck out her tongue, and touched her nose with it. "My names Giselle Gewelle, nice to meet you~"

"N-Nice to meet you Giselle-san."

Giselle tilted her head, then laid her lips onto his blushing cheek, Orihime's face turned red with jealousy along with shyness mixed in, and Rukia looked on dumbfounded, Liltotto slapped her forehead.

She then stuck out her tongue at him.

"Sorry, I had to. Just to confirm, that's all." Giselle began playing with her hair antenna. "Anyway, you're so nice to let these bitches be crazy go, considering what they did. Don't worry, I'll keep them in line." Giselle pulled closer to Takumi's body once more, he felt her breasts pressing against his body. "Next time, lets go on a date, okay~?"

""W-WHAT!?""

Orihme and Rukia yelled out, Takumi's mouth let out small mumbling's.

"D-Date is..."

Giselle placed her hand to her forehead, and saluted Takumi.

"Bye Captain, see you next time~ Lets go Lil-chan, and punish these naughty girls~"

Liltotto turned to Bambietta, Candice, and Meninas who grimaced.

"See? You should have listened to me, now you're gonna have to face the consequences."

Liltotto and Giselle grabbed the girls, and strolled off with them, Takumi smiled slightly.

"I hope you know what you're doing by letting them go."

Rukia spoke up, Takumi's eyebrows furrowed.

"I get the feeling that something truly bad has happened to them. From the way they fight, and what they said...yeah, I think this might begin a true friendship between Quincy's and Shinigami's, at least for the nicer Quincy girls. But don't worry Rukia-chan, if they do attack again, I wont hesitate to stop them, I just want to give them a chance to see that not all Shinigami are out to kill them, and we can work side by side."

Orihime nodded again and again, while Rukia bowed her head.

"Of course, that sounds like you, and I'm glad you're willing to take action just in case."

"Of course, I'm not foolish, I will be ready if they attack again."

"Good, I'm glad..." Rukia then remembered their mission. "Wait, if they used some kind of power or technology to mimic the Hollows spirit energy, then where is the real Hollow?"

Takumi grimaced, and looked around…

Then from a distance, he sensed Karin and Yuzu, so he turned in that direction.

"We'll have to go and see what's going on."

"But Taku-chan, you're hurt..."

Takumi gave her a light smile, and took out a vial of green liquid, injecting himself with it, and his wounds began to heal, Rukia watched on with surprise.

"These are damn hard to make and the ingredients for them are hard to replicate so easily, but I thought I might need it in the fight with the Quincy girls, so I only have a short supply of them. I only use it when necessary."

"That drug...it has healed your wounds."

"Yeah, call it a healing drug. It can't heal like, death or anything, but injuries I have, they're healed. Now, lets get going~"

Takumi began running with Rukia, and Orihime chased after him, unaware that Kisuke and Yoruichi had been there, watching, and was glad that Takumi managed to take care of the situation himself, and proud that he was trying to unite the two races together.

* * *

Karin and Yuzu were being chased down by the Hollow. They ran through the streets of Karakura town, and avoided populated areas so normal people wouldn't be attacked by the Hollow itself, and it was becoming annoyed.

"Stop running away from me!"

Shrieker yelled out, only for Karin to smirk, and look behind her.

"What's wrong? Worried that you can't beat us?"

A tick mark appeared at the head of the Hollow.

"Don't annoy me!"

Small frog like creatures came out of its fur, and opened their heads, leeches began to spring out of their heads, Karin grimacing at the sight, jumping forward, and avoided them, only for the Hollow to show its fork tongue, and it began to release a noise, which in turn turned the small leeches into explosives, Karin was caught in the attack, and knocked backwards towards a nearby wall.

"Karin!"

Yuzu cried out, only for Karin to glance at her.

"Don't worry about me, just get yourself safe!"

"No, I can't leave you Karin!" Yuzu rushed towards her, and lifted her up. "We need to do this together. I want to protect you too!"

Karin was surprised that she was saying such things.

But she also saw the determination within Yuzu's eyes.

But from behind her, she saw that the small creatures were pouncing on them, so she pushed Yuzu to the side, and swung her sword outwards, and released a crescent blade of energy for the pair of creatures, only for the creatures to explode upon being sliced, and the fact that the Hollow vibrated his tongue, forcing Karin and Yuzu backwards.

"Please...Please don't hurt them!"

Yuichi cried out, Karin grimacing, while Yuzu rubbed her head.

Their eyes looked around the alleyway they were in, and saw that it was deserted.

"It isn't the park, but this place will do."

"Right Karin."

Karin and Yuzu stood up, a stark contrast to how they were running away before. Yuzu placed Yuichi behind her, and took to her bow, while Karin held her sword tightly within her hands, Shrieker looked quite surprised by what was happening.

"W-Wait, what's going on? You seem a little more confident than before..."

Shrieker displayed slight worry, while Karin walked forward.

"The Hollow that took the spirit out of a child, and placed it into the bird, that's you, wasn't it?"

"So what?"

Shrieker demanded, only for Karin to show a side to her that Yuzu could understand.

Anger.

They both were angry at the Hollow.

"That boy didn't deserve what you did to him, and his Mother. You're the one that killed his Mother, and then killed the boy by ripping out his spirit. He also told me that if he could survive three months from you chasing him, then you'd bring back his Mother. But you can't do that, can you?"

The Hollow showed a repulsive smile on its face, igniting rage within Karin.

"So what if I did? I couldn't just allow myself to become bored. That brat there ruined everything for me. Maybe you might of heard of me, I was a famous serial killer. I managed to take down many people, and I wasn't ever caught! I stayed one step ahead of the police! But then when I killed that brats Mother, we were at a balcony you see, and he pulled my shoes, and I ended up going over the side, and died."

Karin and Yuzu's expressions turned darker.

They didn't like what they were hearing at all.

"So, after you died, you became a Hollow eventually...and did what you did to that boy? To Yuichi?"

"Little brat killed me! Of course I wanted to get revenge!"

Shrieker yelled right back at her, Yuzu however couldn't take it anymore.

"You murdered his Mom!" Yuzu cried out, tears falling from her eyes. "Y-You did the unthinkable to him, and to others, and took their lives away! Their hopes, and their dreams! They're all gone because of you. And now this boy...he's...he's..."

"Dead." Shrieker let out a sinister snicker. "He's gone from this world now, don't worry about him though. Once I've devoured you, I'll keep this game up. I'm having a blast so far! I've managed to get many peoples souls! I've also killed some Shinigami as well! They tried helping the brat, but I ended up devouring them as well! It was a thrill! Maybe he did me a favour by making me a Hollow who knows. But I am enjoying myself right now!"

He seemed to be excited.

Karin was sick of hearing his voice.

So was Yuzu.

They had enough of the Hollow itself, and raised their weapons to the Hollow.

"You said the wrong thing there pal. You enjoyed causing pain and misery. That's a death sentence, don't you know that?"

Shrieker was surprised that Karin said that and summoned some of his frog like creatures, only for arrows to pierce through them, with small bombs attached to them, which exploded, Shrieker let out a large cry as blood poured out of him, his body came falling to the ground, slamming against it, and caused the ground to crack.

"S-Seriously?! You are more scary than before!"

Karin rushed forward, seeing the Hollow bring up its claws, and swung for her body, but she parried the swipe with her own blade, and then activated the ability of the blade, drawing in her spiritual power, and unleashed her energy at the claw, which managed to cut through the claw, blood shooting out of the Hollow, while the Hollow Shrieker let out a howling sound.

"It isn't compared to what you've put that boy through. You lied to him!"

"So what if I did? That's nothing compared to what I've been through! I was happy before meeting that brat! He gave me entertainment, and then I got to finally see that-"

"Yeah, yeah! I don't care!"

Karin turned her sword on the Hollow, and swung it outwards. Seeing no choice, he went up into the air, but received a slice on his leg, Shrieker let out a cry from the pain that he felt, and then looked down at the two humans, seeing Yuzu releasing a number of arrows in quick succession.

"You girls don't let up!"

Shrieker flew off up to some trees, to cover the body of the Hollow, and then small frog like creatures came out of its fur, and shot for Yuzu and Karin, but they didn't see that some more came out, and sneak around them.

"Not this shit again. Yuzu!"

Yuzu nodded, and rather than aim her arrows at all of them, she aimed for the one that was in the middle, and allowed an explosive go to the end of the arrow, taking aim, and then fired it off in a swift burst, piercing the Hollow, and it exploded, the explosion was strong enough to knock back the other creatures, which hit the ground because of their descent to the earth, Karin smirked at her sister.

"Karin, I've taken them to the ground, finish them off."

Karin nodded, allowing her sword to be filled with energy and she swung it downwards, unleashing her energy, destroying the creatures that were before her, but Karin let off a small pant.

"Damn, used more energy than I thought-"

"What's wrong?" The Hollow taunted. "Are you getting too weak?"

Karin scowled up to the Hollow.

"That's not something you have to worry about. I have enough power to take you down. And even if I didn't, I still have my sister with me. Together, we can take you down."

Yuzu allowed a smile to appear on her face.

It sounded like Karin was relying on her.

If she was then she wouldn't disappoint at all.

Karin leaped upwards, and she climbed a tree at hyper speed. Yuzu was surprised to see that she was doing something like that, but then she saw that Karin looked back at her.

Without even saying anything, Yuzu understood what Karin wanted, seeing Karin perching herself on a branch. It seemed like she was ready to deliver a good blow to the Hollow itself.

"Hey Hollow, I wont allow us to lose!"

Yuzu pulled back the string, and then shot off an arrow towards the trees, cutting through the air, forcing the Hollow to dodge out of the way. It smirked and began speaking "You're weak..." but it didn't get to finish as Yuzu kept launching more and more arrows to the Hollow, forcing it towards the left hand side, but she changed up pace, and fired more arrows in that direction, and didn't stop, forcing her to go down towards the ground.

"Stay away from me!"

The Hollow let out a small cry, and his tongue stuck out, ready to use some kind of sonic attack, but Yuzu wouldn't allow it, and rather than aim for him, she aimed for the ground, and unleashed an arrow with a small explosive on it a fair distance away, exploding the ground and created smoke.

Shrieker didn't get why she was doing that.

But it became clear when an arrow came outwards from the smoke, he didn't have time to react to her attack, piercing his shoulder, and another came outwards, so he flew downwards, where Karin was who raised her blade, lining herself up.

"Try this!"

Karin leaped forward, and her sword swung downwards, releasing a crescent blade of energy, which cleaved off the right arm of the Hollow, the Hollow roared out in its pain, and dropped it down to the ground harshly, bouncing off the ground, and clutched its arm with its free hand, Karin landed on the ground and rolled across the ground, getting to her feet after two rolls.

"W-What have you done!?"

"As we said, you caused that boy pain. We can't let you keep going on with such pain. Lying to him, causing him to have hope when there was no hope anymore."

Karin sounded truly angry at the Hollow.

"That's right, I did do that. He cried for his Mommy, and ran as far as he could. He placed others in danger to make sure his Mom came back. And now that I've caught him, you'll have no choice but to obey what I want you to do."

"You haven't..."

Yuzu's eyes turned to the cage, and saw the frog like creatures on the cage, and leaches coming out of their heads. Karin also noticed that, and her teeth gritted together.

"So, you'd even use him to stop us. That's sad, and pathetic."

"That doesn't matter to me, I have to do everything I can to make sure that I can escape. I wont die to a bunch of teenage girls. Now, be good girls, and come one by one as I devour your souls. You've given me much fun, and while I lost an arm, and what not, I managed to have some good fun with you all."

Karin didn't know what to do.

Yuzu didn't know what to do.

If they made a move, then the bombs would go off, and they would see Yuichi being blown up.

Karin cursed it.

The power that she couldn't use.

Her eyes closed, and so did Yuzu's own eyes.

They wished that they could do something...

They wanted to be strong.

They wanted to do what they could to fight.

They wanted to win this fight.

They had to win this fight.

For Yuichi.

Karin's eyes shot open, and took full gaze at the Hollow before her.

"By the way, how does it feel?"

Karin demanded, moving closer, the Hollow stuck out his tongue.

"D-Don't come closer, or I will use my tongue to detonate my bombs on that bird! You don't want him to die, right?!"

Karin paused, while Yuzu's eyes slowly lowered.

But then Karin flipped a switch on the sword, and gathered her power, and threw the sword at the Hollow, who let out a small cry, as the energy was released mid flight, forcing the Hollow to leap out of the way, unable to fly due to having only one arm now, which had the wing attached to it, while Yuzu turned to the creatures.

"Leave Yuichi-kun alone!"

She fired off her arrows, and pierced through the creatures, running up, and kicked the last one off the birds cage, the Hollow scowling and went to vibrate his tongue, when Karin appeared before him, holding onto his tongue and pulled it forward.

"Yuzu!"

Karin yanked the tongue and gave her a shot.

Yuzu lined up the shot, and fired off an arrow, slicing through the tongue, and pierced the shoulder of the Hollow, knocking it backwards, where Karin swung her foot, kicking the Hollow right in the face, and knocked it down to the ground.

Then Yuzu walked forward and aimed her weapon at the Hollow.

"Don't move."

Yuzu spoke angrily.

The Hollow became panicked.

Seeing between the twins, he didn't have any moves left. He couldn't detonate his bombs anymore, making more wouldn't do any good because Yuzu and Karin could dispatch them easily enough, and finally, the pair were ready to kill him off.

* * *

"My, you did good girls."

Karin and Yuzu heard a familiar voice, turning to see Takumi with a panting Orihime and Rukia behind him.

"Takumi-kun! W-What happened?!"

Takumi waved his hand "Later." and moved closer.

He took out his Zanpakuto, tossing it to Karin and Yuzu, who caught it together.

"Whats this for?"

"This is your fight, use that to end that Hollow."

Takumi replied to Karin who clutched the handle with Yuzu.

Then their eyes went towards the Hollow who was panicking for dear life.

"Wait! Wait! Please don't do this! You can't do this to me!"

Yuzu and Karin shared a look, before they together, rammed Takumi's Zanpakuto right through the Hollows head, splitting the mask into two, before it shattered, and the head ended up being pierced right through and the sword ended up coming out of the other side.

But he didn't disappear.

They were surprised.

The Hollow didn't even seem like it was going to disappear.

"What's going on? Shouldn't it disappear?"

Karin thought that was the case.

But that was soon stopped when two large doors came into being. With two skeleton looking creatures attached to the door, Yuzu let out a cry, and hid behind Takumi as did Orihime, Karin pulled back away from the door, going near Rukia who closed her eyes.

"The Hollow had to have committed sin in life, for this to happen."

"But, what are they?"

Karin asked Rukia, who went to answer when Takumi did.

"It is the Gates of Hell."

"Hell..."

Karin murmured, as the doors opened.

Orihime clung to Takumi for dear life, but Takumi smiled.

"Don't worry Orihime-chan, everyone. This isn't going to kill us or anything. It is after the Hollow here. Because of the sins committed in life, it's going to be punished in Hell. The Zanpakuto can only cleanse the sins of the Hollow, not of the human before it became a Hollow. Unlike your brother Orihime-chan, this man was evil and did many disgusting acts while alive, so he's going to be punished in Hell now."

Rukia nodded, and they all watched as a large blade came out. It was thick, and was the size of a house easily. The Hollow was then bound with chains coming out of Hell, and held up the Hollow who pleased for life, but it ultimately fell on deaf ears, and they watched together as the Hollow was pierced right through the body, taking up most of its body with the blade, and dragged back into Hell.

The Hollow continued to scream out, but it didn't amount to anything, and they watched as it disappeared into the abyss of darkness from the gates of Hell. Then once it was gone, the doors closed behind it, and then the doors shattered into a million pieces, disappearing into the air itself.

Once it was gone, Takumi and the others turned to Yuichi.

"It's gone now, Yuichi."

Karin smiled out, Yuzu nodding.

"You don't have to cry anymore, he's gone to a place where he will be punished for what he's done."

"B-But my Mom...I wont see her again..."

Karin bent down to the cage, and let out the bird.

It flew onto her shoulder, were Karin petted the head of the bird, and so did Yuzu.

"Don't cry. Remember, you are apart of the Kurosaki family now. You're our little brother."

Karin's softness caught the others by surprise.

Yuzu giggled.

"She's right, you're our brother. And you don't know if your Mom will be there or not. But, it will be a better place, right Takumi-kun?"

Takumi nodded his head.

"That's right, it will be a better place. The Soul Society will be the place you'll be going. Your Mom might even be there right now, waiting for you to come back to her."

Yuichi's eyes looked towards Takumi who smiled.

Then Orihime leaned forward.

"Maybe you'll see my brother. Sora Inoue. If you do, say hello to him for me, okay?"

"Y-Yes...thank you. All of you. You risked yourselves for me. I'm sorry for putting you all in danger."

Rukia waved her hand.

"Don't worry, you'll go to a better place. You'll be happy over there, and you'll be safe from Hollows over there as well. So, why don't you let Takumi perform Konso on you."

"Maybe one day, when we depart this world, we could meet up again and have a family reunion?"

Yuzu suggested, Yuichi's face curled upwards.

"Y-Yes! That would be the best thing ever!"

Takumi adopted a small smile on his face, and then walked closer.

"Goodbye Yuichi-kun."

"Yes! Goodbye!"

"See you later kid."

"Have fun over there!"

"We'll see you later, count on it."

Takumi, Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu and Karin all spoke sweetly, and then saw saw the spirit of Yuichi standing beside the bird in ghost form.

Each of them smiled, as Takumi performed Konso, releasing the spirit to the Soul Society.

Orihime and Rukia smiled at one another, Karin smiled to herself, while Yuzu's eyes became moist.

"Don't worry Yuzu-chan, you'll see him again one day."

Yuzu looked towards Takumi, and then hugged onto him, crying her eyes out. Takumi comforted her by hugging her back, Karin's eyes glanced at the young Shinigami boy, and then let out small soft laughs at the sight.

Now with this Hollow disappeared, Karin was sure she knew what she wanted to do now.

Even Yuzu felt the same way.

They both knew that they would continue helping out people that needed it.

* * *

The next day, Karin strolled towards the Urahara shop.

Takumi was surprised that he saw her there as she opened the shop doors early in the morning with her school outfit on.

"Karin-chan, something you need?"

Karin shook her head.

"No, I just...I came by to say, thanks for the other day. With the metal beam and all, that could've killed me, yet you took it for me without even thinking about yourself. I thought you were some weird guy...but, underneath your weirdness, you're quite decent, Maybe this is what Yuzu sees all of the time, who knows."

Takumi waved his hand at her.

"No worries at all, I'm glad you're feeling better. You are, right?"

Karin displayed a surprising smile, putting her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, I'm feeling much better than before, I'm glad we were able to help Yuichi. And, I think I get it. Why you seem so willing to do this." Takumi cocked an eyebrow while she continued. "Because, the feeling of knowing you've helped out. That feeling I had with Yuichi yesterday, that must be what you feel each time you slay a Hollow, knowing you've saved that persons soul, and also, saved their future victims."

Takumi's face curled up.

"You're right, that's exactly how I feel. To know I've done good to someone, and saved others, it's a great feeling. But more than that, I'm happy to help out Rukia-chan since she can't do it right now."

Karin lowered her head but retained her smile.

"Yeah..."

Before she could continue, the door behind Takumi opened, revealing Rukia.

"Takumi, a Hollow." She announced, glancing at Karin. "Oh, Karin. Good morning."

"Yeah, morning Kuchiki-san."

Rukia adopted a small smile, while Takumi cracked his neck.

"Never any rest for the Shinigami, hahaha~" Rukia allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips. "Want to come Karin-chan?"

"I'm actually a little busy, I've got to go soon."

"Aah, alright then. Make yourself at home, have some candy, my treat~" Karin gave him an appreciative nod. He turned to Rukia with a grin. "Ready Rukia-chan?"

"Definitely, lets take it down."

Rukia and Takumi ran out of the shop together, leaving Karin alone.

She waited for half a minute, while moving forward into the shop.

"Oi, Urahara-san. I know you're here somewhere."

Surely enough, as soon as she said it, Kisuke came out of the shadows with a yawn.

"Ah, Kurosaki-san. Can I presume you've made a choice?"

Karin nodded with conviction.

"Give me the power of a Shinigami."

Kisuke saw that she truly meant it. It wasn't just said on a whim, she had thought about this.

"...Alright then, give me a week, and I'll have it ready for you. In that time, if you change your mind, let me know."

"Thanks, but I wont change my mind."

Kisuke raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yesterday, with Yuichi, and the Hollow. I got a realization...they need saving too. Not just the spirits, but the Hollows need saving from that life, and punishment if they were evil in life. As I am, I don't have the power Takumi has, nor the knowledge Kuchiki-san has. If I had the power too, then we'd be more efficient in taking these damn things down. Takumi and I could take these things down and save more people. And...I'd also be able to keep Yuzu safe. Seeing her in danger...no, I wont allow anything to harm Yuzu, and now that the Hollows are attacking her, and could harm my Dad, I want the power to keep them safe."

Kisuke's face fell into understanding.

"Yes, protecting your sister and Father is a noble goal."

"Exactly, so make whatever it is, and I'll be ready for it."

"Alright then, Kurosaki-san. One week, then you'll be a Shinigami. It will give you time to change your mind, and if you do, then do not feel bad, this is your choice after all."

Karin gained a small smile on her face, ready for what was going to happen next.

She had made up her mind.

She was ready, to become a Shinigami.

* * *

"Aaaaaaaaagh!"

"N-Noooooooooooooo!"

Screams rang out within the area that looked to be a woodland type place.

Blood scattered across the ground.

Bodies of Shinigami's laid on the ground, and were being devoured by a large beast Hollow. The Hollow is a six-limbed creature with a large, flame-patterned mask and a flock of tentacles on his back, and its body colour being a greenish gray colour, the eyes of the Hollow being unseen due to the darkness that was being shown, and also had fur growing across its body.

On the ground, was a lone Shinigami, who was quivering under the watchful eyes of the Hollow.

It's expression turned twisted, and its tentacles on his back swayed around.

"These Shinigami were useless, maybe I could eat you and gain some more power."

"N-No...please..."

"Sorry, but that's how it is!"

The Shinigami pulled backwards, but the Hollow leaped forward, ready to pounce on the Shinigami.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The Shinigami screamed as the Hollow went to kill the Shinigami...

But then suddenly, a purple haired young woman with an almost robotic expression on her face, leaped forward, and delivered a super fast kick right to the torso of the enemy Hollow, her strength was so grand that the Hollow was forced backwards, and smashed its body into the ground, away from the Shinigami.

The Shinigami looked up towards the girl, and recognized her.

"L-Lieutenant..."

"I was ordered, with some other members to find out what happened here."

She said with nearly no emotions.

Then the Hollow looked upon the girl, who stared back calmly.

"And you'd be?"

"I am Nemu Kurotsuchi, Lieutenant of Squad 12."

She replied while other Shinigami appeared behind her.

They withdrew their Zanpakuto, and pointed it at the Hollow, who growled.

"D-Damn it..."

The Shinigami went to move forward, when the Hollow turned heels, and began running away from the area.

Nemu watched on while other Shinigami were ordered to go ahead by another Lieutenant, but she suspected they wouldn't catch the Hollow.

How she knew that, was a mystery.

However, what she didn't know was, that Hollow was going to cause her to meet someone important in the future...

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, quite the fight! Takumi fought with three Quincy girls, and managed to do pretty well against them, though they got off some great hits on him too, and as Kisuke's kid, he came prepared and managed to think of plans while fighting new enemies with strong powers. Karin and Yuzu became closer with Yuichi, and one another, Takumi assuring Yuzu that Karin does have strong emotions, but keeps them to herself, and Kisuke offered Karin to become a Shinigami, and by the end of this chapter, it seems like she's resolved herself to do what it takes to protect her sister, and everyone else. And also, Nemu has appeared! What's gonna happen with her and that Hollow, we'll soon see!**

**Also, here's a question and opinions I've been getting about Uryu, and about if he should be in the story or not, so I'll leave it to you! I thought about Giselle taking what Uryu does in canon, besides the hollow bait as Giselle doesn't have anything against Takumi and the others, I'd have someone else do that in that case. But yeah, people have been asking about if he should be or shouldn't be in the story, I can work with either, so I thought that I'd ask you all!**

**So yeah, please vote on that, and until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku.**


	6. Mod-Soul blues

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Takumi's surely like his Dad, he uses his intelligence to outwit stronger opponents, and when he releases his Zanpakuto, we'll see him combine that with his intellect, and gadgets, and series of drugs, and what not that he has. Thanks for the vote! Yeah, Giselle would be more calm about it, she'd be pissed of course, but she wouldn't lose her stuff with him. She is yeah, Karin will have her powers quite soon. Yeah, it would be funny if she was like that~ Yeah, Giselle might play a part of that. Bambietta would be the choice, since she has already said she hates Shinigami, even more now. I could see that! Yeah, Nemu's appeared! She and Takumi will have some fun interactions. Yeah, right now she just likes him, she's a little attracted to him, but she hasn't fallen for him yet. I've got an emotional moment for when Rukia is going to fall for Takumi.**

**Oblivious IJ; Yeah, Nemu's quite awesome huh~? Yeah, Ichigo's not in the story the same with Chad, Karin's taking his place when it comes to powers and what not. Yammy's the 0 Espada though.**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks very much! Yup, Nemu's gonna join in soon! He surely is quite strategic, we'll see more of that in the future. Rukia blushing is quite cute huh~? I quite like Rukia. I thought about doing that, then I thought Takumi probably wouldn't provoke her more than he had done already on mistake.**

**Dark King Marcel; Thanks very much! Yeah, he'll be unleashing his Zanpakuto quite soon. Yeah he could do~**

**Crenin; Yeah, they wouldn't send Giselle, Giselle would just join them like Uryu kinda does in canon, where he works with Ichigo and what not, Giselle would just do the same thing. Yuzu's gonna show quite good potential, and will have some cool fights in the future.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks! Yeah, he managed to outwit them~ They are yeah, they're growing quite strong together~ She's going to be going through her own journey here yeah, and yeah, she is kinda like that huh~? Nemu's appeared! And yeah, that Hollow's gonna play a major role soon enough~**

**Ragna; Thanks for the votes!**

**Guest 1; Seeing into peoples minds is fine, seeing the future would just be the same as Yhwach though. And yeah, I can see lol~**

**Guest 2; Thanks for the votes! Yeah, Nemu and Takumi's interactions are going to be quite fun~ Sure, that would be pretty cool~**

**Guest 3; Probably yeah~ Dunno when though.**

**Guest 4; Thanks for the votes! And yeah, Bambi's gonna be going through things in this arc~ Yeah, Takumi, Rukia and Orihime aren't going to be dealing with Grand Fisher, that's for the Kurosaki twins and Giselle, Takumi and the others will be dealing with something else. Yeah, he could die there and you're right, he doesn't do anything other than Isshin owning him anyway~ She could do yeah, that sounds pretty cool to me!**

**Guest 5; Orihime's powers with what the limits are hard to define, the explanation of her powers is fine, it's just how they were used in the manga/anime as it seemed contradictory in similar situations where they worked for one, and yet it didn't for another, it just seems to be convenient to the plot when they could've been used to service the plot and have defined limits. In this story, I'm gonna do my best to define the limits of her powers more like if she restores someones arm, it drains her energy noticeably, and if she tries to resurrect the dead like she did with Menoly then it drains her quite a lot and could only do it once a day or something and a time limit to when she can resurrect someone, show growth of her powers so she can use her powers faster, against stronger enemies, and give her some more unique ways to use them. Also, in this story, Orihime's gonna be doing quite a bit more than she did in canon, we'll even see a tag battle with Takumi and Orihime vs a certain someone in the future where she and Takumi will be working side by side as partners, plus I've seen that she's listed as a Fullbringer in certain places, so she'll be a Fullbringer here, and with that, allowing her to use Bringerlight to move faster and what not.**

**Guest 6; My favourite movie is probably the Hell Verse with Memories of Nobody being a close second, though I like all of the movies, even my least favourite is a movie I like a whole lot.**

**Guest 7; Yeah, I could address that and say that as it wasn't ever stated in the series, it sounds good to me~**

**Guest 8; My favourite character, that's a hard question, and it took me a while to come to the conclusion but I'd say it's probably is Kisuke. Though I like most of the characters in Bleach.**

**Guest 9; Yeah, they could be~**

**Guest 10; Perhaps, I haven't decided yet.**

**Guest 11; Sure, Nel could save Tier, it would be cool~**

**Guest 12; I might have Yushiro appear earlier, and yeah, that would be cool and funny~**

**A fan; Mayuri isn't my least favourite, his actions are horrible yeah, what he does to Nemu, and what he did with the Quincy and what not, the author probably kept him around to show that the Shinigami aren't all duty bound and honour like Komamura and Yamamoto is and how questionable it can be, plus I believe that I read somewhere that Mayuri is one of the author of Bleach's favourite characters so that might be a reason too. My least favourite character is quite hard to define, I don't really know who I dislike the least, it would be a toss between Yhwach, or Tsukishima.**

**Reviewer Requiem; I've heard of it before, and haven't checked it out yet, but it looks like a fun anime so I'll probably check it out. When I do, I'll see if I'll do a story on it or not~**

**Skull Flame; No, not yet. She did yeah, Liltotto was shown to be quite intelligent so she knows when and when not to anger people. It seems that she does yeah~ He is yeah, Shrieker is gone now. It seems so, that Hollow will become important in the near future. Thanks for the vote. Yeah, Chad's not in the story, mentioned a few chapters back. She is yeah, Karin's on her way to becoming strong! Kisuke knows what he's doing, and how Takumi will need support in the future.**

**Guest 13; Yeah, that would be quite nice for their child. That would be quite funny, seeing the duel sides of their kid doing that. That's Launch for you, she's very trigger happy when she's blonde. Sure, that would be quite nice~ Sure, that would be a nice moment from Vegeta, and what not. That sounds great to me! Sure, 17 was just kinda forgotten about until Super anyway so I don't see why not. That would be quite funny, thanks for the suggestions!**

**Any of one; Yeah, I'm thinking about it~ Yeah, it could be for that as well~**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, he's trying his best for her. Hehe, yeah they have quite the fun conversations with themselves huh~? He does yeah, there's more of a deeper reason why he knows about that, as we'll see more in the future. Yeah, Takumi mentioned about that, and also said that he was sad that it couldn't be resolved peacefully. She surely will, yeah Yuzu will also get her powers soon. Yeah, he bonded with the twins a little more~ Yeah, poor Isshin. They did yeah, the twins saved Yuichi. Yeah, Takumi didn't want to piss off Bambietta, he's like his Dad and he will say things like that, but knows his limits as well. Giselle is quite the fun character to write for. Yeah, they watched to see if he'd be in danger, and once seeing that he wasn't, they watched happily. Nemu's appeared! She'll be appearing more quite soon! Indeed, more Giselle can't hurt~ Indeed, I can understand why as their arc in canon wasn't great in most eyes from what I've seen, I quite like it and where it could have gone, and I like the idea of their powers working from Hollow power, and an object they're got an affinity to. He could be a Vizard in that case like Shinji and the others, or more like Tosen with both a Bankai, and Resurrection, I might have Karin have that aspect. She could be, but I wouldn't know what kind of powers Tatsuki would have. I don't think it would matter either way, Yhwach wasn't a traditional Sternritter so that's probably why there were two A's and with Uryu being his successor and all, though Yhwach's A power is...very broken, it should of just been A the ****Auswahlen as that power already is powerful, or not have The Almighty as he didn't need the see the future and future manipulation power he was already very powerful, and expect changes for when we get there to make Yhwach a more believable beatable Villain while still very menacing and powerful that poses a genuine threat, and not one that they can't hope to beat believably. They can be afraid of Hiyori, they probably wouldn't fear Takumi, they'd probably respect that he's so different to Mayuri. Kenpachi could say things like that. Sure, he could be like that with the Central 46. She has green hair yeah. I suppose yeah. It surely would be cool yeah~ Sure those sound pretty cool. He could frequently be invited~ I suppose he could be. Takumi could have some businesses going sure. Sounds great!**

**SomeDudeThatReads; Yeah, Giselle would bring some unique things to the fights that Uryu was in since she is The Zombie and all~ Thanks for letting me know!**

**Andrew123456; No, I'm not sick of it at all, and thanks for the vote~ Yeah, I've heard of it but thanks for letting me know~**

**Guest 14; Thanks for the vote, and I suppose they would.**

**Guest 15; Thanks for the vote! Sure, that could be some good character growth for Bambietta.**

**Guest 16; Sure, that could be interesting~**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Mod-Soul blues**

Bambietta, Meninas, and Candice looked annoyed with how they had lost the fight. Giselle and Liltotto looked on curiously, seeing Candice growing more and more angry than before.

"I told you that you shouldn't attack the Shinigami." Liltotto spoke up, while drinking some cola. "As you saw, you lost to Takumi Urahara, despite having the upper hand, we need to just take this opportunity and stop the fight."

"Totally, we shouldn't try and fight them. Lets just leave them alone."

Liltotto saw Giselle's happy demeanour dip for a small little time.

"You okay Gigi?"

Giselle did a hand stand, and stuck out her tongue childlike.

"I'm totally fine, don't worry about me."

Liltotto didn't believe her exactly, she was sure that she was still in pain about what happened with Masaki. Meninas on the other hand, looked down at herself, and then towards the others at what had happened.

"We really had been through quite the fight. I was surprised that someone that hadn't released Shikai could fight us off so well. I know we've not had our powers for all that long, but it was quite amazing to see such things."

Bambietta scrunched up her eyebrows.

"You're not wrong. I definitely did underestimate him. I didn't think he'd be able to take on all three of us, we have to continue training with our powers. If we can grow in strength, then we might be able to win this fight."

"Again, we really shouldn't do that though."

Liltotto's voice was overshadowed by Candice's voice.

"I can't believe that we had to deal with something like this! He fought us and managed to get in some good shots! Can you believe it?! And when I shocked the damn fool, nothing even happened! I couldn't even use my power to hurt him!"

Candice couldn't stop her thoughts running wild. She was surprisingly angry by what happened. Bambietta on the other hand wanted to get even for what had happened, tightening her hand angrily.

"We had lost. But we can still get the upper hand on him, and beat him..."

"What are you talking about?"

Liltotto demanded from Bambietta, who stretched her arms outwards.

"We have to strike while the iron is hot. Don't you see? They'll never see it coming. If we leave them to become more comfortable, then they'll be able to devise ways to beat us again. That's going to end with us losing. So, the next opportunity that we can get, we should strike them down with our powers."

Candice, Meninas, Liltotto and Giselle all looked reluctant.

"We shouldn't go so recklessly. We just lost our fight, if we go towards them now, then we'll lose, right?"

Meninas thought that would be true.

But Bambietta tightened her hands.

"Come on! He's going to be out for us now! We have to stop him before he can achieve Shikai! If he does, then he will be even more dangerous. We lost, it's true. But we can overcome this, and defeat our enemy."

Still, Meninas and Candice looked reluctant to say anything about it.

Liltotto and Giselle already were against it anyway, so they weren't happy with Bambietta trying to enact her revenge for this long.

Bambietta's eyes narrowed at all of them, and faced out of the window.

"Fine, I'll do it myself. I'll find an opportunity for me to do it, then I'll end them all together. The Shinigami wont know what's hit them. Especially when it comes to that Takumi. He will suffer like no other! Count on it!"

Bambietta made that declaration.

She was sure she was ready to do what was necessary to stop this.

* * *

Takumi currently was within his own private lab, and seemed to have some kind of devices before him, and it seemed that he was mixing chemicals together along with a bag of marbles being nearby, though they seemed a little bit weird.

The door behind him opened, revealing Rukia walking into the room. Wordlessly, she walked inside, peering over Takumi's shoulder.

"What's that anyway?"

Takumi gained a smile.

"These are something that we might need for the future, that's all. You said that we need to be prepared against Bambi-chan and the others, so I've made some marbles to help us out with that, though it is a rush job since we don't know when she'll strike again."

Rukia's curiosity had been raised.

"I see, I'm glad you're taking this seriously." Rukia watched as Takumi cracked his neck side to side. "Anyway, with these enemies out here, the Quincy girls, I thought about you learning how to use your Shikai. Considering that we've been gaining stronger enemies, if you knew Shikai then it would be easier for us to win fights."

"Yeah, I was thinking about Shikai as well. I have to..."

"Jinzen." Rukia spoke, taking his Zanpakuto, and laid it across his lap. "Close your eyes, and connect to your Zanpakuto. To make sure that you gain the connection with the Zanpakuto, being as close to it as possible is for the best."

"Right, I understand. I'll do my best!"

"Yes. Though it is a process, perhaps today you'll be lucky to do it."

"I hope so, it didn't work last time so..."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes, it does take time to do that, so it makes sense that you haven't yet. But, you've got time, and your sword will respond eventually. Just allow all other thoughts to leave your mind."

Rukia gained a soft smile, as he closed his eyes.

Concentrating on the sword, concentrating on what he would need to do.

Connecting to the power of the sword, and the power of himself.

To achieve a new power, to give himself the power of Shikai…

* * *

"Hello there."

Takumi's eyes shot open, and before him, he found himself in a new place.

He looked around, and saw that the area looked like a giant town, but it was scientific. It looked like it was from the future. Sparkles of lightning were erupting around them, streams of water swam through the sky. He himself was stood on the ground level, seeing many different objects going by his body, and saw that lightning and thunder were booming within the area.

His eyes then focused before him, seeing that there was a girl there.

She was quite beautiful.

Her hair was golden, long. It went down her back, and reached her lower back. She wore a cute kimono with intricate designs of bolts of lightning in various places on the kimono. Even her hair looked to be zigzagged like lightning bolts sailing through the air. She had a curvy figure, she had even bigger breasts than Orihime, which surprised him immensely, and caused him to blush slightly. Her eyes were golden yellow like her hair, and her lips had some red lipstick on.

In his eyes, she looked like a Princess, or a Queen.

She looked very regal.

And that in of itself also made him smile lightly at the sight of the young girl.

She even appeared to be around his age, maybe a little older.

"W-Wow, are you my Zanpakuto spirit?"

"That's right, that's me." The girl strolled over to Takumi, allowing her hand to slide onto his chest. "Hehe, it's been so long. I thought you might have forgotten about me."

"So long…? I've not been a Shinigami for that long. And I'm pretty sure I'd never forget someone like you."

The girls eyes slitted slightly.

"I see...well, it's great to see you!" Her hand slowly slid across his body, and then up his chest, going to his chin, flipping off his chin. "Now, what have you come here for exactly? Did you just come to see me?"

"I did yeah. I want to learn about my Shikai, and how to use it. So, I'd like to know your name, please!"

At that, the girl paused.

Her eyes went lower to the ground.

"My name…? You want my name?"

"Yes, that's how it works, right? Rukia-chan and my Father said that I should communicate with you, so we can get to know one another, and I'd learn your name. Can't I know you?"

The girls eyes went towards a large building, then she walked over towards it.

Her hand touched the building, and then Takumi saw that lightning was travelling through the building, and concentrated in her hands, pointing her hand towards Takumi's body, who grimaced at the sight.

"Ooh God, you're not Candice-san, are you? I just dealt with someone that can control lightning-"

"I am your Zanpakuto spirit. You want to know my name? You show me something satisfying. You satisfy me, and tell you my name. But if you can't, then I wont say my name to you at all."

"I thought that Zanpakuto spirits wanted to get to know their Shinigami?"

"It's true. But, I'm also pushing you to grow even stronger. I want to challenge you, to see if you're worthy of knowing my name. Don't get me wrong, I do really like you, I just want to see your motivations, I want to see more about what your goals in life are, I want to know more about you as a person. Then, if you manage to get me satisfied, then I'll allow you to know my name, is that alright with you?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

The fact that she even said that clued him in that she knew him quite well.

She wanted to know who he was as a person, his goals and his desires before giving her power to him. That was something Takumi truly could understand, something he truly appreciated from her, something that he definitely loved about his Zanpakuto spirit.

Then he stopped when he saw a small light coming from the far off distance.

A bluish light.

It looked beautiful.

Inviting.

Warmth, protection...

Love.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning stopped his progress, which came from the young woman.

"Hey, why are you stopping me?"

"Don't go that way, it's not for you to see right now."

"But, why? What is it?"

Takumi wondered, the radiant light that made his heart feel warm.

"It's something that's been with you for a long time." The girls eyes shot towards the right, seeing a darkened shadow peering out towards Takumi from behind a building. It's eyes hovered on his form, ready to pounce. "There's things within this world that could also harm you, Takumi. You need to be careful."

Takumi didn't get why he would have to be careful.

"Be careful? But this is just my inner world, right? It isn't supposed to be dangerous, is it?"

"There's things here that are dangerous Takumi. But don't worry, stay with me, and I'll keep you safe. I've been doing it my entire existence after all. Since we're the best partners ever~ In fighting and other things too~ Now, prepare for when we duel. We wont do it now, but in the near future, I'll fight you, and we'll allow our hearts to blend. Now, goodbye my Takumi~"

She winked, and was encased in lightning that shot from the sky, rupturing the ground, disappearing in a flash.

* * *

"Aaaah!"

Takumi's eyes shot open, Rukia pulled forward in concern.

"Takumi? Is something wrong? What happened?"

Rukia spoke with concern, Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, looking towards her.

"I...met my Zanpakuto spirit."

"You did? That's great, then what's the name of the spirit?"

"I don't know."

Rukia found that suspicious.

"It didn't tell you?"

"No, she didn't say. She said that if I wanted to know, I'd have to face her for the information I want."

"That's strange...but, if that's what your Zanpakuto wants...I guess that's what you're going to have to do."

"Yeah, I guess so. Also, while I was there...it was weird, there was a strange blue light there."

Rukia cocked an eyebrow upwards.

"A blue light huh."

"That's right, a blue light, and my Zanpakuto wouldn't let me near it. She also said that it was dangerous within my inner world. Is that supposed to be normal?"

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"No...I haven't heard of such things...but, to be on the safe side, if you go into your inner world, be around someone that can snap you out of it if something happens. Like me or your Father or something."

Takumi nodded.

"Yeah, that's a wise precaution." Takumi stretched his arms upwards. "Well, it's been quite the day. I suppose I'm going to get to bed. What about you Rukia-chan?"

"Yes, I think I will as well."

Takumi and Rukia stood up, walking away together to get some rest.

* * *

It was a normal day within the school, and the others were happily chatting away about random things. Since there wasn't anything pressing, besides the Quincy girls, though Takumi was sure that he'd be able to handle them as he was training to deal with those kind of opponents.

"Taku-chan, can I ask you something?"

Takumi glanced at Orihime, and then grinned.

"Of course, what do you want to ask?"

"Yes, do you prefer dogs, or cats?"

"Dogs or cats? Why?"

Orihime gained a soft smile.

"I-I just thought that maybe we could get an animal together one day...s-so I was wondering what you preferred...?"

"Eh...erm...I don't know, I have Yoruichi-chan...but, she's not really a cat...well, she is, but she's not a real...it's complicated. I used to have a dog though."

"A dog?" Rukia inquired. "I didn't know you had a dog."

"Yeah, his name was Kukkapuro."

"Kukkapuro?"

Rukia wondered, while Orihime tilted her head.

"I didn't know, when did you have a dog Taku-chan?"

Takumi went to answer...

But stopped.

His brow creased, and he went into thought.

"_When did I have a dog...? Kukkapuro...why did I even say that name...? I didn't even think but... Did I have a dog...? Weird...a dog...I had a dog, didn't I? I'm sure I have had a dog before...Kukkapuro...when did I have that dog...maybe it was...why do I feel sad when thinking about that name...?_" Takumi paused when seeing Orihime and Rukia giving him questioning looks. "Hehe, I guess it must've been when I was young, I don't remember~"

"Well, it doesn't matter Taku-chan! I like either myself~"

"Well, we could get both, and then the dog and cat could become best friends, and huddle together at night, teaching them the value of friendship~"

Orihime's face lifted up happily, cupping her hands together.

"Yes, that would be very beautiful Taku-chan!"

Takumi chuckled while Rukia furrowed her eyebrows.

"Lets get a rabbit and name it Chappy."

Takumi and Orihime shared a laugh, while Rukia looked slightly embarrassed.

"Sure, lets get a rabbit and name it Chappy Rukia-chan!"

Rukia's mouth curled upwards, and three shared a small laugh together.

However, they stopped when the Sensei came into the room, and she was followed behind by a girl. The girl wore the normal school outfit, and had a heart shaped belt buckle around her thin waist.

Rukia, Karin, and Takumi all took notice of the girl, but not because she was cute.

It was for another reason.

Rukia glanced at Takumi.

"It's her..."

"Yeah, what is she doing here?"

"I don't know, but we have to be careful...what should we do?"

Takumi didn't have an answer for Rukia at all.

He hoped that wasn't the case.

He didn't want to have a fight with her as well, and if that was the case…

Chizuru's face lifted upwards, and her mouth became foamy, her eyes swirling around in her head, ready to do many different things. She then released a howling out of her mouth, which frightened Tatsuki, who sat nearby, Rukia breathed hard through her nose feeling that Chizuru's eyes were on her form.

Takumi watched her curiously, while hearts came to the boys eyes around.

"She's so cute!"

Keigo, a boy in class, announced happily.

"Y-Yeah. Usually, I like older women, but she's pretty cute."

Mizuiro admitted while the girl herself swayed side to side.

"Alright everyone. We have a new girl joining today." The Sensei looked towards the girl who was pulling her cheeks, making her look goofy. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Sure!" The girl cheered, waving her arms up and down. "The names Giselle Gewelle. Call me Giselle, nice to meet you." Her eyes went around the classroom, then turned towards Takumi. "Hello there." She skipped closer, and placed her hands on the desk, bending over to the shock of the other girls. Her face got close to Takumi's own, getting close to his ear. "How about you become mine~?"

Takumi let out a breath while Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"What did you just say?"

Giselle pulled away, waving her hands side to side.

"Well, I thought you were pretty adorable, so I had to make sure that you were as cute as I thought."

"And the..."

When Takumi went to question it, Giselle moved closer once more, and shocked the classroom, by hugging him tightly, his face turned slightly red, while Orihime, and Yuzu looked ready to faint at the sight, Rukia gave it a suspicious look, while Karin and Tatsuki slapped themselves in the head, the boys looked jealous.

"It seemed like you'd be quite cuddly, so I thought I'd try it~"

Giselle pulled up her cheeks, into a smile, a creepy smile at that.

Then she skipped backwards, and glanced at Rukia.

Rukia's eyes furrowed upon her, while Giselle just stared at her darkly.

"A-Ah, your seat is..."

"Right there. Behind this blonde boy."

Giselle skipped towards Takumi, sitting behind him, and stared at him.

Rukia cringed at the sight, while Takumi grimaced at being stared at.

Giselle swayed side to side, while Takumi just felt chills going down his spine.

He was sure that there was something about Giselle.

But she was hiding it quite well.

His eyes went back to her, to see that Giselle was just staring at him with a slightly vacant expression on her face, yet it seemed like she also was slowly checking him out from behind.

...He was definitely going to have to investigate this girl a little more.

* * *

At break, Takumi casually went to Giselle, and said "Lets talk outside~" and Giselle happily obliged, stood up, and walked out with Orihime, Karin and Yuzu following. Rukia went to follow, but she felt hands on her shoulders, and chills went up and down her spine, she felt sick to her stomach, and she felt like she was going to die.

"Rukia..."

Her eyes went to the left, to see Zombie Chizuru licking her lips sensually, causing her feel a little fear.

"Z-Zombie Chizuru, you're as scary as ever...w-what do you want...? H-Have you come to kill me...?"

"I made lunch...for yooooooooooooooou..."

Rukia held it together, but she felt tears form in the corner of her eyes.

"T-That's fine, I actually m-made my own..."

"Zombie Chizuru insists."

Rukia cringed at the feeling of her Zombie behind her, and touching her, and now the prospect of eating her food.

But then to her everlasting joy, Takumi came back into the room.

"There you are." Takumi casually walks back to Rukia, lifts her up, and begins walking out of the room. "Sorry Zombie Chizuru, no Rukia-chan today."

"She's mine..."

Zombie Chizuru growls, and casually throws a pencil at Takumi. But without looking, he catches it, and puts it down on the table nearby while walking out of the room with Rukia in his arms.

Getting to a private area, they all face Giselle who casually is pulling on her own hair.

"S-So, you just come to school now?"

Rukia asked the young Quincy, said girl waves her head around.

"Of course, I'm still a school girl, so I need an education."

"And also to be closer to the idiot, isn't it?"

Karin noted having already been informed about Giselle from Takumi, Giselle turning towards her with her goofy expressions showing.

"Maybe~"

Karin releases a dark breath while Orihime looks at Giselle who casually holds onto Takumi's arm.

Yuzu also notices it, and smiles sweetly, as much as she could.

"I-I'm glad you're coming to school, we can get along better with the Quincy girls!"

Giselle nods while never taking her eyes off of Takumi.

"So, you're not going to cause trouble are you Giselle-san?"

Giselle allows her hand to wonder across his torso, while Orihime's cheeks turn slightly red, Rukia noticing that her hands were clutching together slightly.

"Of course not Takumi-kun, unless you want me to be a bad girl~?" The words dripped from her lips lustfully. She then leans up, and gets close to his ear, sweetly giggling against the lobe. "Tell me, want me to be naughty Takumi-kun-"

"E-Erm, Taku-chan doesn't like that! P-Please stop!"

Orihime spoke up, Giselle gives her an awkward smile.

"I'm pretty sure he does~"

"B-But, I know Taku-chan more so I know what Taku-chan likes..."

"Ooh, so you know his fantasies when it comes to women~?" Orihime's and the others do a double take. "Well, you could tell me? I'd be happy if you did. Ooh, is it maid? I could be a maid, serving Master Takumi-kun~ Is it naughty school girl, I'm already that~ Maybe it is sexy nurse. Doctor Takumi-kun, Nurse Giselle needs a spanking on the double hehehehe~"

Orihime looked mortified while Takumi's cheeks continued turning red. Rukia looked between Orihime and Giselle, sensing a certain something between them, sparks going off from their eyes. She also saw Yuzu giving Giselle a curious look, Karin didn't seem to be that interested.

"_I presume this is a maidens in love type of battle._" Rukia noted within her mind, while Orihime hugged Takumi's other arm. "_Hmmm, I've never seen this up close before. But, why do I feel a little...I don't know, something inside of me doesn't like how they're holding onto him...I'm just concerned for Takumi's safety. Yeah, that's it._"

Rukia rationalized inside of herself.

She thought that would be for the best.

She watched Orihime and Giselle continue to stare the other down, while Rukia herself thought that if Giselle wasn't going to cause trouble, then it might be useful to have someone else that could use their powers to help defend Karakura around.

* * *

After dealing with Giselle, Takumi and Rukia went off together to the bike shed, where no one else was around, and she brought out some pez.

"I finally got this from your Father."

"Soul candy?"

Rukia nodded.

"Sometimes, we'll have to leave school, and then we'd have to leave your body somewhere. This way, I thought that you could have this body be at school. Not like you need to go to school anyway hahahaha!"

Rukia laughed while Takumi gave her a weird look.

"Well, it seems that you are quite pumped for this. I'm surprised you just didn't ask me. My Dad didn't force you to pay for it or anything, right?"

Rukia shook her head.

"No, he tried to make me pay, but I said that I'd tell you so he just let it go. Besides, you've been quite busy lately, so I didn't want to interfere with that, and with Urahara being right there, I decided to rely on him. Though I still don't like that he didn't give me the Chappy addition..."

Takumi could understand that.

That was how Rukia displayed her thoughts.

"Either way, it was a good idea to have something like this. So shall we see which one it is?"

Takumi thought that would be best, Rukia nodded, and brought out a single piece of soul candy. Takumi took the piece of candy into his mouth, and his soul was ejected from the Gigai itself, his Gigai's body fell forward, while Rukia looked on curiously.

Then, its eyes opened, and it showed a happy demeaour.

"Hello there, my name is Takumi Urahara, and I like cuddly puppy's, and the endless days that bleed into the endless night."

Takumi gave it a strange look, while Rukia nodded.

"Seems legit."

"Legit? Really?"

Takumi gave her a WTF face.

Rukia nodded her head.

"Seems like that to me." Rukia's watch then went off. "I guess that we'll be going together then. Lets hope that it isn't the Quincy girls again."

Takumi's eyes went towards the soul candy.

"I suppose you can go to class. Just go to sleep or something. That will make everyone know that it was me."

"You got it chief."

The soul candy saluted Takumi, and then they ran away together. However, as Takumi was leaving the area, his smirk grew on his face, and a darkened expression came over his face, and then stretched his leg, swinging it outwards, and kicked a nearby wall, causing it to shake around heavily.

His eyes beamed with happiness, peering into a nearby glass, reflecting his image.

"So, blonde, and have weird eyes. Cool, cool. I like this kind of body." The soul candy casually opens his shirt, and reveals Takumi's abs. "Wow, look at that. This guy even has some muscles. Hehehe, I wonder how it will pull the ladies~"

The candy let out a gleeful expression, looking around the area.

Only to be stopped when Karin was walking over.

"You, idiot."

The candy looked around, and then saw Karin looking at him.

He pointed to himself, Karin nodded.

"Yes, well done. Now, what are you doing? Anything to do with Hollows?"

"Hollows...so, you know what...haha! No, of course not! I was waiting for you!"

Karin furrowed her eyebrows with confusion .

"For me? Why? What do you want?"

The candy chuckled, moving closer and closer to Karin.

Then, his hand slowly placed itself on Karin's shoulder, Karin's eyes narrowing.

"Since when did I give you permission to touch my shoulder!?"

"Whoa now girl, don't get so crazy. I just wanna talk to you."

Karin shrugged off his hand.

"What about?"

"Well, it's because you're so cute."

Karin let out a small gasp of air from her mouth, she was surprised.

"W-What…?"

His hand slowly slid onto her shoulder once more, Karin's face turning a mix of anger, and also some shyness that she couldn't express openly. The fact that she was even being touched like this was weird for someone like her.

"Yeah, looking up close, I've never noticed it before. You're so cute, you have a good body too, hey, do you like mine?"

Karin's eyes went to his opened shirt, and her cheeks flashed red.

She felt her cheeks heating up, and she couldn't even begin to think about what was going on.

"W-What are you saying?! Go and say this to Yuzu!"

"Why would I do that? When all I want..." The candy moved closer, placing a finger under Karin's chin, her cheeks flushing. "...is you."

Karin's face turned several shades of red.

The huskiness of his voice, the low tone that could make her melt.

The way that his body was being shown off towards her.

She didn't want to admit it. But he did have a nice body for her eyes.

"B-But, Yuzu is...y-you should go and say this to Yuzu! She wants...she wants to date you...s-so, why don't you go and be with Yuzu…?"

"Because I want to be with you. That's all I want. Maybe we should go and slay some Hollows together, and after that, we could go on a date..."

"D-Date!?" Karin yelled, then covered her mouth. "N-No! We can't! Go and speak to Yuzu...please go and say this to Yuzu...n-not me, she's the pretty one, I'm...I'm..."

The soul candy placed a finger under her chin, and stroked it, Karin's eyes lidding themselves.

"Don't say that, you are very beautiful. Looking at you, I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Karin felt a pulse from her heart.

She pulled backwards, her fingers brushing against one another's.

"W-We can't do anything, that's for Yuzu...you're supposed to be with Yuzu, not me..."

"You say no, but your face is going red. Have you thought about me before…?" The boy moved closer to Karin, who continued to deny it. "Don't worry. We can keep it between us. So, do you want to go somewhere more..."

He stopped when Karin punched him in the face.

"Seriously! D-Don't speak like that! Who are you?! Takumi wouldn't speak like this! He is an idiot after all!"

The candy chuckled, and waved a hand through his blonde hair.

"I'm Takumi Urahara, and a lover of all pretty girls, that's including you."

"No you're not. Even that idiot wouldn't act like that. So tell me who you are right now."

The candy flexed his arms, and turned away from her, Karin scowled at the sight.

"Well either way, I'm off!"

Karin watched with amazement as he leaped upwards to the sky. He jumped higher than a human could. He went to the third story in the buildings around him, and he spun in the air, his foot sticking into a window, and he hung upside down, staring at Karin.

"You really are the enemy, aren't you?"

"Sorry, I'm going to go and find something fun to do."

The candy saluted Karin and slipped into the building.

Karin's hand tightened…

But then she stopped, looking down at her body.

She could feel her body heating up slightly.

The fact that she didn't see through it right away, forced her to wonder why.

Why she felt the way she did.

Why she stuttered.

Why she hesitated to say anything.

It was something that was crazy.

She didn't even know what to think about this now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi went for the Hollow with Rukia, and found it quite easy. Rukia released a small breath.

"Good, it seems like it is just a Hollow after all."

"Yeah, lets finish this up quickly, and get back to school."

"Is something wrong?"

Takumi glanced back at Rukia, shrugging.

"I dunno, I just don't like being away from the others, with the Quincy girls around. I don't want them to be targeted by them. And then there's leaving candy me back there. I guess I'm just thinking weird things."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, then nodded her head.

"I can see why you thought something like that. Yeah, with those girls out, we can't be sure what's going to happen next. Okay, finish off this Hollow quickly, then we'll go and get back to school. Alright?"

Takumi unsheathed his blade.

"Of course, lets take them out!"

Takumi rushed forward, and disappeared within a second.

He appeared behind the Hollow, with his sword dripping with blood.

Rukia blinked, then saw the Hollow being cut in half.

It was quite fantastic to see Takumi improving.

The Hollow disappeared from the world, turning back to Rukia and gave her the peace sign.

"You're becoming more skilled Takumi."

"Well, I have a great Sensei."

"Your Father."

Rukia thought he was speaking about him.

But Takumi shook his head.

"Not just him, you too."

Rukia's cheeks turned slightly red at his admission.

"I-I see, then I'm glad I could be of help to you."

"And I'm glad that I could be of help to you~ Now, shall we go?"

"Unless there's another thing coming..." Takumi and Rukia looked around, but couldn't see anything. "...I guess that we're free to head back."

Takumi flashed beside her, and put her on his back.

"Then lets go!"

Takumi leaped up into the air, and shot forward like an arrow. He sailed through the air, while Rukia felt her arms sliding around his body, and held onto him.

Something about this, felt good. It felt right, it felt nice to hold onto Takumi…

"_Wait, what am I thinking?_" Rukia second guessed herself. "_Takumi…heh, I guess I'm becoming accustomed to being in this human world. It's nice, to be around someone I can speak to, laugh with, someone that understands me, someone trying hard to help me, Takumi's truly quite different to what I expected. This is quite comfortable..._"

Rukia felt content right now.

Something about this felt right to her, she felt like she was beginning to truly fit in…

* * *

As that was going on, back at the Urahara shop, Kisuke was walking into the store room, peering down at an opened box, and saw that it had the sign on the side of it being 'defective goods', Kisuke's eyebrows twitching.

"Wait, that wasn't..." He then turned back to the door he came through. "Hey Ururu, come here for a second."

Ururu came walking forward, and looked towards Kisuke.

"Yes, Urahara-san?"

"You didn't give Kuchiki-san anything out of this box, did you?"

Ururu looked down at the box, and then wore a sheepish smile.

"O-Oh...erm...I...I...erm..."

Ururu was lost for words.

She didn't know what to say.

Kisuke however didn't seem to care all that much.

"Aah, then it means that we've given Kuchiki-san something defective. And no doubt, Takumi's probably using it. Hahaha….I guess that we should go and retrieve it."

"U-Urahara-san, I've endangered Takumi-san…?"

Kisuke lightly petted her head.

"Don't worry about it, we'll take care of this quickly, I promise. Besides, at this level, Takumi wont be in danger at all, I promise."

Ururu lowered her brows.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sell defective goods..."

"I said it was alright, you don't have to worry."

Ururu's face lifted up slowly, while Kisuke smiled down towards her.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at school, Yuzu saw Giselle was casually drawing something on a piece of paper, and remembered about Masaki and how she was friends with her Mom. She hadn't told Karin and the others about it, she didn't know what to say about her since she didn't know.

So she walked towards Giselle, and saw that on the paper, seeing that it was a picture of Takumi and Giselle having intercourse, a very detailed picture, seeing everything, Yuzu's face turned bright red at the sight.

"H-Holy moly! W-What have you done with that?!"

Giselle looked up towards Yuzu, seeing her blushing immensely.

"Something wrong~? Don't you like my picture?"

"I-Is that accurate?" Yuzu's eyes went towards the crotch area, and saw how endowed he was, then realized the question that she had said, and her face turned bright red. "N-No! I didn't mean to say something like that! T-That was...t-that was..."

"Don't worry about it, it's all in good fun after all. He's got a good sized one, I like it anyway. So, what did you want~?"

"Oh...erm, I just came here...to see if you were alright, after my Mom...after learning about Mom, you seemed really upset."

Giselle waved her hand.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'm here, and having fun with the others in class~ They're really kind. Though there are some boys that are staring creepily at me. I'd much prefer having Takumi-kun stare at me like that~"

Giselle admitted to the bewildered Yuzu.

But then, the candy in Takumi's body came through the door, stretching his arms left, and right. His eyes went towards the girls in the class, and he felt himself instantly blushing, especially when he looked towards Orihime.

Giselle glanced at the body of Takumi, and murmured "Not my Takumi-kun." and let out a sad sigh, going back to her conversation with Yuzu.

"Oh Taku-chan, there you are."

Orihime called, waving her hand over to him.

The candy smirked, strolling over with a wide grin on his face.

"Ah, and you...there you are." He gently took her hand, Orihime's cheeks slowly flushing. "You are so beautiful for words." Orihime's cheeks continued to turn red, Tatsuki who was sat nearby couldn't believe what he was saying. "So, how about we go on a date sometime~?"

Orihime's cheeks turned slightly red…

But she felt something off.

The way that Takumi felt...it didn't feel like Takumi.

The feeling she felt was an imposter, and she didn't like it at all.

She pulled her hand away from him.

"Who are you…? You're not my Taku-chan."

The soul candy pulled backwards.

He couldn't believe that Orihime guessed it right away.

"_Geez, what is it with these girls knowing this? Does this guy have a distinct personality or something?_" He thought to himself, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, it's just me, Takumi. You know me, the guy with the blonde hair..."

Orihime pulled back away from him, Giselle rolled her eyes, but his eyes went towards Yuzu and Giselle.

His eyes danced between them.

"_Ooh my God, these babes are fantastically cute. There's not an ugly one of the bunch. They all are pretty damn awesome and cute._" He strolled over to Giselle and Yuzu, brushing past Chizuru who snarled angrily. "So, two for the price of one. Damn, you girls are also adorable, and cute." He casually placed a kiss on Yuzu's reddening cheek, while Giselle gave it a hard look. "And your cheek is so soft..."

"T-Takumi-kun! T-That's! You're so forward!"

Yuzu pulled on his cheek, while Giselle casually placed a hand on his butt, and groped him.

"H-Hey! W-Why did you grope me?!"

"Well, I couldn't grope the real one right away, and you have the same butt. So, I wanted to feel it. Damn, it's so nice. I like it~"

Giselle showed a goofy smile on her face, and slapped the soul candy on Takumi's body's butt, causing him to jump, while she giggled, and took Yuzu's hand, and placed it on his butt as well.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"You wanted to ever feel it? Since this isn't even Takumi-kun, it's a chance to do it without being called naughty."

"T-That's! W-Wait, did you say that this isn't Takumi-kun?"

Giselle wagged her finger, pushing against Yuzu's cheek while Yuzu hadn't removed her hand from his butt.

"That's right. This isn't Takumi-kun."

The soul candy pulled backwards, his back hitting a nearby desk, of Orihime's.

Her smile went up towards him, but then she leaned up, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Please don't do anything bad while within Taku-chan's body."

The soul candy looked on with worry at what was happening.

These girls seemed to know Takumi so intimately that they guessed it wasn't him right away.

But then Zombie Chizuru rose from her seat. Her eyes went towards Takumi's body, her eyes displaying anger, and her hands tightened angrily.

"Zombie Chizuru detects annoyance, and is pissed that you are speaking to my Hime. I shall punish you for speaking to my Hime. Now, commence attack."

Zombie Chizuru dashed forward, lifting a chair up and swung it for Takumi's body, his body let out a cry and bent away from the attack, Zombie Chizuru snarled, and launched the chair at the candy, but said candy managed to kick the chair away from him, and it landed on the ground, splintering the wood.

"Whoa! W-What are you doing?"

The candy asked Zombie Chizuru who opened her mouth, snarling dangerously at the sight of Takumi's body.

"Zombie Chizuru is pissed off with you. You are flirting with my Hime, and that can't happen. I shall stop you from trying anything with my Himeeeeeeeeeeeee. Now, come to me, and I shall defeat you. I have been training to defeat evil beings like yoooooooooooou."

"I'm not evil! You weirdo! Stay away from me!"

Zombie Chizuru's eyes span around in her head, Tatsuki looked on with worry.

"A-Are you alright Honsho?"

"Zombie Chizuru is fine, Tatsuki-chan. Now, my flower, come here, and we'll beat him together."

Tatsuki gave her a worried look, but Zombie Chizuru charged forward, and swung a fist for the candy, said candy raised his foot, batting her hand away, only for Zombie Chizuru to grab a ruler, and swung it for his body, he bent backwards, and it hit the wall, causing the ruler to slap the wall hard, the others grimacing.

"Z-Zombie Chizuru! Please don't hurt Taku-chan's body!"

Orihime let out a small cry, but Zombie Chizuru snarled.

"Sorry Hime, he is a danger, I shall eliminate danger."

Giselle slapped herself in the head, and saw her swing her ruler around in her hand, aiming it for the candy's body, and shot for him, jabbing the ruler towards him, forcing him to jump away, avoiding the piercing of the ruler.

"Geez! Zombie chick! Calm down! Stop this right now!"

Zombie Chizuru didn't stop though, and jumped upwards. Yuzu watched as Chizuru got behind the candy's body, and swung her ruler, forcing the candy forward, where the ruler narrowly missed his body, Giselle narrowed her eyes.

She stood up, as the Zombie girl came closer to the candy, who cowered away.

Giselle got in the way of the Zombie, and placed her finger out.

"No, don't do that."

"Giselle-sama..."

She growled, but Giselle remained stern.

"No, go away now. Don't attack that body. It might not be Takumi-kun, but I wont allow that body to be endangered at all."

Zombie Chizuru snarled, but did as she was asked, and left the body of Takumi alone.

The candy looked towards Giselle with appreciation, only for Giselle to casually move closer, and got right within his face, scaring him a little bit.

"Trying to replace Takumi-kun are we? You are a bad boy. Maybe I should punish you and make you become one of my..." Before she could finish, her eyes went out of the window, and saw Takumi coming with Rukia. "Oh, never mind then, I'll let them deal with it hehehehe~"

She whistled, and skipped back to her seat, leaving behind the bewildered soul candy.

The soul candy looked freaked out by what was going on, but then Giselle swayed side to side.

His eyes shot for more members of the class, and saw everyone looking at him.

His hand tightened excitedly, he loved the attention that he was getting.

So he took it up a notch, though Zombie Chizuru came closer, with a bottle of alcohol.

"Have this..."

She growled, the soul candy let out an exasperated breath.

"Tha-That's..."

"Now..."

The soul candy grimaced, and drunk it so she didn't attack him.

* * *

When Takumi and Rukia ran through the corridor, they came across Karin, who let out a small cry.

"Geez! So, it wasn't you that was flir...that was down there before."

"...So you've come across my Gigai with the soul candy then."

"Yeah, and he's...running a little wild."

Takumi sighed deeply, while Rukia looked out of the window surprisingly shyly.

"I knew something was going to be off. Great, now what is this damn soul candy going to be doing?"

Takumi didn't even want to know.

But he didn't expect what he did when he got into the classroom.

"It's getting hot in here~ So I'll take off all my clothes~ Check me out girls~ I'll show you my body~!"

Takumi watched in horror as the soul candy in his form, was half naked in the classroom, his shirt off his body, his pants down, and teasingly pulling at his underwear, his face slightly red, and he saw that alcohol was nearby, wondering if the soul candy had drunk that.

Rukia's cheeks flushed bright red at the sight, Karin placed a hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh, but held a small blush on her cheeks.

In the classroom itself, the men looked jealous with the women's eyes on Takumi's body. Orihime's eyes were captivated by Takumi's dancing form, Yuzu was sat down trying to not pass out from being able to see Takumi's body, and Giselle licked her lips sensually at the sight. Tatsuki placed a hand over her mouth, completely stunned by what was happening, while Zombie Chizuru looked disgusted.

Takumi himself was horrified.

Seeing how his Gigai was moving.

How he was shaking his hips provocatively.

Seeing how his butt was shaking, and his manhood. He was thankful that he had on underwear, but it still was quite embarrassing.

"Ooh yeah!"

"Has he always had such a body? Damn..."

"I know, he's been hiding those muscles! And those hips! That area of his! Both front and back! This is awesome!"

"He's got a really cute butt!"

"His member is also damn fine! Great size!"

Cheers came from the girls.

He even noticed that it just wasn't the girls in his class.

But other classes.

Takumi placed a hand over his mouth while Rukia looked captivated by Takumi's body.

Takumi even noticed that she was looking, so he tried to cover her eyes, only for Rukia to push his hand away from her eyes so she could look on.

"Oh my God, what is he doing!? Is he drunk!? Why does he have alcohol?!"

"Well, he's dancing erotically, and it seems that the girls are enjoying the views of your body being nearly nude. This is going to hit your rep quite hard, isn't it?"

"Not helping Karin-chan!"

Karin snickered at Takumi's suffering.

Orihime's eyes went towards Takumi's lower body, and then her cheeks burned absolutely red.

"Taku-chan's thingy..."

Takumi's bottom lip began to tremble, while Rukia placed a hand on Takumi's back.

"You really have it rough."

"Rukia-chan...we need to stop him. We have to do something by any means necessary, this can't continue."

Karin glanced at Takumi, and then the soul candy.

Her eyes furrowed, and then she grabbed a nearby chair.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Karin allowed a battle cry to escape her lips, and she rushed the soul candy, swinging it at the soul candy, slamming against his back, and forced him down off the table, Takumi's eyes shed a few tears at the sight of his Gigai being attacked like he was.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Karin shot her eyes to Takumi, who stormed over.

"I TOOK EVASIVE ACTION!"

"YOU WANTED TO DO THAT A LITTLE TOO MUCH!"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I DID! THIS BASTARD PISSED ME OFF! SO I TOOK HIM DOWN!"

"DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO HIT HIM WITH A CHAIR?! I HAVE TO GO INTO THAT BODY LATER ON YOU KNOW?!"

"I DON'T CARE, I TOOK HIM DOWN DIDN'T I!? I MANAGED TO KNOCK HIS ASS DOWN! SO DON'T YELL AT ME!"

Takumi and Karin continued to yell at each other, the people that couldn't see Takumi due to him being a Shinigami, was also being confused by what was going on before them right now, essentially boiled down to Karin yelling at thin air.

As they fought, the soul candy looked on towards the pair fighting, and saw a chance to try and escape this fate.

However, before he could exit through the window, Takumi launched his blade towards the soul candy, which pierced the wall before him, halting his progression, and then turned a darkened glare towards him.

"Don't you move soul candy."

The soul candy panicked, and tried to move in the other direction, when Rukia got in the way so he couldn't move out of the way.

"Sorry, you've got no place to go now."

Karin, and Takumi moved forward, surrounding the boy, and he looked towards them with an innocent expression on his face.

"C-Come on, please don't do anything to me. You can't do anything to me...I wont go back! I wont! I will keep this body! I can't go back to what I was before!"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"You being just a pill, is that what you were talking about?"

"D-Damn straight! Of course! I can't go back!"

Takumi watched as soul candy raised his leg, and swung it for Takumi, who blocked it with his arm, grabbing his leg, and lifted it upwards, and dragged the soul candy's body up, flipping it around, and then dragged his body out of the classroom, with Karin, Yuzu, Rukia, and Orihime following after him. Giselle also followed, Zombie Chizuru tried to follow, but Giselle casually pushed her back down onto the chair before she could move with them.

"What the hell was going on?"

Tatsuki spoke up, then saw Zombie Chizuru's eyes rolling around dangerously.

"H-He's a monster, after the girls...he takes them away from meeeeeeeeee..."

Tatsuki gave Zombie Chizuru a weird look.

"Are you alright Honsho? You seem different."

Zombie Chizuru's eyes shot for the young woman, and placed a hand over her chest.

"I'm fine, I'm alright. Don't worry about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…."

Tatsuki felt like shedding tears.

She didn't like this at all.

She was sure something had happened with Zombie Chizuru.

* * *

The others dragged the half naked boy out of the school, and to a secluded area with the girls surrounding him so he couldn't be seen by the others, all the while the soul candy yelled "Let me go!" but Takumi wouldn't let him go at all, but as they walked through the area, the Mod-Soul overheard a conversation by a bunch of kids at a nearby Elementary school, behind a bikeshed.

"Ugh! This is stupid! Why wont it do anything I want!? I created you, do as I say!"

"Don't be so loud, it's fine, we'll be caught by Sensei, and will have to do gym. If it isn't that good, just delete it."

That struck a cord with the Mod-Soul while being dragged by Takumi.

"Yeah, I did make it so deleting it wouldn't be so bad. I can make another one, a better one anyway hahaha."

The kids laughed together, as they were playing a game together.

But to the soul candy, it sounded terrible.

They'd get rid of anything that wasn't perfect.

They'd delete them for nothing.

His eyes shot for Takumi, and kicked him upside the head, making him growl.

"Oi, what are you doing?!"

Takumi looked to see that the soul candy had jumped downwards towards them.

Since he was in such a state, his hair shadowed his eyes, moving forward.

"H-Hey! Why is that guy nearly nude?!"

"Is he a stripper or something!?"

Takumi from behind, let out a small cry.

"People are going to call me a stripper forever now..."

Orihime placed a hand on his back.

"Ooh Taku-chan. Don't worry, I wont think you're a stripper!"

Takumi grabbed her hands with a large smile on his face.

"You're so wonderful! Please keep being wonderful!"

Orihime's smile grew on her face, while the soul candy got before the children, Giselle giving off a weird gaze.

"Taking lives like that for granted. You created it, and you're going to get rid of it as if it was nothing at all...there's something wrong with you. You are horrible people, you're doing something so disgusting..."

He raised his leg, and went to kick it, when Karin leaped out, and punched the soul candy right in his jaw, forcing him backwards.

"Karin-chan! Remember! No hitting me like that!"

"It's not you, it's your body!"

"Same difference!"

They had a little back and forth, while Rukia cocked her head.

"With the way they fight, you'd think that they wouldn't be that strong of friends."

"But, that's how they are Kuchiki-chan." Orihime smiled out. "Since Taku-chan and Karin-chan have such words with one another, it just shows how close they really are with one another. They are very close friends. Only close friends can bug you so much! If you didn't care about the other person at all, then their words wouldn't annoy you so much, right?"

Rukia murmured "I guess..." and watched with keen interest.

Giselle casually strolled forward, and looked between the two Takumi's.

"Wouldn't it be great if both of them hugged me~?" Yuzu gives Giselle a curious look, who nods wonderfully. "Yes, that's right."

Yuzu tilts her head curiously.

Takumi watched as the soul candy went to kick Karin, but she expertly dodged it, getting close, and slapped her hand across his face, forcing him back into the arms of Takumi, who restrained him.

"That's enough! Where you going to strike those kids?!"

"Of course! They took life for granted! Creating...and destroying them...as if they were nothing...this is..."

Takumi glanced at Rukia who lowered her eyebrows.

"Would you have killed them?"

The eyes of the soul candy shot back for Takumi.

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Then you shouldn't of attack them. I know that you've got your own issues, but attacking innocent people, no matter how much they annoy you, is wrong, do you understand?"

The soul candy's eyes drifted downwards, so Takumi hauled him over his shoulder, and began walking off. The three kids looked bewildered to see that Takumi's body was seemingly floating in the air, due to not being able to see Takumi.

Rukia walked closer, and casually used the memory replacement on them, and they fainted on the ground.

Continuing to go towards a location, Takumi figured that they might need to have a private area, so he went to an abandoned warehouse area.

* * *

When getting there, Takumi tossed the boy to the ground, and looked over him.

"Alright, you're gonna have to explain what you actually want. You aren't like any normal soul candy I've ever seen before. If anything, I'd say..."

"He's a Mod-Soul…."

Rukia murmured, Karin tilted her eyebrows up.

"A Mod-Soul…? What's that?"

Rukia's eyebrows lowered, and she began to explain.

"While on the way here, you said that he could jump high, right?"

"That's right, more than a human should be capable of."

Karin answered Rukia who let out a small breath.

"I don't know how I received it, because they were all supposed to have been destroyed."

The Mod-Soul's eyes continued to lower to the ground, looking depressed by what was being said.

"D-Destroyed? Why?"

Orihime's words reached Rukia, who didn't know what to say.

But she steeled herself, and continued.

"They were apart of Project Spearhead. They were designed with the intention of having some superhuman capability, like super arm strength, or leg strength or some other aspect that would make a body superhuman. In this case, it is the enhanced leg strength that this Mod-Soul seems to be displaying. Others had some other kind of ability that made them special. They were supposed to be placed into the corpses of humans and used to fight the Hollows."

"So, soldiers for the Soul Society, right?"

Giselle asked Rukia who nodded as a response, to the horrified Orihime, and Yuzu.

"That's right. However, the project was terminated because it was deemed too dangerous. Therefore, the Soul Society were ordered to scrap all of the Mod-Souls as if they didn't exist in the first place."

"So, they made lives, and took lives..." Suddenly, Rukia was surprised to see Takumi's hand tightening. "That just wont do! You can't just make and take lives like that! They have a soul, don't they? You can't just kill them off! Science isn't about things like that! If you create life, then you have to cherish that life damn it! It's supposed to be about bettering the lives of others, not creating life to take it away! You have to respect life! That's why there's some boundaries that people shouldn't cross. To me, people that experiment on others and creating life, and destroying it, is also not acceptable at all, scientists don't harm, but help others. If I were to do it, then I'd treat them as my children, not as something to be disposed of. That's how I see it anyway. They made them, and then got rid of them as if they weren't important, but they are important because they were given life."

The Mod-Souls eyes shot for Takumi at his passionate words.

Rukia continued to be surprised by what was being said, but to Orihime, it made sense.

That's how Takumi would be in her eyes.

Yuzu felt a pulse from her heart at what Takumi had said.

Giselle smiled brightly at what Takumi said, she quite liked it.

Even Karin was surprised that he said such things.

It made quite an impact on her.

To see Takumi in such a light. He wasn't goofing off, it was Takumi being serious and stating his thoughts as a scientist, and more importantly, as a human being.

"You're right." Rukia spoke up. "It is cruel. It isn't my nature to question the Soul Society, but in instances like this, it can be seen as cruel, as horrible. But, you're going to have to get out of his body now. You've caused enough trouble for today."

The Mod-Soul lifted its body up from the ground.

"But, I don't want to go back to being nothing..."

Takumi opened his mouth to speak when suddenly, an arrow flew by, and went to slice the Mod-Soul when Takumi leaped forward, and cut it apart with his Zanpakuto, pushing the Mod-Soul backwards.

* * *

His eyes shot to the side, to see through the doorway, that Bambietta was stood there.

"Geez, what is it with women trying to kill you anyway?"

The Mod-Soul questioned Takumi who chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah, that's just kind of the world that I live in. The girls that I know have some kind of tendency to attack me." His eyes shifted to Orihime, and grinned. "Besides my Orihime-chan, because she is an Angel!"

Orihime giggled while Rukia looked on curiously.

Yuzu furrowed her eyebrows, while Karin scowled.

Giselle glanced at Bambietta, who looked back at her.

"So, associating with the Shinigami now Giselle?"

"So what?" Giselle looked vacantly to the sky. "I thought that we agreed you'd leave the Shinigami alone."

Bambietta scoffed.

"Right, as if I'm going to be doing that." Bambietta's eyes went towards Takumi in a condescending way. "Well, look who's here. I'm going to carve you up, understand?"

While she said that, the Mod-Soul's body moved backwards, seeing Takumi's eyes on the girl before him.

"And your friends aren't here today? Why is that? Fall out?"

Bambietta's lips curled downwards.

"Because they were worried about what you did to them. But, I'm not scared at all. I shall defeat you, and your group here as well. Even if Giselle is here, I'll stop her too."

Takumi and the others all looked towards Bambietta who was smirking dangerously.

Takumi then noticed that the Mod-Soul was trying to get away, only for Takumi to shoot his hand towards him.

"Don't you dare run away from here."

"H-Hey! Keep your eyes on that girl! Not me!"

"Sorry, but I can't let you go either. You're staying here whether you like it or not."

The Mod-Soul let out a small growl, but Takumi refused to let him leave.

Bambietta chuckled, thrusting her palm towards the Mod-Soul.

"So, if I destroyed your body, you'd be pretty down about it, right? Alright then, time to explode!"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, seeing her energy being released.

"Hey, move out of the way!"

Takumi announced, sharing a look with Rukia who nodded.

The energy came towards the Mod-Soul, who leaped out of the way, barely, only for Bambietta to charge up an arrow, and shot off the arrow right for him, who was in the air since she was so fast at firing, and couldn't defend against it…

Only for Takumi to appear before him, and sliced the arrow down before it could touch him as Giselle fired off an arrow at Bambietta, who growled, forming a sword of spirit energy though it looked like a real metal sword, and cut through the arrow.

The Mod-Soul landed on the ground, while Takumi glanced towards him.

"You protected me..."

"It's as I said before, you deserve a chance to live. And that's my body you're in, you've caused me some trouble at school."

The Mod-Soul released a chortle.

"I guess so, it was..."

"Because you wanted to be noticed, right?" The Mod-Souls eyes lowered. "It's fine, but you can't go around doing such things. I wont let you die or anything, I don't believe killing others for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Also, don't drink alcohol in my body again."

The Mod-Soul couldn't believe what he was hearing.

His eyes looked upon Takumi, and then looked towards Bambietta as Giselle stood beside Takumi, pointing her arrow towards Bambietta.

"Bambietta-san, it seems that we've got a fight between us."

Bambietta allowed a smile to appear on her face, allowing her hands to dance with her energy.

"You're right, I'm so thrilled to be facing you again. And if the others didn't want to come, then so be it."

"Fine, but leave the others out of it. I'll duel you by myself."

Bambietta stuck out her tongue in an annoyed way.

"Seriously, don't even start with me!"

Bambietta threw her energy at Takumi, who glanced at Rukia, who tossed a marble to him, and stuck it out in front of him.

Bambietta watched curiously as her energy hit the sphere...and it didn't do anything.

That confused her.

"W-What? Why didn't it explode? It is an explosive now..."

"It is." Takumi threw it at Bambietta within a second, exploding when it neared her, forcing her through the building, and was brought outside, Takumi glanced at Karin and the others. "Make sure the Mod-Soul doesn't go anywhere, I'll deal with Bambietta-san now."

"Right, leave him to us."

Takumi nodded at Karin, then he looked at Giselle.

"Giselle-san."

"Y-Yes Takumi-kun!?"

"Protect the others for me, okay?"

Giselle places her hands on her cheeks, blushing slightly.

"You're counting on me, then I can do it!"

"Thanks."

Takumi thanked her as he left outside.

The Mod Soul went to move, when Karin brought out her sword, pointing it at him.

"Don't even try it."

"Hahaha, you girls are scary..."

Karin walked over to the Mod-Soul, and pushed him forward to the others, forcing him between the girls.

"Now stay there, while we watch the idiot fight this bomb chick."

The Mod-Soul didn't even know what he was going to do now that he was stuck with the others.

* * *

Takumi walked outside to see Bambietta peeling herself off the floor.

"What the hell did you do?"

Takumi placed a hand to his chest.

"You might have powerful abilities, but I managed to create something that can stop your energy from exploding immediately. Indeed, your power infected the sphere, but it has something built into it that causes it to freeze in a suspended animation like state, for three seconds, and in that three seconds, I can launch it right back at you, effectively turning your powers right back on you. Your power is spirit energy based, you've blasted me enough times for me to get a good deal of your spirit energy gathered, studying it, and adapted these spheres to your specific energy signature so they'll pause your energy for three seconds and yours alone Bambi-chan, so you could say, I made them just for you Bambi-chan."

Bambietta growled, withdrawing her sword.

"So, you even managed to do that. Alright then, I get it. You can stop me directly attacking you, that's fine with me. It just means I have to be a little creative!"

Bambietta threw her explosive energy towards Takumi's feet, which exploded, blowing up the ground, Bambietta came swinging through the cloud of smoke, and her sword aimed for Takumi's neck, but Takumi parried her blade, and swung his blade downwards, pushing the young woman backwards slightly.

"Being creative, now you're speaking my language!"

Takumi swung his sword left, forcing Bambietta in that direction, which allowed Takumi to point his fingers forward, his spirit energy gathering by his fingers.

"N-No!"

Bambietta tried to move, but Takumi already began his Kido spell.

"Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and then claw out your own throat! Bakudo 9: Geki!"

Releasing his Kido spell, a red light engulfs the target, wrapping around them like a blanket, and stopped her movements, allowing Takumi to get close to her body, and locked down her arms, with his hands, and went to use another Kido, when Bambietta's eyes blazed with rage.

"Screw yooooooooooooooooooooooooou!"

Bambietta allowed her energy to come out, and surround her, exploding harshly.

The explosion was huge, and the shock wave shook the building that the others were in. even though Takumi had gotten her a good distance away, it still managed to shake the building, and some tiles from the roof began to fall down towards Yuzu, Giselle noticed it and went to take it down, when someone else did instead.

"No!"

The Mod-Soul leaped upwards, and swung out his leg, kicking away the tiles that would of hit Yuzu.

Yuzu looked up towards the tiles, and then the Mod-Soul, and smiled.

"See? Isn't it better to be good, than bad? You protected me."

The Mod-Soul scratched his cheek, while Rukia narrowed her eyebrows.

"We should get a good distance away from this area." The others agreed, and began to leave, when seeing Orihime hadn't moved. "Inoue, we should leave and let Takumi handle this kind of fight. It is a fight that we can't interfere with."

Orihime looked at Takumi who was sailing through the air, seeing that he managed to avoid the worst case scenario with the explosive power that Bambietta had unleashed.

"Kuchiki-chan, sometimes...don't you wish that Taku-chan didn't have to do it alone?"

"Yes...I do. But, we don't have the power to do anything right now."

Orihime's face turned downwards, unaware that her hairpins began to glow a little bit.

Rukia then helped Orihime get out of the area, and ran to a good distance, to see that Bambietta had broken out of Takumi's Kido spell, and the area around her had become a hole, like a bomb had gone off around her, which it had.

"Your Kido isn't going to bind me, and your little devices aren't going to work either. You might have planned out for that, but your tech is only going to take you so far. If you think that's the case, then think again Takumi Urahara!"

Bambietta growled as she ran forward, swinging her blade for Takumi.

But then he stopped when seeing from the sky, that something was coming down.

His eyes widened at the sight, so did Rukia, and Karin.

"But...we've already defeated that Hollow..."

Rukia muttered, Karin grimacing at the sight of the Hollow.

She remembered that this was the same Hollow that Takumi had taken out when he first became a Shinigami. It was the same size, and the same type of spirit power, it even looked the same right down to the shape of the mask, and the body type, among other things.

"Bambietta-san! Move!"

Bambietta gave a dirty look to him.

"Yeah right, is this another tactic?"

"No, move!"

Takumi released a sigh, and rushed her.

"G-Get away from me!"

She growled, and swung her sword out for him when he sailed over the blade, appearing behind her, grabbing her body and threw her a good distance away, as the Hollow swiped down with its claws, slashing towards Takumi who used his Zanpakuto to block the blade, but the Hollow opened its mouth, and shot off a sphere of red energy towards him, Takumi grimacing and disappeared with a dash.

But the Hollows eyes went towards Takumi once more, and raised its fist, aiming its fist at Takumi, and red energy gathered around its hand, shooting off several blasts of energy, while Bambietta landed on the ground, seeing Takumi dodge the energy blasts, which tore through the ground, then her eyes went back to Giselle who looked right back at her.

Bambietta couldn't understand what the hell was going on, and why Takumi had even saved her in the first place.

"_He saved my life...why did he save my life...? Am I that weak that I couldn't even see the Hollow coming...? What the hell is going on here..._"

Bambietta watched on curiously, but then her anger was growing.

She had to be saved by a Shinigami.

That tore her up inside.

And the fight they had...she wasn't sure if she'd be able to win.

She glanced at Giselle once more, before she walked off from the battlefield.

"Oh Bambi-chan, you truly have a complicated heart."

Giselle noted, as the Hollow got close to Takumi once more, and opened its mouth. Red energy came from its mouth, gathering into a large sphere before him. Karin gripped her sword, and went to help out, when Giselle stopped her.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"But last time, he was nearly killed, and-"

"But last time, he was just becoming a Shinigami, and now he's been a Shinigami for a little while. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Giselle spoke with confidence, Orihime looked on with a worried expression, her and Yuzu now wearing their glasses to see what was going on.

Takumi spun his hand around, and leaped upwards, as the Hollow followed him with its mouth.

Then the Hollow went to release the Cero but Takumi anticipated this, and announced "Bakudo 4: Hainawa!" and yellow rope came out of his hand, shooting for the Hollow just as the Hollow released a Cero, but the rope tied around the Hollows mouth, clasping it shut, and the Hollows Cero went off inside of its mouth, blasting a large hole within the mouth of the Hollow, blood dripped down from its breaking mask.

Takumi then sailed down towards the Hollow, and went to cut it apart, when the Hollow swung its hands upwards, and acid came out of its palms.

Takumi went to move, when arrows came from Giselle, piercing through the large spheres of acid, causing them to disperse before they could touch Takumi.

"Got your back Takumi-kun!"

Giselle grinned, as Takumi gave her a smile back, and aimed his Zanpakuto at the Hollow.

"Time to say goodbye!"

Takumi dashed forward, and sliced through the Hollow. The Hollow attempted to fight back, but it couldn't beat him in the end, as it tried to fire off some acid attacks, but the sword pierced right through the Hollow, with the Hollows body turning into nothingness from his sword swing.

"This Hollow surely is quite dangerous...but, it seems that Takumi managed to take it down."

Rukia smiled out, but then she, and the others all felt chills down their spines.

Takumi glanced at the others, and saw that another Hollow came behind them.

"Look out!"

Takumi dashed forward as fast as he could.

Giselle was the first to react, turning back, aiming an arrow right at the Hollows mask as the Hollow spat out a blast of energy. Without even moving, blue markings spread across her body and she merely took the blast, and received practically no damage, Takumi's lips curling upwards.

"Is that the technique Blut Vene...? I've never seen it so close before..."

Giselle heard Takumi's murmuring's, and grinned back towards him.

"That's right Takumi-kun, you're so smart~ I remember learning this from my Sensei~"

Giselle raised her foot, and kicked the Hollow in the stomach, pulling back her string and fired off the arrow right through the face of the Hollow as it staggered backwards, which spread the energy around its body, and killed it off, but another also appeared, Takumi furrowing his eyebrows, looking around the area, and saw a familiar hole that he had seen before.

"What the hell..." Takumi didn't like it, but he got back to the others, and looked upwards. "Rukia-chan, there's a hole in the sky, it's spewing out Hollows that were exactly like that first one when we met...but, these seem weaker, but there seems to be more of them. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, but we need to close that hole somehow."

Giselle swayed side to side, then cracked her neck.

"All we have to do is injure the one causing the hole to appear, so lets just fire our attacks at the hole, and hope we hit something."

"Well, I guess..."

"Great, then let do this! Take care of that Hollow Takumi-kun, I'll stop this hole with Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan working together!"

Giselle pulled back her string, summoning a strong arrow as Karin charged up her sword, and Yuzu charged up her own arrow.

Takumi spun his Zanpakuto, seeing the new one coming forward, so he took evasive action and sailed closer. Energy gathered at the fists of the Hollow, but Takumi danced to the side, and swung his sword upwards, slicing through the Hollow's body, and its two halves dropped to the ground.

At the same time, Giselle fired off an arrow deep for the hole along with Yuzu, and Karin shooting off an energy wave, sliding inside of the hole, and a large howling came from said hole, along with blood spurting out of the hole.

"Takumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The Hollow within the hole screamed out, everyone widening their eyes at the cry.

"That Hollow just called for Taku-chan...why does it know Taku-chan...?"

Orihime didn't get it, but Rukia didn't like it either.

However, because of the tri attack of Giselle, Yuzu and Karin, the hole began to close once more, only for an energy bullet came out and shot for Orihime, who went to move, but Takumi appeared before her, and sliced down the bullet, it seemingly to be a distraction so it could escape.

* * *

Once the Hollow was defeated, he turned to the others.

"Taku-chan, are you okay? Did she or the Hollows hurt you?"

"No, I'm alright Orihime-chan. Are you okay?" She nodded happily, sticking out her tongue in a cutesy manner, Takumi noticing her hairpins glowing slightly. "Orihime-chan, are you..."

Her hairpins stopped glowing, as Orihime tilted her head.

"Is something wrong Taku-chan?"

"N-No...I guess not." Takumi shook his head, though was curious as to what why her hairpins were glowing. "Anyway, it seems that we've got a more pressing matter with that Hollow. Rukia-chan, it had similar Hollows that were like the first one...no, they were the same, like clones. Right down to their spiritual pressure."

"Clones? Is that possible?"

Karin asked Rukia who narrowed her brow.

"Cloning itself...if that's the case, then this Hollow is highly dangerous."

"How strong is this Hollow after Takumi-kun? If it can make clones that are around mid level normal Hollow power, and seemingly can spam them, then what strength are we up against?"

Giselle's question was met with uncertainty from all of them.

Takumi's eyes went towards the Mod-Soul.

"Disregarding that Hollow for the moment, what to do with you?"

"You're going to put me back in my pill form, aren't you?"

Takumi shook his head.

"No, if you let me explain, I'll make you a body."

The Mod-Soul paused.

Make...him a body?

Was that even possible?

That's what the Mod-Soul had to question.

Takumi continued.

"I'd make it for you to inhabit. The Soul Society might want to get rid of you, but I wont. You're a living person just like the rest of us. It doesn't matter how you came to be. You are living, you breath, and you do annoying things that piss us off-" Karin nodded strongly. "-but that's all apart of being alive. And we aren't going to simply abandon you now."

The Mod-Soul looked between them all, seeing their kind faces.

Seeing how Takumi, Giselle, Orihime, Karin, Yuzu, and Rukia all were giving him kind expression, he felt blessed.

But then he looked at Orihime, and began crying.

"Waaaaah! I need a hug because you're so kind!"

He went to Orihime...her chest.

But Takumi and Karin casually elbowed him in the back of the head before he could reach Orihime, and dropped him to the floor.

"My, that was a nice speech son."

Takumi, and the others gasped, turning to see Kisuke stood there with his hands in his pockets.

"Aah Dad, there you are. I thought you'd show up sooner or later."

"Indeed. Now, if you want to hand over that Mod-Soul..." Takumi's frown showed itself on his face. "...alright then, it seems you've decided to take care of it."

"It could be useful. Besides, you gave it to Rukia-chan. And we don't accept returns do we?"

Kisuke couldn't deny that, Rukia casually slipped on her glove, and pulled the pill out of Takumi's body, allowing Takumi to enter inside his Gigai once more.

"You're not wrong. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Of course, I'll build him a Gigai! Maybe one that can shoot lasers out of his eyes!"

Kisuke's face lifted up.

"How about having Reishi claws?!"

"Yeah, yeah! Then he can have teeth that can chomp through steel! Boots that can fly through the air!"

""Hahahahahahahaha!""

Father and son released laughs together, while the girls sweat dropped at the sight, besides Orihime who began laughing along with them despite not really being into building new bodies, she found it quite infectious.

Giselle however murmured "He's so hot when he's in scientist mode." causing Rukia to give her a slightly worried look, seeing Giselle smack her lips together.

Karin looked at her watch, and grimaced.

"Damn, we've missed the entire last half of school."

"Hehe, we have been busy Karin~"

Yuzu sang out, Rukia folded her arms.

"Since its finished, I suppose that we could search for some Chappy stuff..." Karin and Yuzu gave her a dry look. "...We could do many things together, not just that."

Takumi looked between them all, then raised his hands up.

"Lets go and get ice cream! A victory for today! Not just with Bambietta-san and the Hollows but with the Mod-Soul too! We still need a name for that guy though..."

"A name...how about Mod?"

Orihime thought, Karin shook her head.

"Too cool."

"How about Soul?"

Yuzu suggested, Giselle shook her head.

"Reminds me of spirits."

Orihime and Yuzu pouted, while Takumi placed a finger under his chin.

"Well...there's another name for Mod-Soul, right Rukia-chan?"

"Yes, it's called Kaizo Konpaku."

"Kaizo!"

Yuzu cheered, Karin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No, it's still too cool."

"Paku?"

Giselle suggested, Takumi shook his head.

"I still think that's kinda weird to call him Paku."

"But...how about Kon then?"

All five of them cracked their head to Orihime, while Kisuke smiled, leaving the teens to do what they wanted.

"Awww, I like the name Kon!"

"Kon...yeah, not too cool."

Karin voiced her thoughts after Yuzu, Takumi nodding.

"Kon the Mod-Soul, sounds great to me."

"Kinda gives him an edge."

Giselle pulled a funny face while saying it.

"And it doesn't remind me of anything in particular."

Rukia added, Orihime raised her arms up.

"Great! Then he's Kon now! All we have to do is bring him back..."

"Well, he is a pill, so wouldn't it just work by putting it into anything that has a mouth and body?"

Takumi spoke to Rukia, who shrugged.

"In theory, that's what I've got on right now, a Gigai, a body without a soul. I guess that anything like this would be fine. A body without a soul. I guess it could be anything that's human or animal shaped."

That got Yuzu to thinking, who then adopted a grin.

"I've got many stuffed teddies, maybe he could take one of them, and we'll teach him to be a good boy, and not flirt with all of the class, and strip in front of everyone in Takumi-kun's body!"

Takumi shuddered.

"Great, I'm going to have to deal with that tomorrow..."

The girls began to laugh while Takumi looked on sadly, he didn't want to have to deal with that anymore.

* * *

Bambietta went back to her hideout, licking her mental wounds, from her fight with Takumi. The fact that she had lost, it made her tremble with anger, and also her eyes looked as if she had been depressed for a little while.

She thought about what she needed to do now.

She had to be saved by Takumi...

That sickened her more than she thought.

To be saved by a Shinigami angered her more than she thought would be possible.

Her hands tightened angrily.

"Tsk, this is such a pain...and that damn Shinigami...he saved me...he actually saved me...unforgivable, I don't need a Shinigami to save me after what they've done to me..." Her eyes went to a nearby room, opening the door and revealed what seemed to be something metallic. "You'll be enough, wont you BG5?"

Bambietta released a dark chuckle.

Whatever she had planned, had something to do with this BG5, and what that was...

* * *

Sitting within a room, was a purple haired young woman. She had vacant eyes, she looked almost robotic in the way her eyes were looking around the area that she was in. Her eyes went to the sound of the door opening, and saw that Mayuri, a man that was dressed up in weird makeup, almost looking like a clown, though deranged, came walking into the lab.

His eyes went across the entire room, before casually going over to a picture on the wall while he began condescendingly speak at it, seemingly venting his anger out on the picture, saying things like "Bastard." and "You'll die." among other things like that.

The members of the 12th Division all grimaced at the sight of the man doing that, but it seemed like he had done that often.

"Mayuri-sama-"

"Did I say speak Nemu?" Nemu bowed her head without a word. "Heh, it seems that the ever so graceful Hollow has gone to the human world, and they want you to go Nemu."

Nemu tilted her head, but didn't say anything.

Mayuri's eyebrows twitched, and stormed over. He reached out his hand and yanked her up by her hair, making her wince.

"Didn't you hear me girl? Are your ears plugged up or something?"

"No, Mayuri-sama. I am, surprised. May I ask why I am being sent?"

"It's because it is quite strong along with you making contact with it, and they don't have anyone else that's free, since they're also going to different towns located nearby in case the Hollows there, they can't be sure exactly where it is since it is so great at hiding its spiritual energy. Also, they want you to check up on that Rukia Kuchiki girl while in the living world."

"Mayuri-sama, I have permission to leave?"

"Well, if it was up to me, no. But, I have to keep in their good books for the moment with these fools, so you'll be going. Also, you can check up on..." Mayuri's face turned dark, his hand tightening, and gave a piece of paper to Nemu. "...either way, just leave my sight Nemu."

Nemu got up, bowing her head, and walked away, she now had a mission, and according to the paper...

She was off to Karakura Town.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So Kon was introduced, and got drunk thanks to Zombie Chizuru, and danced around in Takumi's body, which Giselle, Yuzu and Orihime very much liked, but also saw that not everyone wants to get rid of him, with Takumi promising to build him a body for him to use. Also, Giselle's officially within their group now! And she goes to their school! Karin was forced to confront some of her growing feelings for Takumi via Kon flirting with her. Takumi also went into his inner world! And met his Zanpakuto spirit! Though he doesn't know her name yet. It also seems something is lurking there in his inner world, two things in fact, what those are we'll discover in the future! And with that Hollow that knew Takumi's name along with seemingly cloning itself, it's going to be quite interesting as it goes on~**

**Bambietta also was surprised by Takumi, one for creating a device to stop her explosions, but also because he saved her which conflicts with her mentality about Shinigami's being evil, not wanting to be saved by them among other things, and now she's got a new thing that is going to cause problems for Takumi and the others, and for those who read in the manga about what she's talking about, consider this an earlier version, but also quite dangerous version of that.**

**And at the end Nemu is now heading for Karakura town! And it seems Mayuri's got some...interesting things going on here, hinting to things later on. Also, thanks to everyone that voted, it seems that most voted for Giselle taking Uryu's place so yeah, she's gonna take his place! Sorry for those who voted against this. Though this is going to be fun, I've got some fun fights with Giselle vs some opponents! With her Zombie powers, it's gonna be quite fun.**

**Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku.**


	7. Memories of the rain part one

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! Yeah, Grand Fisher is going to appear next chapter with hints this chapter. Yeah, and with Giselle right now, Grand Fisher couldn't take her. We'll be getting a scene or two with Isshin and Giselle next chapter. Aah, Don Kannoji, Takumi will have some feelings about him. Yup, Nemu's coming now! Her, and Takumi are going to meet this chapter, and it's going to be quite...you'll see~ Nemu could stay that long~ Sure, I could see that happening with Kon. Ooh yeah, I can't spoil it, but Takumi and Mayuri are going to have quite the relationship.**

**Oblivious IJ; Yeah, that would work too.**

**Skull Flame; Yup, surely did. She is yeah, Giselle's gonna bring some fun and interesting things to this. He tried. She's like a robot, with how she acts. Mayuri's quite a schemer yeah. Yup, you're right, an earlier version of BG9, since we didn't have any backstory on it, I thought it would be fun to use.**

**Silver crow; Yeah, I just decided to do Saturday, it will be either Saturday or Sunday now. Thanks very much! Takumi's gonna build a body for Kon, not have Takumi's own. Yeah, they recognized him right away~ She surely is determined~ There relationship is going to run quite deep, we'll see more of it in the future. It's something, can't say what yet. Hehe, Giselle is quite fun huh~ And that conversation has a deep meaning to it. She is yeah, Rukia's feelings are going to be cemented quite soon with what's gonna happen. Eh, something like that, though they aren't from Fishbone, it's a different Hollow. Nemu's coming! Sure, Isshin could do that in the future. I couldn't reveal if he is or isn't getting Hollow powers. He could do that with lightning. Sure, Yhwach is going to view Takumi as someone that could cause him problems, as to why, we'll see as the future of the story goes. Indeed, he didn't need the future sight and manipulation, the future sight could've been enough, but with the manipulation of the future, there's just no way anyone would be able to win. He is yeah. I always thought the K was the Knowledge since it seemed to want to always gather data on people and what not. But it could've been the kill. Yup, Rangiku is there~ He could help her achieve Bankai, dunno what it would be though. Sure they could do. Well I can't reveal much but if that's the case, his reaction might be surprising. Yeah it could do. Quincy's can make weapons from Reishi in the air, they don't really need the glove, Uryu had it to make him stronger, they usually use a cross on their wrists or whatever, but we've seen them just pulling out weapons from thin air. He could end up slaying it. Gin and Takumi, they'll have an interesting relationship. Sure, he could. That would be funny. Perhaps they could help with his illness. Sure, that sounds great. I presume Takumi would make something like that for himself yeah. Yeah, that sounds great, and yeah his eyes could do that.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He surely doesn't no. Yeah, they didn't seem to hold back~ We'll see in the coming chapters how Takumi's gonna prove his worth to her. She's got conflicting thoughts about Takumi.**

**A fan; Thanks for the, I'll consider it~ He sounds pretty cool to me.**

**Guest 1; Ravage them, that would be fun!**

**joe; Thanks for the vote!**

**Reviewer Requiem; Sure, that sounds great to me! Those ideas sound great to me! Nice pairing!**

**Guest 2; I suppose that she could do yeah. That would be something Nemu does. Nemu probably is very intelligent, she just doesn't get to showcase it with Mayuri around in canon. I could see that happening, thanks for the suggestions!**

**maxbrevan; Thanks very much, and thanks for the votes!**

**Guest 3; Sure, the A position is open, and I like that, BG9 was never explained where it came from so yeah that could happen.**

**Guest 4; Yeah, that would be an interesting Rosario Vampire story, I like it! Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 5; Yup, she'll refer to him like that, and if she does have knowledge on Takumi, we'll see in the future, spoilers and all. That would be quite funny!**

**Terrariuz; Thanks very much! Glad you recognized that, because it's going to become quite important later on. Giselle's a weird case, as she's never just come out and said what gender she was, people commented she was a boy, but she's never confirmed it, then it's never really brought up against after it being mentioned twice, and everyone just calls her a girl, even Mayuri does so who knows. In this story, she's just a girl, a Zombie girl.**

**Andrew123456; Sexiest character in Bleach for me, tough question as there's a lot of stunning girls in Bleach, for me personally, I think all the girls have some kind of appeal, Yoruichi is very beautiful, so is Tier, and Nel adult form, Orihime and Rangiku also fit the bill quite well. And thanks!**

**Guest 6; His lightning colour will represent a few things, I can't spoil what yet though as we'll see Takumi using his sword in different ways, and he might get upgrades to the lightning in the future, representing different things.**

**Well with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Memories of the rain part one**

"Aaaaaah! My God!"

Takumi twitched with sparks of electricity around his form, within his inner world.

His Zanpakuto spirit looked upon him, with lightning dancing between her fingers.

His body felt like it was going to break down.

She had very harsh blasts of lightning directed towards him.

"Like that Takumi-kun~?"

The Zanpakuto giggled like a school girl to herself.

Takumi released a small sigh, and went to stand up, when she directed her hand upwards, and from up high, a lightning bolt rained down, Takumi grimaced, and used flash step to disappear from sight, the Zanpakuto released another giggle.

"You are coming along quite well. You've managed to hold on to the power that I've been releasing for a full ten minutes when you didn't last three from a few days ago. I'm quite pleased." Her hand bent towards the back, where Takumi was behind her, and it crackled with electricity. "Now, why don't we stop-"

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" The Zanpakuto fired off lightning, but Takumi leaped into the air, while red spirit energy gathered in his palm. "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!" Takumi flashed before her, and placed his hand towards her. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

A crimson energy blast erupted out of his palm, and exploded upon contact with the girl..

Or so he thought.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Takumi saw that the girl seemingly had made a wall of lightning before her. It trickled around like flowing water, her eyes met Takumi's own, who chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, that's not good."

The young girl giggled once more.

"Yup, it isn't good."

The girl unleashed her large volume of lightning for Takumi, who went to move.

But the speed of lightning was very hard to deal with, and it struck him right in the chest, smashing him through a building. The lightning travelled up the building, shattering all of the windows that were above her, the fragments of glass rained down towards her like falling snow flakes.

"Beautiful, isn't it Takumi-kun?"

Takumi, within the building, saw the young woman dancing with glass falling around her.

Something about that, caused him to think about something from his past.

"I-I guess...oww, your lightning is harsh as always…."

The girl placed her hands on her hips.

"Nope, not gonna tell you."

"You're so stubborn!"

"Hmmm, I guess. But, I am giving you something I want, a challenge. So, don't come crying to me."

"I'm not crying about it. It's just, with the Quincy girls out there, I need to gain this power of yours so I don't have to rely on others, I want to be strong enough to protect the others."

The girl slowly pulled closer, and placed a finger on his chest. Running her finger downwards, his cheeks turned slightly red.

"My, ready to get rid of me that quickly?"

"N-No! Of course not!"

She sweetly span around, and Takumi noticed how her outfit barely continued her large assets and because it was so open, he saw that they were bouncing.

"Good, because I don't want to leave you either. Since we only just came together, it would be sad if we didn't converse often. Once you gain your Zanpakuto name, you might not talk to me often anymore."

Takumi saw how her cute expression turned slightly sad, so he reassured her the best that he could.

"Don't worry, I'll converse with you often. I'd be a pretty bad friend if I didn't speak to you. I'll come into this world at least once a week, how about it? More times than that probably."

The young girl wore an innocent expression of a maiden.

"You promise?"

Takumi was almost floored by the cuteness that she was displaying.

"Y-You are too powerful with being cute."

"Thank you, so are you. Now, shall we get back into it?"

Takumi went to answer, when he heard "Takumi!" which he recognized to be Rukia's voice.

"Hehe, it seems that Rukia-chan wants me. I guess a Hollow has been found or something."

"Oh yes, a Hollow. Duty is important after all. Go, and do what you need to do with the Hollow, I'll be waiting here for you to return. Once you've slain the Hollow of course."

Takumi saluted the spirit.

"Yup, I'll be back soon...your name is..."

The girl stuck out her tongue.

"Go on, super hero."

"Hehe, I'm not a super hero."

The spirit wriggled her eyebrows, as Takumi closed his eyes, disappearing.

* * *

Once he opened them again, he saw Rukia before him, and Kon on his face.

"Geez Kon, don't just hold onto my face!"

"You were asleep for a long time!" Kon jumped down. "You worried poor Rukia-chan, so I comforted her with my sexy body. Speaking of, when can I get an even sexier body~?"

"I'm in the process of making you one." His eyes went to Rukia who gave the stuffed toy a disapproving look. "Ah, Rukia-chan. Hollow?"

"Not everything I call you for is Hollow related you know?"

Takumi bowed his head.

"Sorry...but, is this about a Hollow?"

Rukia's eyebrows twitched.

"Yes."

Takumi chuckled lightly.

"Then I guess that we should go and slay the Hollow." Takumi stood up, stretching his arms, and cracked his neck to the left and right. He began walking away when he saw that Rukia wasn't following. "Coming Rukia-chan?"

"Yeah, I'm coming now."

Rukia stood up, and walked away with him.

* * *

Takumi, and Rukia once again had gone out to slay another Hollow, and like usual, it went quite well. They had fallen into a good routine between one another, they'd get the call, and then they'd go and slay it quite easily.

Thankfully, Bambietta, and the rest hadn't shown up for a little while so that was always good.

They hadn't hindered Takumi trying to become stronger.

Which in fact, he had been doing quite well.

Takumi had been progressing quite well with his swordsmanship, and also, he had managed to learn a good level of Kido from Rukia, his Father, and Tessai, even Hachi was also teaching him how to use some of his own special type of Kido.

It seemed that Takumi had a knack for Kido.

As for Kon, Takumi and Rukia found a stuffed lion toy, and found out that the Mod-Soul could be placed into that, and it could move around, and act as if it was a normal body which he found to be quite amazing, and Takumi, being the natural studious person, was also amazed by such a thing.

Rukia watched on as she sat on the side of the hill, which led to the large river, with Takumi fighting off two Hollows, though she wasn't concerned since it seemed like he was able to dispatch these level of Hollows quite well, especially with the attacks he had been receiving from Bambietta, and the likes.

As she watched, she couldn't help but feel a certain something inside of herself…

She felt good.

She felt like that maybe they'd be able to get away with this.

She hadn't felt so calm in a long time, she hadn't had someone to talk to for a long time now, not on a personal level like this.

It was good.

As Takumi finished off the Hollows, he returned to Rukia's side, and gave a wide smile.

"Done."

Rukia adopted a soft smile.

"Record time as well."

Takumi chuckled, moving closer to the young girl.

"Yeah, getting better at this, we're a great team. Speaking of, Rukia-chan. I've been checking your spirit energy, and it is increasing all of the time. Soon, you might even be able to go back into Shinigami form yourself."

Rukia placed a hand over her chest.

"At first, I was worried that I'd be caught by the Soul Society, but you've been helping me so much, and with little regard for your own safety. I thought you were crazy, but I'm glad that we met Takumi."

Takumi was slightly taken aback that she said something like that.

It seemed a little deep for Rukia to say all of a sudden.

He slyly moved closer, poking her cheek while she adopted a frown.

"So, what's with the mushy stuff huh?"

"M-Mushy?! I'm not being mushy! I'm just extending my gratitude towards you! That's all!"

Takumi pulled backwards with a small laugh escaping his mouth.

"Haha, no worries Rukia-chan~ No need to get hyper~"

Rukia puffed out her cheeks…

But she stopped when from the corner of her eyes, she caught something.

Something that she never thought would be possible.

It was him…

It was that Hollow from those years ago…

But, it was impossible.

He was dead.

He was deceased.

It couldn't be possible.

"N-No..."

Takumi bent down to the worried looking Rukia, taking her by the shoulders.

"Rukia-chan, what's wrong?"

Rukia's heart beat increased significantly.

Her body twitched.

Her eyebrows lowered.

Her face broke out into a cold sweat.

Her body began to shake.

Small mumblings escaped her lips, Takumi now was getting worried.

"Rukia-chan, what's going on?"

Rukia's eyes went to Takumi, and he saw it.

Something he hadn't seen before.

At least when it came to Rukia.

True fear.

"We have to go Takumi...we have to go right now!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

Takumi didn't get it.

What was freaking her out so much?

"There's no time! Please just do as I ask! That Hollow..." Rukia looked...but, it was gone. Rukia blinked, looking around, confused. "W-Wait, what..."

Takumi glanced at the area she was looking, and couldn't see anything.

"There's no Hollow over there."

Rukia's eyes narrowed, but she felt herself shaking.

"_I'm pitiful to become a shaking mess at the mere sight of the Hollow...did I imagine that Hollow? It was there but it isn't there now, and Takumi didn't seem to sense anything either, and I didn't sense anything but I saw it and the way it looked...it was the same one that possessed Kaien...but it couldn't be. He's dead...I killed him after all...there's no way that the Hollow could still be alive...but, why was it there…? Am I imagining these things…?_"

While she was thinking about it, she suddenly felt Takumi's hand petting the top of her head.

Her eyes met his own, and he offered her a gentle smile.

Rukia exhaled her worries the best that she could.

"Rukia-chan, you said you saw a Hollow?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy, aren't you?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Of course not. If you saw it, then you did. We'll look around-"

"No!" She quickly said, remembering what happened to Kaien, Takumi was worried since she didn't seem to be the normal girl she usually was. "W-We need to get to school already, I'm sure that I was just imagining things. You didn't sense anything, did you?"

"Well no but, it could've hid its spiritual power..."

"N-No, it wouldn't." Rukia took his hand and began dragging him to his Gigai. "Come on, lets go."

Takumi furrowed his eyes at Rukia.

She definitely was keeping something from him.

He looked to where Rukia was looking once more, and couldn't see anything.

But something had spooked Rukia, and he didn't like that.

He felt worried for his friend.

* * *

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Karin went towards the Urahara shop, and because it had been different to what she had been through before, and now she was ready to accept her powers, what she would get from Urahara.

She walked into the shop, bypassing Jinta who swung his broom for her, but she stopped it with a single flick of her wrist.

"Try that again and I'll drop you."

Jinta pulled out his tongue.

"So, what are you doing here? Your boyfriend Takumi isn't here!"

"He is NOT my boyfriend! Do not make that mistake again!"

Karin snapped, causing Jinta to back away, as a chucking came from deeper into the shop.

Karin's eyes snapped towards that location, and saw that Kisuke was walking forward with a yawn escaping his mouth.

"When I said come over, I didn't think you'd do it first thing."

Karin gave him a deadpan stare.

"I've got a lot of things to do today." Karin began while stretching her arms. "I've got soccer later on, and then there's a class project, so I could only come now. So, is it ready?"

Kisuke showed a soft smile, pulling out what appeared to be a pill.

But it was a strange pill, it seemed like it was radiating some kind of spirit energy. Karin could see it quickly. She also felt an intense pressure coming from it.

"Yes, this is it. If you swallow this, it will give you a burst of power to release your Shinigami side." Karin took the pill, and went to put it into her mouth when Kisuke stopped her. "Hold on a second."

"What?"

Karin gave him a strange look.

Kisuke though showed a simple expression of a grin.

"Aren't you going to take time to think about it?"

Karin shook her head.

"Not really, I just want to get this over with so I can begin getting stronger."

"Well, wait for a little bit. Maybe talk to your sister about it. Since it is a huge decision-"

"You make me this, and then you suddenly want to detract that from me?"

Kisuke shook his head.

"No. But, as Takumi's Father, I can tell you that it is worrying that your child is going to be fighting Hollows. I know you can't exactly talk to your Father about it, but your sister knows about this. Wouldn't you like that she would want to tell you her thoughts about it? Takumi didn't have that chance with me. But with you, you have the chance to converse with your sister about this. So, promise me that you'll speak to her about it before becoming a Shinigami."

It seemed like Kisuke was looking out for her.

She had some suspicions as to why that was, but it seemed that he was genuine.

She let out a small sigh, and put the pill into her bag that she was carrying, and placed it in a safe area within her bag, into a small compartment within her bag that she sealed up, so it wouldn't get free.

"I'll talk to her about it, alright?"

"Thank you Kurosaki-san. Now, if you're waiting for Takumi and Kuchiki-san, they've just gone off to fight a Hollow so they'll probably just head to school afterwards."

"I've got to get to school anyway. I'll just see him there."

"Alright then."

Kisuke bowed his head, with Karin walking out of the area.

She walked outside, and looked to the sky.

She thought about telling Yuzu about this.

She didn't know how she was going to do this.

Though, she was going to keep her promise.

* * *

Karin got to school quite early, and saw her sister was already there. Since there were not many people around, she walked towards Yuzu, and sat down in front of her, turning towards Yuzu with a soft look on her face.

"Hey, Yuzu...can I talk to you?"

"Huh..." Yuzu looked up from her desk, then to her sister. "O-Oh Karin. Yes, of course..."

"Is something wrong?"

Karin didn't get why her sister seemed to be spaced out.

"It's just...did you forget Karin?"

"Forget what…?"

"Check the date."

Karin took out her phone, and looked at the date.

Her eyes then widened with pure shock.

"Oh God...I completely forgot...it's tomorrow, how could I forget…?"

"We've been busy, so it is only natural. Even I almost forgot, we've been having so much fun with the others, and protecting people, so naturally this would be the last thing we'd want to think about, you know?"

"Yeah..."

"S-So, what did you want to talk about?"

Yuzu tried to hold it together, but Karin noticed that her face was falling.

"Erm...it doesn't matter. We can talk another time."

"Are you sure…? It seemed like you were wanting to speak about something important."

Karin lowered her eyes, then looked to the sky.

"Actually...you know, about what Takumi does...what he is..."

"You mean a Shinigami?"

Karin nodded slowly.

"Yes, that. You see...his Dad, Urahara-san...he came to me and told me that I had the power to become one too."

"B-Become a Shinigami? You can do that?"

Karin shrugged her shoulders.

"Apparently so. But, I promised I'd speak to you about it before anything else happens. Because, this also involves you...it's a big deal, of course. I'd become like Takumi, I'd become a Shinigami, and use my powers...I guess I'd become quite strong and fight against Hollows with a Zanpakuto, and I'd probably be trained with Takumi to use it...but, I...I'm worried that you'd worry about me..."

Yuzu tilted her head curiously, and then took Karin's hands gently.

"Of course, I know you'd be worried about me. But please don't be worried, I'll be alright. I know you're special, you've always been able to see spirits better than I could. And you have the power to become a Shinigami like Takumi-kun? That's amazing! I feel kinda jealous that you'd be able to that too~"

"Y-Yeah, that's what I was also worried about. Since you have a massive crush on him, I didn't want you to be worried that we'd have this thing in common, and you'd not be apart of it, because you will be apart of it no matter what else happens."

Yuzu couldn't help but gently smile.

Karin truly was trying to take care of her, and her feelings.

"Don't worry about me, we can deal with this together. If you want to become a Shinigami, then I think you should go for it."

Karin was surprised by what she said.

"Y-Yeah? You'd not be worried?"

"Of course I'd be worried, but I know that you want to help people. Even I would want to help people. If I had the power to do what you could do, then I'd also go for it Karin. So if you want to become a Shinigami, then you have my support."

Karin's face lifted upwards.

"Thanks. I'll...I'll do it after Mom's...yeah, after we visit Mom's grave. I don't need the responsibilities of the Hollows on my shoulders tomorrow of all days."

"Yeah, you're right Karin, that sounds great to me."

As they spoke, Takumi came walking in with Rukia.

Karin glanced at the pair, and saw that Rukia was being awfully quiet, and then towards Takumi who seemed worried for Rukia.

She then stood up, and walked over to him.

"Hey, Takumi. Tomorrow...eeh, Yuzu and I will be busy so...we wont be available for Hollows or anything of the sort."

Takumi looked at the date on his phone, nodding his head gently.

"Of course, don't worry. We can handle the Hollows. You and Yuzu-chan just do what you need to do tomorrow, and leave the rest to us."

Karin bowed her head.

"Thank you Takumi."

Takumi nodded and Karin walked back to her seat. Rukia glanced towards Takumi curiously.

"What was that about?"

"Oh...erm, their Mom. The anniversary of her death is tomorrow so, they wont be able to be contacted. But we can handle anything that comes."

"I see...oh, I'm sorry for them..."

"Yeah. I only know the bare minimum about it so I couldn't tell you much about it. But she died a good few years ago when they were young."

Rukia furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what that would be like to lose someone like that.

"By the way, speaking of Mom's, I haven't seen yours around. Do you have a Mother…?" Rukia paused when seeing Takumi's face falling. "Oh...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be insensitive. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"N-No, it's nothing like that." Takumi waved his hands in front of his face. "It's just, I don't remember my Mom."

Rukia found that suspicious.

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing...except one thing. My Mom...her face, looking at me, and whispering "I love you..." but that's it. I don't know what context that was in, what was going on around us. But I just remember my Mom saying that. Also, I tried asking my Father about my Mom, but whenever I bring up the topic, my Father goes quiet, and doesn't say anything about her. From the pain on his face, and also the regret, something clearly must of happened to her. But, I don't know what that is. I want to know what happened, but I wont push my Father until he's ready to tell me."

"That's quite mature."

Rukia noted, believing that to be quite true.

Takumi gave a light smile.

"Now, wanna tell me what's got you down in the dumps? I just shared something personal with you, so wanna share with me?" Rukia's eyebrows lowered as did her face. Takumi reached his hand out, petting her head. "It's alright if you don't want to, if it is painful for you Rukia-chan. But you can always talk to me about anything, we're friends now, and we've been through some wacky things together. So, whatever pain you have and whatever you want to say, whenever you want to say it, I wont judge you."

Rukia's face lifted up into a kind smile.

"Thank you Takumi...you're really nice to me. I don't know if I deserve it but..."

"What are you talking about? Of course you deserve it! Silly!"

Rukia continued to lift her face up…

But then she remembered Kaien, and that Hollow.

She remembered what happened, and that caused her face to fall once more.

As she did, Giselle came walking into the classroom with Orihime behind her. As soon as they saw Takumi, Orihime and Giselle strolled over, and hugged onto his form, causing him to blush lightly at their boobs being pressed against his face.

"A-Ah! Good morning girls!"

"Hey Taku-chan!"

"Good morning Takumi-kun, lets kiss~"

Giselle tried to kiss Takumi, but Orihime stopped her.

"No, you can't do that."

"You haven't kissed him yet?" Orihime's cheeks burned red. "Maybe you should, I'm sure that it will be quite amazing."

"B-But, that would be too quick, wouldn't it?!"

Giselle weighed up her hands like scales.

"I don't know if it would be, but I'm sure you'll be alright either way with it. Kissing is also a form of greeting. I'm sure that you'll get good at it if you keep going at it, you know? It is going to be quite fantastic."

Orihime's face turned slightly red, and she hid her face into Takumi's chest, who chuckled, and patted the head of the young woman.

Yuzu then saw Giselle go to her seat, so she strolled over to Giselle, and gave her a smile.

"H-Hello Giselle-san, I need...erm...if it is possible...tomorrow...is...since you knew my Mom...tomorrow is the anniversary of her death..."

"I...see. I'm sorry about that, I didn't know."

Giselle released a sad breath, Yuzu placed her hands upwards.

"Y-Yeah, I understand. A-And, erm...y-yeah, my family are going to visit her grave...and since you knew her…I thought you'd like to come with us also..."

Yuzu's nerves began to grow more, Giselle gave her a sweet smile.

"That's nice, but wouldn't I be interrupting?"

"Ooh no, of course not! I'm sure that the others would be fine with it! Dad even knew you so he would be alright with it, and explaining it to Karin...also, for me, I also would like to know more about Mom through you so...maybe we could share stories about my Mom...you seemed to really care for her..."

Seeing that Yuzu found it hard to speak and was putting a lot on the line to speak like this to her, Giselle did instead so she wouldn't have to keep pushing herself like this.

"She taught me how to be...she taught me many things in my life. So I owe her a lot. And if you want to talk about her, then I'm always up to speaking about my adorable Masaki-chan! Hehe, I remember once when she was dancing on a table, and fell off it! I was so surprised that I thought she had broken her neck! But then she got up, and yelled "Isshin!" and then that made me laugh~"

"Hehehe, my Mom could be like that...o-okay then! Come to our house tomorrow morning at about eight if you want to come?"

"Sure! Thank you Yuzu-chan! You're a peach!"

Yuzu allowed her smile to protrude forward, and sat back down.

Giselle glanced back at Yuzu, and then towards Takumi, making her smile gently.

* * *

After school that day, Takumi saw Rukia heading back home. He still didn't know what was going on with her, it seemed like she was still out of it, and she asked for some time alone, so he decided spend time with Orihime.

Karin said she wanted to go with Yuzu alone and Giselle casually ran out of the school while yelling "Home!" so he didn't get in between that, so it was only him and Orihime that were alone together. Takumi saw how Orihime seemed to be acting shy a little bit about something.

"Orihime-chan, are you feeling okay?"

"O-Oh yes, I'm fine!" Orihime chuckled nervously. "By the way Taku-chan, what's going on with Kuchiki-chan anyway?"

"I don't know. She said that she saw a Hollow...I'll probably have to look for the Hollow later on. If it is worrying Rukia-chan this much by even her just acting off, I'll have to help her along with her worries, wont I Orihime-chan?"

"Yup! I'll also help Taku-chan! I just wish that I had some kind of power to help you..."

"You don't have to worry about fighting, leave that to me."

Orihime poked her fingers together shyly, while Takumi noticed once more, her hairpins were glowing.

"Even then...Taku-chan, do you think I could help out like you do?"

"Helping out, you already do that for me Orihime-chan."

Orihime blushed lightly as they rounded a corner.

Takumi's hand shyly went to her own, but he hesitated and backed off.

But Orihime, equally shyly, took his hand with her own, and looked towards the side.

"T-Taku-chan, I'm glad...I'm glad that we can be alone like this..."

"M-Me too, it's been quite hectic recently with this Shinigami power and all."

"Taku-chan, do you like being a Shinigami?"

"I...I like the idea of being able to help. Before I became a Shinigami, I had to watch Hollows hurt people. I could barely defeat a middle class Hollow, and now, I can do all of these amazing things. Strength doesn't really matter to me, as long as I can stop Hollows and help out Rukia-chan..."

"Kuchiki-chan...Taku-chan, do you...erm...I mean, do you like Kuchiki-chan…?"

"Of course, she's my friend~"

Orihime smiled at how he said something like that, not seemingly getting what she was speaking about.

"Also, I heard about Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan's Mom...you don't remember your own Mom, do you Taku-chan?"

"No...but, it doesn't bother me. I can't be upset over something I don't know, you know?"

Orihime places her free hand to her face, and she smiled happily.

"Yes, that's right Taku-chan. That's why, I'm glad I don't remember much about my own parents either. Because, my brother became my family, and then Taku-chan, you became my family also."

Takumi's face turned slightly red at what she said.

Orihime considered him family.

"Hehe, you're apart of my family too Orihime-chan. After all, if it wasn't for you, I probably would still be keeping myself to myself. You made me quite happy from the instant I met you!"

Orihime's face curled upwards, and she pulled closer to Takumi.

Her facial features softened, and her arms wrapped around Takumi's body.

"Taku-chan, I'll always do my best to support you, okay? Even if I don't have any powers, I'll do my best."

"I know, and thank you Orihime-chan."

Takumi petted the back of her head, staying within the embrace.

But then their eyes locked together.

Something about the way that they were looking at the other, how she held him, how he held her, it seemed...perfect.

Takumi could feel his heart racing, and Orihime in turn felt the same thing.

Instincts took in.

Their unspoken feelings came around once more.

That allowed them to lean up and down from Orihime and Takumi respectably.

Their lips parted, pushing ever closer.

It felt right.

It felt like they should.

Since they were alone, they thought it would be for the best to just seal it with a kiss…

But then a footstep behind them stopped them.

It was loud, so they turned towards it, to see that it was Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki-chan..."

"A-Ah, erm...s-sorry! Didn't mean to erm...interrupt anything that was going on..."

"No, don't worry Tatsuki-chan! It's fine! Hows your boyfriend?"

Takumi asked with a sly smile, Tatsuki's face became enraged.

"I don't have one!"

"Are you sure…?"

Orihime's question caused Tatsuki to feel a little more down.

Takumi released a sigh, he was for sure going to express his feelings for Orihime, but it seemed in the end, that wasn't possible.

* * *

After dropping Orihime back off at home, he went back towards his own home as he could see the sun was beginning to set, heading through the shopping district since it was a straight cut back to his own home.

However, while he was walking through the area, he noticed a young girl staring into a nearby candy shop. She was small, and had blonde hair, she reminded him of Hiyori a little bit, and usually, he would have just left her…

But this was the girl that took away Bambietta.

He moved closer to the young girl, and bent down towards her.

"So, how are you doing Quincy girl?"

The girls eyes went towards Takumi, and then tilted her head.

"Oh, the Shinigami Bambi-chan hates." Liltotto twisted her neck to the side. "My names Liltotto Lamperd."

"Liltotto-san, that's a cute name. My name is-"

"Takumi Urahara." Liltotto spoke up with a tilting head. "Don't worry, I don't want to kill or anything."

"Ooh that's good! I'm glad you don't! I've had enough of people trying to murder me! Though I got that from the last time~"

Liltotto's face curled upwards.

"Yes, I can understand that." Liltotto's stomach began to rumble. "Ooh God..."

"You're hungry?"

Takumi guessed, seeing how she was holding onto her stomach.

"This power is kinda new, and makes me famished."

"New power...so, you've got a crazy power too?"

"Crazy power. I guess that it could be called crazy. I'm G the Glutton."

"G the Glutton...so, you've got a letter for your power?" Liltotto nodded. "So, Bambietta-san's is E the Explode or something? Candice-san is...L the Lightning?" Liltotto shook her head. "So maybe T the Thunder...no, thunder is the sound that lightning makes when...so the Thunderbolt?" Liltotto nodded her head. "Aah, then Meninas-san is...erm, S the Strength~"

"P the Power."

Liltotto replied curiously.

"Aah, I see! Then that's pretty cool! And then there's Giselle-san...I guess she's Z for the Zombie?" Liltotto nodded. "Damn, I wonder how you got your powers...wanna tell me?"

"Maybe in the future I will tell you." Liltotto looked into the candy shop. "Mmmmmmmm..."

Takumi glanced between the two of them, the shop and the girl, before petting her head.

"Come on Quincy girl, I'll get you some candy."

"S-Seriously?"

"Sure, you're the nice Quincy, so I'll give you a treat~"

Liltotto nodded, and walked into the shop together.

She surprisingly got a lot of candy. For a small girl, he didn't know where she would put it all.

After leaving the shop, Takumi and Liltotto walked off together, and found a nearby bench within a park, sitting down on said bench. Liltotto went to eat, when she looked at Takumi, and offered him some of the candy.

"Want some?"

"Aah, you're kind, but I'm alright."

"Okay."

Liltotto began eating her candy while Takumi smiled at the sight.

He was glad to at least meet a good Quincy girl that didn't want to kill him.

"So, Liltotto-san. How about we talk about what's been going on recently? With the Quincy girls attacking me, and what we can do to resolve it. You don't seem to be angry at the Shinigami unlike your friends."

Liltotto placed a stick of chocolate into her mouth, and swallowed it before answering.

"I don't have personal feelings against Shinigami." She began, rotating her shoulder. "I actually don't mind them. Bambi has her own reasons for doing it, Candy's just kinda crazy and will fight anyway. Minnie is alright with it, and Gigi seems to be quite fascinated by you as well."

"I-I see. Well, two out of five isn't so bad."

"I guess...and yes, I also want this to be over. I don't really care about the Shinigami's. Yeah, they killed the Quincy, but there was a reason for it, some Quincy did deserve it I suppose. For what they did. Besides, I don't see the point trying to kill you, so I should tell you now that-"

"Lil-chan!" Giselle came storming over, Takumi gaining a confused face. "W-Why are you with Takumi-kun?! I said that I had first dibs on him!"

Liltotto showed a sly smile.

"You snooze you lose."

Giselle's face turned downwards darkly.

"I'll turn you into my Zombie..." Takumi's eyes raised slightly. "Hehe, oops..."

"I thought it might have been you. So you were the one who turned Chizuru-chan into a Zombie then."

Giselle casually sat down next to Takumi, while Liltotto looked on.

"Well, I kinda didn't have a choice. She would of died without me doing that. So I made her into a Zombie. Also, I don't get why she's being as demonic as she is with you. Maybe she's always like that. I need to perfect my Zombie power."

"From what you've said, you haven't had your powers long. I guess that we're on the same boat~"

Takumi chuckled out, Giselle and Liltotto showed soft smiles.

"Sorry about Bambi-chan, it might be that time of the month for her~"

Takumi's face turned slightly red at what Giselle said, Liltotto sighed.

"I just think she's a bitch."

Takumi was surprised by her language, since she had a sweet face.

"Either way, there must be a way to settle this without any damages to both sides."

Giselle gained a vacant face, and Liltotto raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Maybe she wants to be dominated."

"Pft!"

Takumi did a spit take at what Liltotto said.

"Maybe you could do that." Liltotto said to Takumi who gave an awkward laugh. "Don't dismiss it, why don't you try it? Take her on one on one, and then finish her off."

"When you say finish her off..."

Takumi trailed off, when Liltotto bowed her head.

"I mean that you perform with her in the bedroom."

"Geez, I doubt she'd want to do that with me. She kinda hates Shinigami, if you haven't noticed."

Giselle stuck out her tongue, and waved her head up and down.

"Maybe so. If that's the case, then just do something with me~"

Giselle gave Takumi a smile, while Liltotto casually held onto his side.

"You can do things with me."

"W-What..."

"Yeah, what?"

Giselle lost her happy demeanour, and looked to be quite pissed off.

Liltotto looked down at Takumi's hips, then towards his face.

"I'm fine with him."

"No you are not. At least, I'm not fine with you with him. Do you want me to turn you into my Zombie?"

Giselle growled out, Takumi looked between them and saw that they looked quite annoyed with one another.

* * *

Nemu had arrived in the human world and was being tracked down the Hollow that had attacked the Shinigami and had killed a good number of them. She had been sent on her own, as she was deemed necessary to destroy it. And while there, she was tasked with finding Rukia, and checking on her location.

Looking around at Karakura town, she sensed some spiritual power.

Though she was surprised when she couldn't sense the Hollow.

She thought that she might have been able to see it quickly.

But it must have the ability to hide its power.

Nemu walked forward through the area, walking in the air, and casually looked between the buildings, wondering if she would be able to find any Hollow that she was looking for.

While she was walking in the air, she felt an impressive amount of power.

She thought it was the Hollow at first, so she shot down into the area, and landed between a good number of people. Since she was in spirit form, no one could see her, but as she usually was, in her robotic expressions.

Her eyes looked around the area.

"I am unable to detect the Hollow's energy. Is this town stopping my senses?"

Nemu spoke out to herself, since no one could hear her anyway, it didn't seem to matter.

She then walked towards the area she felt the power.

It was coming from the nearby area, so she followed it to find that she was within a park. It was a nice little park, and she noticed that three people were sat on a bench together, speaking to one another, and felt power coming off of them.

Her eyes danced between them, and landed on Takumi's form.

The young man's smile caught her attention, she stroll forward, and heard the conversation between the two girls, and heard how annoyed they seemed with one another, Nemu didn't quite get that since she didn't understand a few things like that.

But she stopped herself.

She didn't see the Hollow, so she turned around and walked away from Takumi, and the others.

She didn't want to disturb any humans.

Even if they had strong spiritual power.

However, Nemu didn't get far as when she was walking away, a robotic looking thing came towards her. She looked around, and then looked back at the robotic thing that was before her, which rose up its arm, and showed that it was instead of an arm, it looked to be a minigun, Nemu's head tilting to the side.

"Detecting Shinigami." Nemu seemed to be her usual stoic self, but she felt something inside of her that was intrigued. "Shinigami detected. Destroy, destroy."

Nemu watched as he raised its gun arm, and fired off bullets of energy that appeared to be like arrows, only faster.

Nemu used her incredible speed to dodge the attacks, though because she was limited by the fact that she was in the human world, she wasn't as fast as she could be within the Soul Society, and one of the bullets managed to graze her leg, causing Nemu to wince slightly, and because of that, more bullets came near her, so she dodged out of the way, but she received the bullets to her side. Unlike normal lead bullets, they didn't linger within her body, so only holes appeared on her body.

"I do not know what you are, but desist in firing at me. Perhaps, I should have the limiter released, so I can defeat you. Though I am very unsure of what you are. Are you a robot? Are you an artificial form of life?"

Nemu warned the best that she could.

But the robot didn't heed the call, and fired off more bullets towards her.

Nemu had no choice but to dodge the attacks again and again, each dodge however left her with small wounds appearing on her body, cutting into her flesh, and her eyes widening slightly at the pain that she was feeling.

Then the robot opened up its cloak, and revealed what appeared to be a missile coming out of its chest.

Nemu gave it an odd stare, as it fired the missile at Nemu, and it exploded near her, creating a shock wave that knocked her off balance just enough for the robot to gain distance, and aim its gun at her.

"Hah!"

With a robotic like cry, Nemu swung her leg at the robot, which knocked the sight of its head, only for the robot to grab her leg, and fling her down into the ground, cracking the pavement, and she spat out bile at the impact.

"Shinigami is weakening. Commence death."

Nemu scrunched her eyebrows, and managed to place her hands outwards, which began to spin around dangerously. Because of the rotation of the hands that she had, the robot decided to let her go as she shot her hands for the robot, which allowed her to return to the ground, only for the robot to unleash a hailstorm of bullets towards her.

Because she was regaining her stance but not there, the bullets managed to pierce through her leg, making her cry out.

But she didn't quit, and leaped upwards.

In the air, the robot followed with the bullets, and she then shot downwards towards it.

Her hand strengthened, and she thrusted her hand to the robot when getting close, only for the robot to use a version of flash step, disappearing from Nemu's senses, appearing behind her, and pointed its gun at close range to her temple.

"Now you die, Shinigami."

Nemu looked at the robot, and wondered if this was going to be it.

If she was going to die there...

"Haaaaah!"

However, before a bullet could leave the gun, Takumi came in with his sword, and sliced right through the gun, saving Nemu from being shot in the head by the robot, and he grabbed her body, flashing away from the robot a good pace as Giselle and Liltotto unleashed their arrows upon the robot, and forced it to jump backwards.

"Seriously, she's even done this."

Liltotto sighed out, Giselle stuck out her tongue.

"I guess that Bambi-chan's more bitches be crazy than before."

While they forced the robot away, Nemu looked upon Takumi's form.

"You are a Shinigami. I...do not recognize you. What is your name, squad and your rank?"

"Name, squad...and rank….eeh...y-you're also a Shinigami…?" Takumi looked her up and down, seeing how short her outfit was, and that she didn't have a Zanpakuto, also he panicked due to how she was asking questions. "Where's your Zanpakuto?"

"My Zanpakuto?"

Nemu replied with her robot like voice.

"Yeah, your Zanpakuto...erm, you know, this." He held up his sword, and showed it to Nemu. Nemu gave it a stare. "So, you're...ooh, erm...m-my name is F-Floyd Emerson and I am in S-Squad...erm, 3…? A-And I am...F-Fourth Seat of Squad 3...y-yes, that's it."

"Oh yes, Floyd Emerson, I recall that name."

Takumi sweat dropped "_There's really someone called Floyd Emerson in Squad 3?_" but then stopped when he turned to the side, and saw that the robot was holding up its sliced off minigun.

However, as he went to speak, the minigun began to reform itself once more.

"What the hell…?"

"It seems to be gathering in spirit particles, and energy to reform its weapon." Nemu informed. "Also. It seems that it wishes to do us harm. I suggest a tactical retreat."

"I concur."

Takumi went to move, when Nemu dropped to the ground, her leg having been hit a few times, as well as her body.

He bent down towards her, and offered his hand.

"Come on, we should go now."

Nemu looked at his hand curiously, before taking said hand, and allowed him to pick her up. However, the robot didn't seem to hold back either, and placed its gun out towards them, and shot forward a number of bullets.

He went to move, when Giselle got between them, and placed her hands outwards, with the bullets piercing her body.

"Giselle-san!"

Takumi yelled, worried for her.

But Liltotto twisted her neck.

"She'll be fine."

"B-But, she's being pierced by the bullets!"

He knew Giselle was a Quincy, therefore even bullets would kill her if she took them on like she was.

"Yes, but she's also a Zombie girl now. Mere bullets wont bother her that much. Even without using Blut Vene, she's going to be okay. But, I suggest that we retreat, this thing has the capabilities that could take on high levelled Shinigami, and even Quincy's."

"So, you know what it is?"

"I'll tell you when we escape."

Takumi nodded, hauling Nemu over his shoulder, and then picked up the blushing Giselle who placed her fingers to her cheeks, pushing them in for a goofy expression.

"I'll carry you too."

"Ooh my, I'm so blessed~"

Takumi looked at the robot, seeing that it was gearing up to fire once more.

"How fast can you move Liltotto-san?"

"Fairly decent, why?"

"Then, we're gonna outrun this thing."

Liltotto nodded, and allowed her energy to appear by her feet.

"Right, then lets go."

Takumi nodded, and the pair turned around, and flashed into the sky. The robots eye went towards the pair dashing through the air, and activated its own type of speed movement, and flew in the air after them.

"Is this thing a Quincy or something?"

"It's rather complicated."

Liltotto murmured, seeing the robot getting closer.

Takumi looked around, but then heard bullets being fired, so he moved his body left, and avoided the hailstorm of bullets coming for them, then Liltotto turned around and fired off an arrow, only for the robot to fire off its own bullets to counteract her arrow, getting through the arrows that Liltotto made, and got close to her body.

Liltotto grimaced, and was going to move, when Takumi grabbed her with his foot, and flicked her upwards, avoiding the bullets, and she landed onto his back, Liltotto held onto his back tightly, and wouldn't let go.

"Geez this robot is a pain."

Giselle sighed, while Nemu blinked at the robot coming close.

"Gigi use yourself as a shield so we can escape."

"You do it, and then I'll make you my Zombie."

She growled out, showcasing an annoyed expression on her face.

"Don't you threaten to Zombie me."

"I will! You wanna join Chizuru-chan?! Alright then!"

Takumi flashed to different rooftops, trying to disorient the robot that was trying to lock onto their location, though because of his speed, it seemed like it wasn't able to do something like that.

Nemu looked towards Takumi who leapt off a building, and noticed something nearby.

A body of water.

A body of water big enough for the robot.

"I insist you desist running away."

The robot spoke up, Takumi ran across a roof, changing direction to the large body of water.

"Yeah right, sorry robo cop."

"Pft! Robo cop?! Because it's a robot! Good one Takumi-kun!"

Giselle grinned out, Liltotto rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't that funny."

"Shut up you loli, I'll Zombie you."

Liltotto rolled her eyes once more at Giselle, who casually hit her upside the head.

The robot to took aim and fire off some bullets, the Quincy's grimacing, and went to speak, when Takumi slid off his shoes, and kicked them at the robot with such accuracy that the robots face was hit by the sandals of his, blocking its vision just long enough for Takumi to get close, slicing through its minigun, and smashed his foot against the robots face, so hard that Takumi thought that his foot was going to break, the robot had very hard metal plating, but his strength was enough to fling the robot away, and forced its body into the water, skidding across the water, and it sunk down into the water, Takumi felt his foot throbbing.

"S-Shit, that hurt..."

"Yes, according to my analysis, your foot currently has some bruising from kicking the...robot."

Nemu analysed, Takumi gave her a curious look, before Giselle petted Takumi's head.

"It was a good idea, but the robot wont become water logged for long. We should go. Don't worry about others, it only will go after people with Shinigami power, and I guess us Quincy's too~"

"Right, lets go!"

Takumi took off speeding away, with the three girls clinging to his body for dear life.

The robot came out of the water a few moments later, looking around, but couldn't detect Takumi and the others.

* * *

Karin and Yuzu just had a meeting with their Father, about what they were going to do tomorrow, and how they're gonna make it work. But then Yuzu raised her hand, and showed a kind smile on her face.

"Erm, Dad. Karin. I...I invited a friend from school to come tomorrow, is it alright…?"

"Who?"

Karin's question was met with a smile.

"Giselle-san."

"Giselle-san? The girl that started not long ago?" Yuzu nodded. "Then, why are you asking-"

"Because your Mom used to help her with her studies." Isshin replied while swaying side to side. "So, you invited Giselle-san then! I don't mind, she really did think of your Mom as an older sister, maybe even a Mom like figure!"

Karin was baffled.

She didn't know anything of this.

"I see, I didn't know that. So, is that where she used to go on a Monday's, and Friday's?"

Isshin nodded, and leaped onto the table, doing a dramatic pose.

"Right! She used to spend time with that girl! And they became friends, and she moved away not long before your Mom...well, what happened to her happened. So, when she showed up, I was surprised. But, that's quite good Yuzu! Yes, we should go along with Giselle-san tomorrow!"

"Are you sure though Dad? She's a little...eeh..." Karin watched him moving around weirdly, so she sweat dropped. "Right, never mind then. I forgot I was dealing with an idiot. So, we're going to be taking this girl huh."

"Yup! We'll all have quite good times! We can learn more about Mom Karin from her!"

Karin wore a sly smile on her face.

"Yeah, you're right. Lets do this then."

Isshin smiled at the two young girls, his daughters, and thought that maybe it would be good to have a strong Quincy like Giselle around just in case something was to happen.

* * *

Takumi was going to go to the Urahara shop, but he also had a Shinigami with him, so he decided to go to a place where his own lab was set up. It was a little distance away from the Urahara shop, and he had to give himself a good place to store his items.

"Wow, where are we?"

Giselle wondered, as she was placed down with Liltotto and Nemu.

"This place currently is giving off high levels of electricity and also, a sense of inventing."

Takumi and Liltotto both sweat dropped "_How can she feel the sense of inventing?_" while not voicing their thoughts.

Takumi then went to the door, to the keypad, and pressed the buttons on the panel.

"What would happen if you tried to break in~?"

Giselle's question was met with a grin from Takumi.

"You'd be electrocuted. Nothing fatal, but it will make you feel weird."

"That sounds delicious Takumi-kun~"

Giselle smacked her lips together, and the door opened. Takumi then helped Nemu inside, who had been injured and hobbled inside, only to see Hiyori sat at his work table, playing with what seemed to be a vial of medicine.

"Don't touch that Hiyori-chan!"

"Waaah!" Hiyori tossed it up into the air, and it fell down towards her, but Takumi flashed forward, and caught it. "What the hell does that drug do?!"

"It makes you feel a burning sensation inside of you."

Hiyori scowled, and went to speak, when she noticed Nemu.

Her eyes scanned the woman, and her robes, then sweat dropped from her forehead.

"Hahahaha...h-hey, come here Baldy..."

Hiyori grabbed Takumi's hand, pulling him into the lab deeper, while Liltotto tried to grab the food, but Giselle slapped her hand away from it so she couldn't touch it, while Nemu watched the young women begin an argument.

"Why did she call him Baldy? He wasn't bald."

Giselle and Liltotto glanced at Nemu who looked back with her usual emotionless expression.

Hiyori dragged Takumi to an area of the lab, so they could talk in peace.

"So, what's wrong Hiyori-chan?"

"What's wrong with you?! That's a Shinigami! You brought her here?!"

"We were being chased by a robot, I couldn't leave her there to be killed, and I couldn't take her back to the Urahara shop, Rukia-chan and the others are there. She doesn't know who I am, so I'm hoping to get away with this, and help send her on her way before she finds anything out. Just have to slay the robot."

"Hold on, a robot? A serious robot? Like that wasn't human at all?"

Takumi shrugged.

"I think so yeah. It walked and talked like a robot, and the Quincy girls said it was a robot, so I don't see why not."

Hiyori ran her fingers across her temples.

"A serious fricken robot. Of course, why not."

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

Hiyori released a small sigh out of her mouth.

"The hideouts internet connection is down, come and fix it. I thought you might be here since you weren't at the shop. I can't watch anything online! I'm missing my damn shows already! I'd go to Urahara, but he'd totally just troll me like he always does! I can handle your level of trolling, not his!"

"I don't troll you."

Hiyori snickered.

"Alright then sunshine, whatever you say." Her eyes went to Nemu at the far end. "We need to get rid of her, so I'll activate my Shikai, and-"

"We're not killing her."

Takumi's words didn't hold any water for Hiyori.

"We're taking her out, we can't allow her to find out about us."

"She wont find out about you guys, I've got this. She thinks I'm someone from the Third Division of the Gotei 13. Isn't that wild? I managed to guess a real person from that squad."

"Yeah, it's almost frightening." Hiyori released a small sigh out of her mouth. "Then, lets find out what she wants, and just give it her so she can be on her merry way. Is she after the robot? Though she seems more robotic than I thought a Shinigami would be."

Takumi gazed upon Nemu, and then allowed his neck to crack side to side.

"Lets go and find out then."

Takumi and Hiyori walked back to the others, seeing Giselle pinning Liltotto to the floor, and was rubbing her knuckles against her skull, making Liltotto cry out.

"Trying to eat all of the food, punishment time~"

"I-I'm sorry, get off!"

Hiyori gazed upon her, and nodded her head slowly.

"Yes, I love this girl. She's very scary. I approve."

Takumi glanced at Giselle with a raised eyebrow, she giggled awkwardly, and got off Liltotto's body.

He then looked towards Nemu who was patiently waiting.

"Aah, Shinigami-san…."

"Nemu Kurotsuchi-"

"Did you just say Kurotsuchi?"

Hiyori demanded, Nemu nodded.

"Yes, Nemu Kurotsuchi, Lieutenant of Squad 12."

"Damn...I see, then Baldy, explain why you're here."

Nemu looked at the braid in her hair, and then back towards Hiyori.

"I currently have hair."

Hiyori was taken back by that, she couldn't believe that she was called out on what she said.

"N-No, I didn't actually mean...b-but, you're Baldy so..."

"No, I have more hair than you, Baldy."

Takumi slapped himself in the head, it seemed like Nemu was trying to interact with Hiyori in the way that she was seeing, and repeated what Hiyori said by calling her 'Baldy' as it seemed like Nemu's sense of social skills didn't seem to be up to scratch to what others thought it would be.

But to Hiyori…

Her eyes looked deranged.

She looked like she was going to cut Nemu done.

She slowly withdrew her Zanpakuto, and raised it high.

Seeing where this was going, Takumi flashed behind Hiyori, and lifted her up, pulling her backwards.

"LET ME GO BALDY! I'LL KILL HER I SWEAR!"

"It seems that you have anger issues. I suggest counselling."

Hiyori's rage grew higher and higher.

"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Hiyori tried desperately trying to get to Nemu who was currently just staring at her with no emotion. She swung her sword above her head, Takumi yelled "Hiyori-chan please!" and yanked her backwards, only for Takumi's hands to slide up her shirt, and accidentally cup her breasts, and squeezed due to pulling her backwards, making Hiyori moan, Takumi's bottom lip trembled, while Giselle looked down at her own chest, and smiled slightly, Nemu looked on curiously.

"H-Hiyori-chan! I-I'm sorry about that! I didn't mean to grope your breasts! I-I had to stop you so..."

Hiyori looked back towards him, blushing madly, and saw that rather than anger, she surprisingly looked a little shy.

"Y-You groped my boobs..." Takumi was then pushed down onto the ground, and his head hit the floor hard. "You can't just grope me without my permission!"

Takumi twitched on the ground, while Nemu

"From your wording, it sounds as if you would like him to secretly grope you." Hiyori's eyes shot for Nemu who looked back emotionlessly. "Based on the pitch of your voice, the flushing of your cheeks, your eyes squinting, and how the levels of heat inside of you are increasing, I determine that you indeed actually liked him cupping your breasts, and squeezing them."

Hiyori inhaled and exhaled.

She was getting more angry.

She looked as if she was going to murder Nemu.

She looked embarrassed.

She looked ashamed.

It seemed like Nemu had hit the nail right on the head.

Takumi stood up once more, and pushed Hiyori behind him, since it seemed like she was about to attack.

"S-So, Nemu-san, can I call you that?"

"Yes of course Emerson-san."

"Who the hell is Emerson?"

Hiyori murmured, Giselle gave her a creepy smile, making her shudder.

"That's me." Takumi whispered. "So Nemu-san, what are you doing here? Is it for the robot?"

"No, I am looking for a Hollow that has killed a number of Shinigami, along with checking on the condition of Rukia Kuchiki-san. The Hollows power has been reported to have come here, and also several locations in different towns. Shinigami have been dispatched to these towns to see if they can find it, and I have been dispatched here."

Takumi felt a pulse from his heart.

"_They've come to see Rukia-chan. She's not back to full power yet..._" Takumi thoughts were halted when see Nemu stood up. "Hey, you're injured, you can't go just yet." Takumi walked over, grabbing a syringe from the side, and placed it near Nemu. "Here, this will help you heal from your wounds."

Nemu watched curiously as he injected her, with her permission, and the liquid flowed into her, which began mending her wounds. Nemu felt a warmness inside of her body, and saw that her wounds were being healed.

"I see, a flesh mending drug."

"Yup, that's right."

"So that's where Mayuri-sama..." Nemu spoke up, Takumi eyes furrowed at the name. "Yes, this is quite good. It is hard to replicate, so I am sorry that you had to waste your drug on me."

Takumi smiled softly, waving his hand.

"Don't apologize for being hurt, and having to be healed."

"I...don't have to apologize?"

"No, of course not." Takumi waved his hand at her. "So, you're after a Hollow, and to find...a Shinigami huh."

"Yes. Finding Rukia Kuchiki-san is secondary to my mission to slay the Hollow. The Hollow has an unusual ability to possess victims, and also has the ability to enslave other Hollows to do its bidding by imprinting its own genetic makeup onto the Hollow, causing them to look the same, along with other abilities I shall inform you about soon. However, it cannot enslave stronger Hollows than itself."

"The ability to enslave Hollows?" Takumi whispered to Hiyori who growled. "That's quite the ability. But thank God it can't get stronger Hollows to follow what it wants."

"Yeah, but depending on the Hollows it has, it might be dangerous on your own, so for this, I'll go with you Takumi."

Takumi looked at her, flabbergasted by what she said.

Hiyori then covered her mouth when realizing that she just said Takumi's name.

Nemu looked between the two, then pointed at Takumi.

"Takumi, not Emerson?"

"E-Eh….erm….eeh...t-that's...erm...shit...that lasted about an hour...great."

Giselle stood up, and hugged Nemu tightly.

"Don't worry about that! Be a good girl, and I'll cuddle you all night long!"

Liltotto gave her a curious look.

"She's not a lesbian or anything."

"You don't know that Lil-chan."

Liltotto breathed hard out of her mouth, while Giselle continued hugging Nemu.

Nemu looked at Takumi, his features, and then raised her finger, pointing towards him.

"Your name is, Takumi. You, lied about your name."

"W-Well, lying is a term that you might use, I like to say misconstrued the truth..."

"I do not mind." Nemu spoke surprising words. "You saved my life, I am in your debt. If it is keeping your name silent, then I shall follow that request."

"F-For reals?"

"For reals."

Takumi had to hold back a small chuckle at how she said 'For reals.' as it sounded weird coming out of her mouth.

"Then, that's good! S-So yeah, thanks Nemu-san! Now, since you're hunting a Hollow here, wouldn't it be better if we go along with you, doubling, even tripling our chances of encountering and beating this Hollow? I'm surprised the Soul Society sent only you on your own though."

"I was deemed appropriate in dealing with the threat since I do not have to rely on a Zanpakuto to fight."

Takumi nodded.

"I see...then, why don't you relax for tonight, and we can go out together tomorrow, and hunt for the Hollow. Since you've been attacked by the robot, and was damaged, it would be better to be at full force just in case, yes? In case when you're looking for the Hollow, and the robot shows up, then we can tag team them, right?"

Nemu paused for a few moments, before nodding her head.

"Yes, I agree."

"Good, good." His eyes went towards Giselle, and Liltotto. "Now, wanna explain what the hell the robot was?"

"I would also like to know."

Nemu spoke up, Giselle and Liltotto glanced at the other, before Giselle bowed her head.

"We didn't think she'd go so far. Think of it like a terminator. It has one objective, and that's killing Shinigami. Bambi-chan must've done this behind our backs, it shouldn't of been unleashed. As far as I am aware, it is a failure."

"A failure? It seemed pretty successful before."

Takumi voiced his thoughts, Hiyori glanced between them all.

Liltotto lowered her neck.

"It was a failure because its got flaws, so it was scrapped as far as I was aware. But clearly, it is still around and kicking. I'd say that it could take a Lieutenant Shinigami easily and might be able to contend with a Captain class if pushed. It might take our combined efforts to take it down Takumi-kun."

Takumi stroked his chin.

"I see...so is it completely robotic? Or does it have organic components?"

"As far as I'm aware, completely robotic, with the power to utilize Quincy techniques, why?"

Takumi smirked.

"Because if it is a robot, then maybe we can find a way to fry its systems and destroy it before it destroys us, maybe even reprogramming it for our uses~ Ooh, tinkering with a robot with Quincy powers, this makes me feel all tingly~" Takumi chuckled out while shaking side to side at the thought of reprogramming a robot. "But, we'll have to wait until tomorrow to do anything. If it is a robot, and since it is getting late at night, the robot might have the advantage in the dark. We should try and lure it towards a place of our choosing."

"Well, I thought you'd say something like that Baldy." Takumi watched Hiyori raised her arm and yawned. "It would be better if I went with you, so you got beds in this place?" Takumi nodded, pointing towards the end of the long lab. "Then I'm heading to bed. You, purple haired Baldy, come with me, you're staying where I can see you."

"I see, blonde haired Baldy." Hiyori snarled dangerously. "I shall comply, and rest for the moment."

Nemu then pulled at her robes, and her outfit became a little loose, her cleavage coming more and more into view.

"H-Hey! Nemu-san! Y-You don't have to strip or anything!"

"Strip…? Yes, I am currently going to take off my outfit, so I could fix the damages to the outfit."

"B-But I'm a guy! You can't strip-" Nemu slid off her outfit, and revealed her panties, and bra to him, he could see her large breasts. "-N-Nemu-san! A-Aren't you bothered that I can see your nearly naked body?!"

Nemu tilted her head, then Giselle casually slid her hand under her shirt, and releases her shirt, revealing her bra covered breasts to Takumi, his bottom lip trembled at the sight of the young girl, who smiled up towards him.

"Don't worry, you can look at-" Liltotto casually hit Giselle in the back of the head, knocking her backwards. "-me..."

"Don't be an idiot." Her eyes went to Takumi who looked between Nemu and Giselle, then she saw Hiyori looking annoyed. "What's wrong with your face? Are you jealous that they have big boobs compared to you?"

Hiyori's face flew into a rage, jumping Liltotto, and grabbed her body, throwing it over her shoulder, and towards the ground, but Takumi grabbed Liltotto and held her on his back, so she didn't get attacked by Hiyori.

"You're on borrowed time girl!"

Hiyori grabbed Nemu, and Giselle, dragging them to the back room.

His eyes went to Liltotto, who stared back at him curiously.

"Erm, yeah...Liltotto-san, I'm gonna have to go and inform Rukia-chan about this, since this Shinigami is also after her, could you keep an eye on things here? I'll be back soon. You seem the most responsible here, so please~?"

Takumi watched as Liltotto nodded, and walked away from the area, Takumi inhaled, and went to go and find Rukia.

* * *

Rukia, who was back at the Urahara shop, was gathering some items together. She grabbed her gun Takumi had made her, she grabbed the spheres that she could find that could bombard a Hollow, and other things that she could find from Takumi's items he has made.

"_I can't involve Takumi in this. If this truly is the same Hollow that killed Kaien...I can't lose Takumi either. I can do this, I'll defeat this Hollow so Takumi doesn't have to be placed in danger. I've placed Takumi in too much danger already...I'll kill this Hollow by myself._"

Rukia had made up her mind.

She wanted to be strong, and not have to let Takumi get hurt, or worse, die.

She placed a few items in a bag, inhaling slowly.

She wanted to keep him safe no matter what.

"Hey Rukia-chan-"

"Waaaaaaaaah!" Rukia jumped, to see Takumi walking in. "D-Don't just come into my bedroom!"

"This is my bedroom too."

Rukia wore a dumbfounded expression.

"I-I guess you're right...but, don't sneak up on me."

Takumi gave her a curious look, seeing Rukia's bag.

"Going somewhere?"

"N-No, just getting stuff ready for school tomorrow." She lied, Takumi could sense some hesitation within her voice. "So, what's going on?"

"Well, actually. There's something that I need to talk to you about."

Takumi then began explaining about Nemu, and the robot among other things. Even the Hollow, though he had a guess that Rukia had seen the Hollow, he wasn't completely sure, and he was more concerned about Rukia being brought back to the Soul Society.

Once he was done, Takumi saw Rukia's face.

She wasn't showing worry, but from her eyes, he saw them wavering.

He knew that she was worried deep down.

His hand slid onto her shoulder, making her eyes meet his own.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"I think it might be a little too late for that-"

"Maybe not."

Rukia became confused.

"W-What do you mean?"

"I thought that this might happen, where the Shinigami would come to check on you before we're ready for you to reclaim all your powers. So I've been developing something that will be able to help convince the Shinigami that you've still got your powers, it involves a Gigai and your spirit energy, so it should hopefully convince them that you're in Shinigami form, and not in a Gigai. I've even made a sword reminiscent of your own sword, though obviously it can't activate your Shikai with it, but it should be able to fool the Shinigami."

Rukia was surprised.

He had been thinking about it for this long, and had made something to help her.

She didn't know if she deserved it though.

She didn't want to place him in danger.

No, she didn't even think she deserved to place him in danger anymore than she had done.

"Takumi, I really appreciate it, but..."

"I wont let anything happen to you Rukia-chan." His soft words caused her to stiffen. "I'll protect you, no matter what I have to do. You're my friend, I wont allow any damn Shinigami do something to you because of what you did back then. Giving me your power, is not a crime Rukia-chan, at least it shouldn't be. To save your life, to keep yourself, and us alive, you didn't do anything wrong. So let me help you."

Rukia felt her resolve waver.

She thought that she'd be able to handle this on her own.

She also thought about the Hollow, and knew that she would have to face it.

And now with the Soul Society there, with the Lieutenant of Squad 12, it seemed like things had become complicated.

"...Takumi, you're such an oddball, trying to help me like this."

"Of course, that's what we oddballs do after all."

Rukia adopted a small smile on her face.

She could see why Orihime liked him.

The way that he was self sacrificing for her.

She didn't believe she was worthy for what happened to Kaien.

What happened to him, and now with that Hollow around…

She definitely knew that she'd have to take that Hollow down.

She'd have to destroy it before it could get near Takumi.

That's how she thought anyway.

So, she wasn't going to endanger Takumi.

She knew what she would have to do now, no matter what.

* * *

The next day, Karin and Yuzu were walking up a hill slowly in the morning. It was so early, the sun had barely got into the sky, and it felt hot, very hot. It felt like the air itself was hard to breathe in due to the heat.

"Damn, this day is hot, for even June."

"I know what you mean Karin, I almost forgot that it takes a while to get up there."

Karin's eyes shoot backwards to see that Isshin was coming up the hill, looking extremely happy.

"It doesn't help that he's still being so happy on a day like this."

"But, he's only trying to make our lives happy, isn't he Karin?"

Karin gave a sly smile.

"I don't know about that."

The twins continued to walk up the hill, with the pavement feeling like fire with each step they took. Not because of the heat, but because they were going to go and see their Mother's grave, and they didn't think that they'd be able to handle it.

After everything that had happened to them over the weeks with Takumi, and the others, it seemed almost scary of what they'd even say.

Karin replayed the time that her Mother had...died over and over again within her mind.

However, that didn't last for as long as she thought as she saw that at the top of the hill, was Giselle who was waving down towards them.

"So, how does she know Mom again?"

Karin asked Yuzu, and before she could answer, Isshin comes shooting in towards the left of her.

"I can answer that! She is your Mom's student! She is very good isn't she to teach this girl?!"

"Great, and what did she teach her in?"

Isshin laughed awkwardly, which somehow pissed her off more than she thought it would.

Giselle continued to wave, as Yuzu waved back.

"Giselle-san! I thought I said we'd meet at the house!"

"Aah, I overslept, and quickly shot up here, that's all. Phew, been a busy day~" Giselle spins around, then points at Isshin. "And you are?"

"What!?"

"Just kidding!" Giselle rushes forward with her goofy smile, hugging onto Yuzu who blushes brightly. "Don't worry Yuzu-chan, I'm here now! Since we're going to see Masaki-chan, it would be better if we all went together, don't you think so?"

"Y-Yes! That sounds great Giselle-san!"

Giselle salutes Yuzu and begins skipping forward.

She thought about Takumi and what he would be doing.

* * *

Soon enough Giselle, Karin and Yuzu had made it to the memorial of Masaki. Giselle saw that Yuzu was crying, while Karin had poured some water on the grave. Giselle looked over the stone before her with Masaki's name being there.

She didn't like it.

She hated it.

She also noticed that Isshin had gone to do something.

Maybe it was because she was there, and didn't want to speak to her, she didn't know.

"Geez Yuzu, we're teenagers now. You shouldn't cry."

Karin said it in a manner that showed that she cared about her sister, she didn't want Yuzu to suffer anymore than she already was.

"B-But Karin, this is really sad..."

Giselle looked over the stone, and bent down towards it.

"_Hey Masaki-chan, it's me, Giselle. Though you aren't here right now, I guess you'll never hear me again and I'll never hear you again. But, I'm here, and alive, sort of. I'm kind of a Zombie now, so I guess that's interesting. Also, it seems that your daughters are also doing weird things like trying to take on Hollows. I wonder how you'd feel about that? You always said to me that you didn't want me to fight Hollows either, but now these girls are also trying to do such dangerous things...and I've found love! It's true! I have found love, and I am so happy! I can't believe that this is happening!_"

Giselle laughed out loud at her own thoughts, which frightened Yuzu and Karin a little bit.

"What's wrong with you anyway?"

Karin glanced at Giselle as she said it.

Giselle ran a hand through her black hair, twirling her hair gently.

"Nothing at all. So, what happened to Masaki-chan anyway?"

At that, Karin paused.

Yuzu looked at Karin who's face began to fall.

"I mean, it's Masaki-chan so I doubt she'd-"

"I killed her."

Karin said while her eyes blinked, trying to rid herself of sadness.

Giselle gave her a curious stare.

"What do you mean by you killed her?"

"Because of me, she died back then...I-I...I...I don't..."

Karin became more and more distraught. The look on her face, the sadness behind her eyes. The way her body was pulling away from the others. Giselle could also sense regret within the raven haired Kurosaki, and her face was twisting and contorting into different ways.

"Karin..."

Yuzu tried to speak to her sister, but Karin pulled away and turned around. Yuzu thought that she probably was hiding her face so she didn't have to admit that she was trying to hold her tears back, that's just how Karin was.

"I-I have to go and have a drink, I'll be back soon."

Karin walked off from the others, Giselle glanced at Yuzu who watched her sister leaving sadly.

"So, what's going on there? Why did she say that she had killed Masaki-chan? As I see that as quite impossible."

Yuzu's face lowered, sitting down near her Mother's grave. Her eyes then went to Giselle who sat down next to her, playing with her hair gently.

"Karin blames herself for Mom's death. It wasn't her fault. Karin said that she had seen a girl trying to jump into a river one rainy day. I was with them, but I didn't see anything. And I don't know if Mom did or not, but Karin did, and she tried to save her. Before that day, she was always smiling, and now...she's rarely ever seen smiling. But, I've also seen that Karin smiles when she's around Takumi-kun, and the others. It seems that we've become closer because of these Hollows."

"Hollows...speaking of Hollows, you can't see them now, can you?"

"That's right. Though I can sense their proximity now. Before getting involved with Takumi-kun and the others, I couldn't really see spirits even as an outline, and now I can see their outlines without the glasses that Takumi-kun gave me."

Giselle raised her head to the sky.

"You know, several years ago, I knew your Mom well. But, I had to leave this city, because...well, I'll tell you some other time. But, I came back to see her again. She gave me a smile, when no one else ever did."

"She was really kind, I really miss Mom..."

Yuzu's eyes became wet some more, so Giselle gently embraced her.

"Don't worry about it. You're really cute after all. But, you know, if Karin-chan could see this girl, and you couldn't, then it might've been a ghost. But a ghost wouldn't of killed your Mom...sorry to say this, but it probably was a Hollow."

Yuzu gasped, looking at the direction Karin had left.

She thought about Karin and wondered if Karin had also thought about their Mom being killed by a Hollow.

"Is that possible…?"

Giselle furrowed her brows, knowing that she would have to explain something difficult, something that she had been thinking about since the beginning.

"Hollows are drawn to strong people, with strong energy. Karin-chan probably had strong energy, and Masaki-chan..." Yuzu tilted her head. "….ehehe, suffice to say that Karin-chan was probably drawn to save it, and back then, she more than likely wouldn't of been able to tell the difference. As a child, I had trouble distinguishing between the living and the dead at some points. Obviously now it is easy enough. But that's how it was. Anyway, she blames herself, because most likely, the Hollow went to kill Karin-chan and Masaki-chan got in the way." Giselle furrowed her eyebrows. "_Even then, I have to wonder what's going on with Masaki-chan unable to kill a Hollow. Was it something Gillian level…? No, she'd be able to take that easily. Then why wasn't she able to do anything against this Hollow…? Who was this Hollow…?_"

Giselle thought about it.

But she didn't have an answer.

She didn't get why Masaki had been killed by the Hollow.

Yuzu placed her fingers together.

"If this Hollow killed our Mom...then that is horrible...that's why we have to stop them from hurting others, don't we…?"

"We do yeah, we have to stop Hollows. Also, don't worry about it. Karin-chan isn't at fault here. The Hollow probably used a lure to get close. Stronger Hollows have powers that can lure in others towards them. That day, she probably was lured towards them, and then they took the chance to kill her, but they got Masaki-chan instead. She might've even driven off the Hollow with her...with her ability to protect you children."

Giselle almost let slip about Masaki being a Quincy.

She couldn't do that just yet, she didn't know what Isshin thought about that, but she also wasn't sure about them knowing about their powers regardless.

"I-I see...so Mom saved us that day...after that day though...Karin stopped feeling many things. She used to go down to that river, and just...stayed there, she sat there, and she watched the river. And then she stopped crying. That's why I was surprised when she was….when she cried with Yuichi-kun's past, I thought I'd never see her cry again. And I know that she blames herself for Mom's death...maybe this is why. Because she's considered that Hollows were the reason our Mom died, and she couldn't do anything..."

"Don't worry about it, this isn't your fault. We can't control the actions of the Hollows."

"Even then, I wish I had the same power that you have Giselle-san or Takumi-kun. I can't even see spirits quite well. I feel like I wont ever be able to help you all out, I wont be able to become strong."

Giselle lightly pets the top of the girls head, giving her a goofy smile.

"Don't worry about it so much. We can deal with this ourselves."

"I-I guess..."

Giselle whistles out, and stands up, swaying side to side.

"Well, I'm going to go and get a drink, see you soon~"

Giselle pulled at her face, and ran away, leaving Yuzu alone at the grave. However, what they didn't know was, they were being watched carefully, and the eyes of this being had been set on Yuzu, and Karin.

It was the Hollow that had killed their Mom years ago...

Grand Fisher.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, both Rukia, and Karin along with Yuzu are going through quite a few things now. With a Hollow remarkably similar to the one that had killed the former Lieutenant of Squad 13, Rukia's feeling worried about the same thing happening to Takumi, and speaking of, Takumi's met Nemu! They had...a fun interaction with Giselle and Liltotto getting in on the action, while being chased by a robot. And at the end, it seems the Kurosaki twins are being stalked by Grand Fisher, he's going to try and take them out, and with Takumi busy helping against this other Hollow, they're going to have to step up with Giselle to fight off Grand Fisher!**

**Also a few people have been asking about a female Toshiro being in Takumi's harem. I don't personally mind if Toshiro is or isn't, as I could work with either, so I'll leave it up to you all!**

**Well, until next time where Rukia confronts her fears, Takumi shines and the twins step up, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku.**


	8. Memories of the rain part two

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Nemu has some fun coming up. I just thought that's what Nemu would do, and repeat that back if she thought it was normal in the place she was in. Nemu's quite smart, so we'll see what's going to happen with her. That would be funny. I could see Nemu doing that pose~ He surely is, Giselle's going to wreck him. Yeah maybe she could, that sounds good to me!**

**Oblivious IJ; Liltotto is quite cute huh~? That's Nemu for you~ Giselle is quite fun huh~? And yeah, I suppose she is like Katsuki.**

**Skull Flame; Not exactly, but looks extremely like it, as we'll see this chapter. Yeah, Nemu is quite a good troll because she doesn't even realize she's doing it and yeah, she's quite interesting in a pairing. That's Takumi for you, he's always wanting to tinker with new things. It seems so, Liltotto is a Glutton after all. She could be, she could be something else, we'll see soon enough~ Yeah, here comes Giselle's anger.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Yeah, they're a pretty good team~ She is yeah, she's having the flashbacks, and she might talk to him about it in the future~ Karin's stepping up, and we'll see her step up even more in this and coming chapters. Yuzu's gonna learn about her powers too soon yeah. She does, and while she doesn't, Takumi appreciates Orihime's support, and when she does get her powers, she'll be very supportive. You never know, it might do!**

**Guest 1; Thanks very much! Yeah, he doesn't know what's gonna happen to him with Giselle there. Nemu's gonna be sticking around for a few chapters~ Yeah, they could notice a change within Nemu. She could do yeah, I could see that happening. That would be funny!**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks very much! Yeah, Nemu and Takumi will have some rather interesting moments. I don't know yet about Liltotto. She could do yeah. They'd still have their interactions either way~**

**Guest 2; Thanks for the vote!**

**Silver crow; I'm glad you liked it! I thought it would be something like that hehe~ Yeah, her Bankai could be like that. Yeah he might very well do~ We'll be seeing Giselle with some Zombies in the future, she might amass a few during the Soul Society arc~ I couldn't reveal if they would or not~ Rukia and Takumi's relationship is about to get taken up a few notches. He has, this isn't him, this chapter will reveal about what's been going on. Nope, she gets them this chapter. I thought it would be nice for Yuzu to do that. It really shouldn't be huh. Yup, that's what he remembers for the time being. Liltotto is quite funny huh~ And Giselle's always a treat~ Nemu's just so fun with how she can be used for comedic moments, and also serious ones. It seems so yeah~ Rukia's feelings for Takumi are going to be shown in this chapter and how they've developed. They surely do love Masaki yeah~ He could have been, we'll be getting bigger hints this chapter. Maybe they could have been something to do with it, we'll find out more in the future. It is too bad that we didn't know what Hiyori's Shikai did, it's called Beheading Serpent, and since it looks like a saw, maybe it could act like a saw or something. It's going to be fun. Cool. Yeah, he could make something like that.**

**Guest 3; Sure, that would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 4; Sure, I could see that happening with Mizore and what not. That sounds great! She could be yeah, those ideas are really great!**

**Andrew123456; Thanks for the vote, and you're right, it would be more of a reason for Takumi to be there.**

**A fan; Yeah, he's great. Sure he could have done something like that~**

**Guest 5; I did know there was yeah, I've read the summaries of them on the wikia, and they sound interesting, filling in some gaps the manga left from what I can tell, and thanks for the vote!**

**Guest 6; Greatest fight...there's many great ones. I tend to like ones that have unique abilities in them, so I like the Soi Fon and Hacchi fight against Espada number 2, I like the one where they fight Tier, Ulquiorra vs Ichigo's pretty good. In the mangas last arc, I like the fight with Askin vs Urahara and Yoruichi the most.**

**Guest 7; Your guess is as good as mine, she had one in the past, she probably even achieved Bankai since she was a Captain, but for whatever reason she doesn't use it.**

**Guest 8; No, there's no way that Grand Fisher could defeat Giselle in a one on one fight. And yeah, it very well might piss her off.**

**Guest 9; That made me laugh, and I could totally see Nemu doing something like, maybe someone puts her up to it or something.**

**Darth revan; Thanks for the vote! And yeah, I'd probably have it that way it would bring quite a bit of funny comedic moments.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Memories of the rain part two**

With the morning coming sooner than Takumi would like, his eyes cracked open to see that Nemu was bent over his body, her boobs hanging down, and he noticed that she wasn't even wearing anything other than a thin towel.

"Aaah!"

Takumi shot up, but his face hit her breasts, and they jiggled, knocking his head backwards. Nemu released a small moan out of her mouth from feeling Takumi's head hitting her breast, it felt weird surrounding her body.

"Takumi-sama, I am currently reporting that the time is eight in the morning."

Takumi groaned, seeing Nemu still bending over his body.

"D-Do you have to be so close…?"

Nemu cocked her head towards Takumi since it seemed that she didn't mind that she was like she was.

"I was making sure you would be wake up at the optimal time. Considering different factors, as time of the day, the light peeking through the window, the time for you to eat, get dressed, and possibly bathe if that is something you desire-"

"Hold on, did you add 'sama' to my name?"

Nemu nodded.

"Yes, because you are Takumi-sama-"

"But, I'm not that special to have 'sama' on my name. Just call me Takumi-san or something. That's at least a little more casual, isn't it?"

"But, that wouldn't do." Nemu spoke as she placed a hand on her chest. "I cannot allow you to simply be called anything other than Takumi-sama. Since you saved my life, I owe a debt of gratitude."

Takumi didn't know why she felt like that. Even if he had saved her, it still was a little weird to someone like her.

"Even then, it seems like you're taking it a little seriously. I didn't save your life so you'd owe me a debt or anything."

Nemu found it odd that he didn't want her to do anything for him.

Usually, that's how it seemed to work. From what she had read, from what she had seen. That's just how it was.

But, it seemed like Takumi was a little different to what she was speaking about.

"I see...so, that's what you say. I wish to understand more about this concept."

"Concept?"

"These...kind words you're speaking to me, and acting as if we are equals, I do not quite understand."

"B-But, we are equals, aren't we?"

"I do not have an opinion on that or anything."

Takumi thought that was quite sad. She sounded as if she was near broken. How she spoke to him, Takumi thought that she was quite different, and how she thought they weren't equals.

If anything, he thought that she was superior since she was a Lieutenant.

"You can have an opinion, it isn't illegal or anything."

Nemu cocked her head, she didn't even understand what Takumi was trying to say. She had never been asked her opinion before. She was just told what to do by Mayuri, and now she was being asked for her opinion, it felt strange.

"I...I understand. Then my opinion is that we should leave after you nourish yourself."

"Y-Yeah, we should go and do that Nemu-"

Before he could finish, the door opened to reveal Orihime walking into the room. Since this was Takumi's lab and not the Urahara shop, where he thought Rukia was, he had kept Nemu there, while he also allowed Orihime entrance if she so desired.

Upon seeing Nemu bent over towards Takumi, her face flew through several shades of red.

"A-Ah, Taku-chan, a-and the new...e-erm...t-that's..."

"O-Orihime-chan! This isn't what it looks like!"

Takumi tried to persuade her, but Orihime saw that Takumi's body, at least his upper half, was naked, and Nemu was in a very tightly fitting towel, and how close she was to Takumi, it seemed like Nemu was almost coming onto Takumi.

"I-I see...I understand..."

"W-Wait..." Orihime left out of the room, while Nemu just stared blankly. "W-Well, that was awkward…?"

"Why?"

Nemu's question caused Takumi to release a small breath.

"B-Because of the situation we are in. Can't you see that you're nearly nude, and I am nearly nude under my sheet?" Nemu just blankly stared at him. "A-Ah, it doesn't matter I guess, it seems you aren't understanding these situations-"

"Sex."

"Pft!"

Takumi did a spit take, Nemu sat down on the bed, while Takumi could see water dripping down her very large and lovely shaped breasts. Her eyes and his met with one another, and Nemu's towel began to open.

"Did she believe that we were going to be entering intercourse?"

"I-I think she got the wrong idea about us yeah..."

"I see. Then, if it is sexual intercourse, I currently haven't had such things. May I ask, have you?"

"N-No I haven't!"

Takumi yelled back at Nemu who lowered her brows.

"I understand. I took my questions too far. I am sorry-"

"N-No, don't apologize, it's alright."

Takumi could see that it seemed difficult for Nemu to speak like she was, so he was going to do his best to make sure that she'd understand what was going on, and that she could speak her mind if she so desired.

"Then, please get dressed, so we can leave after you've eaten."

"Of course." Nemu made no effort to move. "Erm...is it okay if you leave the room?" Nemu stared at him without moving. "Are you not going to leave the room?"

"No. That Baldy girl is outside, and she, is very different to most people."

"I-I see...yeah, Hiyori-chan can take some getting used to, but she's a good person underneath it." Takumi sighed deeply, and pulled his body out of the bed, wearing nothing but his underwear, Nemu stared at his form with no real emotion on her face. "S-So you're just going to stare at me?" Nemu didn't say anything, and just stared at him. "I-I see..."

Takumi stretched his arms, and began putting on his robes. Nemu watched with her usual gaze. But her eyes were intense when she locked onto his crotch area, but she didn't show it on her face at all, she just kept her face the same as it usually was.

* * *

Takumi returned back to the Urahara shop, to get Rukia prepared for what was going to happen next. Orihime went with him, while Hiyori went with Nemu and Liltotto to make sure that they didn't discover Rukia just yet.

They walked into his bedroom, and saw…

Rukia wasn't there.

"Rukia-chan? You here?"

"Didn't you message her Taku-chan?"

"I did, but she didn't answer. So I thought it would be better to come and get her."

Orihime could understand that, but she couldn't see Rukia either.

"Kuchiki-chan? Are you here?"

Takumi looked around the area, and then sensed for her energy…

But he couldn't sense anything at all.

He couldn't even feel her energy anywhere near the Urahara shop.

"D-Damn, she's not even here...where has she...she's not gone to try and take out the Hollow on her own, has she…?"

"But why would she go without you Taku-chan?"

"She's been acting strange, I should've guessed that something like this might happen...what is she thinking? Just going off to fight a Hollow like this without her powers..."

"She's like you then, Taku-chan."

Takumi's eyes glanced at Orihime.

"What do you mean?"

"Because you are who you are Taku-chan, you'd also go off on your own if you were worried about the others. Kuchiki-chan also probably thought the same thing, and wanted to protect you from whatever is worrying her."

"Even then she's not at full power. If this Hollow is as bad ass as Nemu-san has mentioned, then she's in danger. I'll get my Father, could you also call Hiyori-chan and let her know what's going on Orihime-chan?"

Orihime nodded "Right away!" and got on the phone while Takumi went to his Father. He hoped that he wouldn't be too late in saving Rukia from whatever she had going on inside of her head, it seemed insane to him.

* * *

Meanwhile Karin came back to the grave site, to see that Giselle wasn't around. It was just Yuzu on her own, looking at the grave with a disheartened expression on her face.

Yuzu however gained a small smile towards Karin.

"Giselle-san said that she thought we needed a moment alone."

"I guess that we do...Yuzu, I didn't mean to worry you. It's just, that day..."

"You think Mom died because of you."

Karin tried to stiffen her resolve, but it crumbled in the end.

"Y-Yeah...because I did kill her...Mom died, because I saw that girl...that girl stood there, she could have drowned...if I didn't go down there that day...Mom wouldn't have come after me...she wouldn't have died by something..."

"Giselle-san thinks it might have been a Hollow."

Karin's face didn't change.

Yuzu could tell that her suspicions from before where confirmed.

"You already thought about it."

"After hearing about them from Takumi and the likes, I thought about it more and more, and then thought about how Mom suffered those wounds. It wouldn't of just been from jumping into the river for us..." Karin's eyes turned more teary as time went on, her voice was heart breaking to listen too. "...I killed Mom Yuzu...why don't you hate me…?"

Karin just couldn't get why Yuzu didn't blame her. No one blamed her. It seemed insane almost. It was driving her nuts that no one was blaming her for this.

Yuzu, as kind and understanding as she always was, walked over, and gently embraced her sibling.

Karin sobbed while Yuzu kept on hugging her tightly.

"Don't say that Karin, you didn't kill Mom. She didn't die wanting you to cry, she loved us...and she died...but, she didn't die because of us...she saved our lives Karin. She gave us a chance to live..."

"But, if I didn't go and try to save that girl then..."

Yuzu's hand overlayed with Karin's own, giving it a gentle squeeze. She was showing a kind smile, her face caused Karin to feel light building up within her, her body twitching and her eyes fluttered at the feelings that were stirring within her.

"You were doing what Mom and Dad always taught us to do, to help anyone that we could. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this, you know? She'd want us to be having fun. Like when we went to the beach, remember?"

Karin sniffled, looking at her sister with tears flowing from her eyes, but a happy smile appearing on her face.

"Or when we went to the amusement park, and Dad nearly fell off the ride."

Yuzu giggled as tears came to her eyes.

"I remember Dad crying "Masaki please save me!" and somehow, she managed to pull him back in, Mom was so strong, wasn't she?"

"Very strong, stronger than I could be. She's very strong Yuzu..."

"Yes, she is very strong. And I am so happy that we got what time we did with her. And that's why I keep saying, Mom wouldn't blame you. I don't blame you, and neither does Dad. So please stop blaming yourself for this. That night with what happened, if it was a Hollow...then that was the Hollows fault, not yours."

Karin truly was glad that Yuzu was as kind as she was. The gentleness of her voice made her feel amazing. The kind words also drew her in and caused her feelings to burst outwards, to finally feel good again. She had closed herself off from the others, even her own sister.

But Yuzu was still persistent as she ever was, in her eyes she was like Masaki, with how she drew everything into her and made them feel so good.

But then they stopped when Karin saw the girl.

The girl with short black hair in a bob cut, and her eyes on the young girls form.

The girls eyes went towards Karin who felt a pulsation within her.

"Karin…? What's wrong?" Yuzu glanced in the direction Karin was looking, seeing that the young girl was there. "Oh, who's she anyway? She looks lost."

"That's...that's her..."

"Her?"

Karin barely could nod.

She felt like she was staring at the past, the past she'd rather forget.

"...Yes, that girl...that's who I saw that night..."

"You saw her that night...t-the night Mom..."

"Yeah...that girl, was the same one that...it was her...Yuzu..."

Yuzu placed a hand over her mouth, and both were stunned by seeing the young girl.

Then they both heard a dark chuckling.

Even Yuzu was hearing it.

"So, two twin souls again. I remember feeling this a few years ago..."

"Karin...that voice..."

Karin glanced at Yuzu and saw that she wasn't wearing any of the equipment that Takumi made so that she could see and hear spirits. So if she was hearing this, it meant that Yuzu's power was growing, and growing. But the young girl was just stood there, staring at the twins, it didn't make sense.

"It was desolate...that voice was...we should get out our-"

Before she could say anything, a heavy pressure caused both girls to feel like weights were pressed on their chests. It felt like something was trying to crush it despite nothing touching them. Sweat poured down their faces.

"K-Karin...I feel heat in my chest...it feels like I'm burning from the inside out...what's going on here...Karin…?"

Yuzu felt like she was going to pass out from the heat.

She felt like she was going to incinerate from the inside out.

"Y-Yeah, this Hollows power must be crushing us. I-I remember hearing about this from Kuchiki-san, that spirit pressure can immobilize those who are incredibly stronger than...stronger than who they're fighting. I guess, this Hollows pressure is stronger than we've felt before..."

Karin and Yuzu gripped their chests.

Karin saw a large foot pressing against the ground. It cracked the earth easily, the foot more resembled an animals foot than anything, but on a larger scale. Yuzu also felt like something was crawling across her skin.

Then she felt the presence moving closer, and closer, so she pushed Yuzu to the side, only to receive a batting of the Hollows hand to her torso, causing her to cough up bile, and flung her through the air, slamming against a gravestone, making her cry out.

"Karin!"

Yuzu rushed over, but Karin yelled "Don't! Get out of here!" and tried to stand, only for the Hollows hand to slap her body, bringing it up into the sky, and then she was thrown down to the ground.

"Yuzu...run..."

Karin whimpered as the Hollows hand forced itself against her body. Smashing her body downwards into the ground, she didn't even have time to access her sword.

The pressure of the Hollow was strong, and now she was being crushed by the Hollow itself.

Yuzu, seeing her sister on the ground, went to take out her bow, when a tentacle from the Hollow shot around her neck, and lifted her up into the sky, strangling the young woman, tears rolling down her face, and she clutched at the tentacle to try and get it off, but she couldn't get it off.

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Yuzu! No! Yuzu!"

Karin tried to push the Hollow off her body, but she couldn't in the end. She was being crushed, and she was going to die if this continued.

She didn't have the power that Takumi had.

That Giselle had.

She didn't have the skills they had…

No.

She did.

She did have that power.

She had the power to change this right there and then.

She had it on her.

The thing that could turn her into a Shinigami...

* * *

As that happened, Rukia walked around the town, hoping she'd be able to find the Hollow before Takumi could find it. Hopefully, she thought that she'd be able to take it down. To save him, like she wasn't able to save Kaien from what had happened to him during that faithful night.

She walked through a quiet area, trying to lure out the Hollow by increasing the power she had left, to lure him towards her. She had a bag on her back, she had the gun equipped to her hip, and she was ready for any challenge.

"_Come on, come out you stupid Hollow..._"

Rukia thought to herself, scanning the area with her eyes.

She couldn't see anyone around really.

She thought that this would be a good place to have a battle. It seemed to be a deserted area of Karakura. She thought she'd have the advantage here, she thought she'd be able to win if she could get the drop on the Hollow.

However, she didn't expect what happened next.

Her watch began to beep.

"...A Hollow..."

She muttered, looking around, hoping it was that Hollow.

The area began to light up, and a large oval barrier surrounded her. It spread off to a good distance, right down the several buildings. It seemed to be cancelling out spiritual pressure she couldn't even sense anything outside of the barrier, so it was safe to assume that she'd also be blocked from the outside world.

"So, you came on your own..."

Rukia felt chills going down her spine.

It was the same voice as back then.

It was the voice of the Hollow that had killed Kaien.

"C-Come out right now!"

Rukia demanded, only to hear a large crashing behind her.

The ground shook, so did her soul.

Slowly, she turned around towards her, and her mind was almost blown.

It was him.

It was the exact same Hollow.

No...something was different.

The fur was different, but beyond that, she was witnessing the very same Hollow that had killed Kaien. She didn't think it was now that she saw the fur, but the appearance beyond that was actually scary.

"S-So, you're the Hollow...t-that wants Takumi...w-why do you want Takumi…?"

Rukia's voice quivered.

She hated it.

She hated that she couldn't control her urges to feel fear.

It ran deep, and it was almost uncontrollable.

Rukia steeled her will the best she could, gripping her hands together tightly.

"Takumi, is a very tasty soul. I want to have that souls power."

"Souls power...his souls power...do you know...do you know about Takumi..."

"I know all about it, Rukia Kuchiki. I know how you felt about seeing him that day, learning his name among other things, you recognized him didn't you? And I know how you lost your previous friend, your precious Kaien Shiba." Rukia felt a pulse coming from her heart, tears coming from her eyes. "And you're going to have to watch again, as I take Takumi Urahara's power away from you hahahahahahaha!"

Rukia felt her heart beat increasing.

Her body felt like it was on fire.

She felt like she was dying.

She didn't want Takumi to die like Kaien.

She didn't want to lose him like she lost Kaien.

"N-No...you wont take Takumi! I will stop you right nooooooooooooooooooooooow!"

Rukia lost it.

She couldn't handle it someone being taken away again by a Hollow like this.

She took out several small bombs made for Hollows, and launched them at the Hollow before her, who swung its tentacles on its back, but the bombs exploded, and caused the Hollow to bite bit with its mouth opening and shot off a sphere energy towards her, Rukia taking out her gun, and shot off a Chappy shaped blast at the Hollows energy attack, the attacks cancelling one another out, but the pressure forced her backwards, knocking her onto her butt.

"Mere trinkets wont be able to save you."

Rukia grimaced at the sight of the Hollow.

But she couldn't give up now, she wouldn't be able to do that.

She aimed her gun for the Hollow, while taking out several bombs for her to use against the enemy Hollow.

"Maybe not, but I can't allow Takumi to die, there's simply no way. And to a Hollow like you, I will slay you before you could even leave this barrier!"

Rukia charged forward and shot off her gun, trying to take down the Hollow…

* * *

"Damn." Takumi scowled, as he, and Orihime were running through the city. "I thought I felt her pressure, but it's completely disappeared. She might have found the Hollow, and it's hiding her spiritual power." His eyes went towards the left, and wondered what was going on. "Rukia-chan, where are you…?"

"Taku-chan, you can't sense her anymore?"

"No. I thought she was over towards the left, but without sensing her...I'm sure that a Hollow is stopping me from sensing her. I need to find her, and stop her from doing something reckless. With Hiyori-chan and the others checking the other half of town, and my Dad checking near the school...I don't know what we should do..."

Takumi racked his brain to try and think of where he would need to go.

What he could do to find Rukia, and make sure that she was alright.

His mind filled with thoughts of her being attacked and killed by a Hollow.

He couldn't allow that to happen.

There must be something…

Then it came to him.

"Spirit ribbons."

"Spirit ribbons? What are they Taku-chan?"

"It's basically spirit energy formed into ribbons, and that people can track down others based on their spirit ribbon. It's a high level sensing technique, even if her power is being hidden, combining spirit ribbons with some Kido that Hacchi-kun taught me, I hope that I can find her. And I remember Rukia-chan telling me about them. Shinigami's are red...and even though her powers aren't fully returned, she would still be considered a Shinigami...so, lets hope I can do it..."

Takumi cupped his hands together, and concentrated.

He closed his eyes, and hoped to find Rukia.

Orihime watched on curiously, and couldn't help but feel like Takumi truly was trying his best to find Rukia, and wondered what place Rukia held within Takumi's heart, the place she held, and if she herself also felt like the same.

Takumi felt the energies circulating his form, while Orihime noticed that something was happening to Takumi.

Something around him was glowing.

Something different was happening.

He was murmuring something that sounded like it was a Kido spell.

"Taku..."

Takumi's eyes opened, seeing many ribbons around him, seeing that the red one was towards the left at a 90 degree angle, grabbing it, and yanked it, allowing him to feel Rukia's presence nearby, and what was happening.

"Found her! Yes, lets go Orihime-chan!"

"Y-Yes!"

Takumi and Orihime took off running, hoping they'd be able to find her in time before she would be killed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giselle walked down the hill to go and meet Isshin, sensing him there.

The Hollow hadn't been felt yet by her, so she met with Isshin and sat down beside him on some steps, seeing that he was smoking, and that she herself had her elbows on her knees, and her face in her hands.

"So, you've taken up smoking."

"Hah, Masaki said that I looked cool when I smoked. It was the first, and last compliment that she gave me!"

Giselle tittered slightly.

"I suppose so. That's how Masaki-chan saw you."

Isshin glanced at the young woman who looked outwards at the sky that was slowly darkening.

"So...you're wondering about Masaki aren't you? About her death."

"To be beaten by a Hollow doesn't make sense. She was easily Lieutenant level, with her skills, and powers if not more. So, why would a normal Hollow be able to kill her?"

"That day, I felt that Masaki was in battle with a Hollow, but I felt her winning the fight easily, and by that time, I didn't have any powers anyway so I couldn't help. But then I suddenly felt Masaki's powers disappearing."

"Disappearing?"

"Like they had been stolen away from her. And then I felt Masaki's crying from my soul...and I knew that she was gone."

Giselle's eyes narrowed considerably.

"Her powers disappeared...and this happened around the same time...did His Majesty do this…?"

Giselle murmured aloud, while Isshin gave her a curious look.

"So, what are you going to do now? Since that Masaki is gone. I am surprised that you're still around."

"I don't know." She revealed sadly. "I came back so we could go back to what we were before. We could be friends again, and fight off Hollows, I was going to show her my power and we'd be able to grow stronger together. I didn't realize that her children also had powers. You must realize it as well, with Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan."

"It's one of the reasons that I had Urahara-san have Karin the ability to awaken her powers. She's going to awaken them one way or another, I just asked that he helped her awaken them with whatever items at his disposal, and with Takumi-kun now a Shinigami, perhaps he could keep my girls safe, and vice versa."

"Certainly, they have quite the unique relationship. And Yuzu-chan, it seems that she's like her Mom. Awakening some of her Quincy powers." Giselle's eyes turned towards Isshin. "So, do you want me to train her in being a Quincy?"

Isshin paused.

Having Giselle training Yuzu in being a Quincy.

He was sure that Masaki would be happy with that.

"I'm sure Masaki would..." Giselle's face changed, her eyes narrowing for the hill. "...what's wrong?"

"A Hollow is up there with your daughters. It feels strong."

"Yeah...I'm sensing it now...Karin, Yuzu..."

Giselle stood up, and stretched her arms.

"I'll go, stay here for now. You don't have any of your powers, so let me handle this. A single Hollow of this calibre wouldn't be able to defeat me. Even though it does feel quite powerful, it shouldn't be on the level of a Gillian, and I've taken that down before."

Giselle began skipping forward with a grin on her face.

Isshin however bit his lower lip, and hoped that his children would be alright.

* * *

Rukia continued her fight with the Hollow before her.

She had been forced into a building through the door that looked to be like a large office building, but it had been abandoned, and her head was bleeding. She felt dizzy, she felt sick from what was happening with her and the Hollow.

"Give it up, Rukia. I'm going to devour you, then I'm going after Takumi Urahara. You can't stop me."

Rukia narrowed her eyes, getting to her feet, and then placed her hand outwards.

"Hado 4: Byakurai!"

She hoped that it would work, and it did. Pale lightning came out of her finger, and shot for the Hollow. The bolt of lightning neared the Hollow who let out a large, and merely swung one of its hands at the lightning bolt, shattering it with a single attack, Rukia grimacing.

"That wimpy lightning was supposed to detain me?"

"Supposed to detain you? Of course not. I understand my limits, but I'm also regaining my powers. Because of that, I might just be able to beat you yet."

"Hahahaha!" The Hollow laughed out loud. "Are you dreaming girl?! I am beyond you! I am powerful! You are nothing but a child with no kind of power at all! I will devour your soul, and end your entire existence right now!"

Rukia pulled backwards, as the Hollow opened its mouth, and shot off a blast of energy, so Rukia dodged to the side, the energy smashing through the wall behind her, crumbling it down, Rukia spun her gun in her hand, and shot off a Chappy face blast at the Hollow, who snickered, and allowed its tentacles to form a wall between him, and the energy blast.

"You can try, but you wont succeed!"

Rukia threw several exploding spheres towards the Hollow as its tentacles had been blown off from her attack, who swiped forward with its remaining tentacles on its back, destroying them, yet they were powerful enough to destroy the tentacles.

Blood shot out of the tentacles that the Hollow had blown off and were regenerating.

When the smoke cleared from the explosion, he saw that Rukia was already gone.

"You can't escape me!"

The Hollow busted through the door, smashing apart the wall due to its size unable to fit through the door, and saw that Rukia was flying up the stairs as fast as she could, so he grinned, and allowed his hulking body to chase after her form.

Rukia got to the second level, and casually allowed one of the balls she had to hit a nearby support pillar, causing it to explode, and destroyed it, causing the area to shake around, but when she went to move, the Hollow burst up from the floor, and swiped at her, Rukia jumped back, but a large claw mark sliced right through her arm, her blood splattered across the ground, and she held her arm tightly.

"D-Damn..."

"Hmph, is that all you got bitch?"

Rukia grimaced, but she didn't give up, and ran in the opposite way down the corridor.

The Hollow sighed, and chased after her form, but he had a sadistic expression on his face, seemingly enjoying the fact that Rukia was trying her best to get away from him, but he thought that it was all for nothing.

Rukia continued going up the building she was in, while destroying the support structures along the way, avoiding the blasts of Hollows the best that she could do, but she got banged up, slammed against the floor, and cut across her body, but she still continued going forward.

She still did her best, and tried her best to win the fight.

And then when she got to near the top of the building, within a corridor, Rukia was slapped with a tentacle once more, and forced against a nearby wall, making her spit out a little bit of blood. She gripped her body tightly, but she also noticed the heavy shaking of the area that they were occupying, and the ground was breaking.

"Only delaying the inevitable."

Rukia stood up, panting from what she was feeling at that moment.

"I don't think that's true, I think that we're having a ball."

"Hah, cracking humour now. You truly are amazingly naive, aren't you Rukia?"

Rukia pulled out her gun but the tentacle on its back came out, and whipped her hand so hard that the gun flew out of the window behind her. Rukia grimaced at the sight, and pulled out a single sphere from her pocket.

"Amazingly naive. I think you've got that wrong."

The Hollow cocked its head.

"Oh? Why's that then?"

Rukia chuckled, seeing the ground coming up underneath them, so she threw the sphere at the Hollow, while jumping out of the window. The Hollow went to follow, when the ground underneath him, and dropped his body through the floor, as the building came toppling down on top of him.

Rukia herself spun in the air, aiming her hand downwards, channeling all of her power into her palm.

"B-Bakudo 37: Tsuriboshi!"

A star like net came out from below her and the points dug into buildings nearby so it could stay in place, a small version of the normal size at that, but it was big enough to catch her body, and allowed her to land on it without hurting herself.

Rukia panted.

With the bleeding she was going through, the fact that she had been attacked, and she had drained her power…

But she was happy.

She couldn't sense the power of the Hollow, and could see the collapsed building before her.

That was her plan the entire time.

She had been weakening the support structure of the building and luring the Hollow into a false sense of security, so that when the structure of the building was going to collapse in on itself, she'd get out while distracting the Hollow.

Though she didn't anticipate being banged up like she was, she was glad that it was finally over.

She hopped off her star, and landed on the ground, and felt pain running through her.

"That should do it." She muttered, only to hear rumbling behind her from the building. "No..." Rukia's daring eyes shot back to the building, only to see that within the broken rubble, the Hollows body lifted upwards and she saw that it had some large wounds, but they were regenerating, her eyes tangled with fear. "N-No...you couldn't have survived..."

"Sorry Rukia, it seems your plan didn't work."

Rukia pulled backwards.

She was sure it would work.

It would have beaten a normal Hollow…

But this wasn't normal.

This was a monster.

The Hollow let out a howling call, and charged forward.

Rukia gritted her teeth, and went to move, when a call came out "Rukia-chan!" causing her eyes to shift towards the right hand side to see Takumi, and Orihime outside of the barrier, banging on it, trying to get inside.

"W-Why did you even come?!"

"Seriously?! You're asking why a friend comes to save another friend!?"

Rukia's eyes lowered, while the Hollow smirked.

"Oh look Rukia, your shining Knight has come to save the day." Takumi and Orihime glanced at the other, confusion within them both. "Don't worry, Rukia here-"

"Shut up!"

Rukia snapped at the Hollow, but the Hollow grinned.

"Secrets, we keeping them Rukia? Don't you want Takumi to find out the secrets you've been keeping?"

Rukia's eyes narrowed, while Takumi's eyebrows lowered.

"D-Don't you dare say anything."

The Hollows eyes waved around, turning to Takumi who took out his Zanpakuto.

"Watch, as I kill this girl, and then I'll kill you!"

The Hollow turned on Rukia, and its fur came out, and slammed Rukia down onto the ground, Takumi and Orihime gasped, while Rukia didn't let out a cry, but she did slightly whimper at the feeling she felt.

* * *

"Nwhaaaaaaaaaaaa! G-Get off me!"

Karin was being crushed by the Hollow that was also strangling Yuzu.

Seeing her sister in despair, she was sure that this Hollow was unlike any that she had dealt with before. Then the Hollows form began to come into view, it wasn't invisible anymore, she could see it in its entirety.

It looked like a giant hamster with bird like feet, that were red. The fur was brown, from what she could tell, and its mask making her feel sick, disgusted. She hated seeing this Hollow, she hated this Hollow more than she thought possible.

Her eyes also ran over the Hollows fur, and gripped it tightly.

"L-Let go of my sister damn it!"

"What did you say?" The Hollow announced as the girl they had saw had the skin flip around, and become like tassels, and from the head, a red line attached itself to the Hollows head. "Did you see my lure? You must've seen it before."

"Lure..."

"That's right, my lure. I use it to bait in tasty humans like you. But when you said you recognized it, I just decided to strike you right away."

"Recognized...yeah, I recognized...s-so you use that to lure innocents to your side to kill them..."

The Hollow chuckled darkly, as Yuzu continued being strangled. She barely could breathe. She looked ready to pass out, she looked as if she was going to die.

"My favourites are kids, and by the way, my name is Grand Fisher, it's better if you know the name of your killer, isn't it hahahaha..."

Karin felt a pulse from her heart.

She felt like she was going to die.

The intensity of the feelings flowing from her, and her own body…

This was it.

This was the Hollow that had killed her Mother.

Now he was threatening to kill her sister…

No, she couldn't lose Yuzu.

Tears came from Karin's eyes as the Hollow opened its mouth wide, revealing another mouth inside of its large mouth, Yuzu's eyes widened with fear, her body convulsed, and she tried to get out of what was happening.

Karin knew she had no choice anymore.

Desperately, she went into her pocket despite being crushed, and fished out what Kisuke had given her.

"Come on...come on..."

Karin murmured again and again, trying her best.

"N-No! Stop it!"

Yuzu screamed as her body drew closer and closer to the Hollows mouth. It seemed like she could indeed see him without any equipment now.

Karin's fingers managed to grab the sphere, and she brought it to her mouth.

She briefly thought about her life being different...but her sister was in danger now. She had to save her no matter what else happened. And she also had to grab this Hollow, and punch it right in the face to stop it from doing this.

She slipped the pill down her throat, and swallowed it whole.

Then she felt a pulse erupting from her heart.

Power swelled from within her, encompassing around her form.

It felt like a dream.

It felt like this was what she had wanted her entire life.

Then an eruption of energy surrounded her, blasting off the Hollow off of Karin's body, a whirlwind of energy surrounded her being. The Hollows body was slammed against the floor, and Yuzu was flung away from the tentacle, dropping her body to the ground.

"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Yuzu cried out, anticipating that her body was about to hit the floor.

But then, she felt an arm wrap around her body, and brought her down to the ground safely.

Yuzu's eyes shot for the being responsible, and saw that it was indeed Karin.

But, Karin had been through a change.

She was wearing a similar outfit that Takumi wore, his Shinigami robes. And in her hand, was a large sword.

Her Zanpakutō was a standard-looking katana, but oversized, with an equally-oversized brown sheath hung by a strap across her back and over her right shoulder. It had a rectangular bronze tsuba with gently inward-curved edges, a stylized flame pattern on the long sides, and a simple decorative slit on the short sides. The hilt's handle had a red wrapping and two light blue tassels attached to the handle's base, which was decorated with a flame design on its short sides.

Karin held the sword on her shoulder, and Yuzu in her other arm, placing her down onto the ground.

Grand Fisher looked disgruntled by what he was seeing before him.

"You're a Shinigami?!"

Karin adopted a smirk.

"Yeah, now I am. And you're in for a world of pain."

Karin glanced at Yuzu who peered up at her sister.

"Karin...you're the same as Takumi-kun."

"Yeah, I now have the same power as him. And look at my bitchin sword, it's huge!" Karin swung her sword outwards, and cleaved into the ground. "And it feels like I'm carrying nearly nothing, its not even hard to swing. Maybe because I've been used to swinging my other sword. Damn, this is quite cool." Karin twitched her neck at the Hollow. "Yuzu, stay back here, I'll deal with this bastard Hollow. For killing Mom, he's going to pay for this."

"Y-Yes, I understand Karin."

Yuzu pulled backwards, seeing that beside her, was Karin's other body, her Gigai essentially. Yuzu held onto the Gigai of Karin while Shinigami Karin walked forward, swinging her sword left, and right, ready to take on the Hollow, while Grand Fisher narrowed his eyes, seeing the confidence within Karin, it seemed like it was going to be dangerous.

"Now come on!"

Karin rushes forward, feeling her speed increasing by the second, and got close to the Hollow Grand Fisher. She swung her large Zanpakuto towards Grand Fisher, who pulls backwards, while sending out his fur towards her in the form of spear like protrusions.

Karin spun her large Zanpakuto, and swung it towards the left hand side, her Zanpakuto slashed through the fur, but the other fur got close towards her, only for Yuzu to have fired off an arrow which pierced through the Hollows fur near Karin, allowing her the time to slice through the rest of the fur, and swung for the Hollows body once more, only for Grand Fisher to manage to pull away.

"Yuzu..."

"I'll support you from here Karin! Let me help you too!"

Karin glanced at her sister, seeing the convictions that she had, so she nodded her head.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you Yuzu!"

Karin leaped forward, and forced her Zanpakuto towards his chest, but his speed had increased and he avoided it, allowing his fur to swirl around, and shot for her like a tornado. Karin however remained vigilant, facing in the direction of the fur, and swung her sword downwards, cutting the tornado of fur in half, and then swings left and right, slashing the fur apart.

However, Grand Fisher's claws thrust forward, and went right for Karin's chest.

Karin gritted her teeth, but then as the claws extended to stab into her form, Yuzu's arrows pierce the claws of Grand Fisher, allowing Karin the time to get close, and spun around, swinging down her sword for the mask of the Hollow.

"I'll kill you for what you did to our Mom!"

Karin spinning like a top, came down heavy with her sword.

She was sure she was going to succeed.

But surprising her, was Grand Fisher, grabbed her sword with his hand. Nothing was on the hand, no power or anything, but the blade didn't cut the Hollows hand at all, and he tightened his hand around the blade, pulling Karin closer.

"Ngh….g-get off you bastard!"

Karin attempted to pull her sword away from Grand Fisher, but Grand Fisher was quite strong, and could pull her closer.

"Karin!"

Yuzu fired off a few arrows towards the Hollow, but his fur extended into a wall, which pierced the wall of fur, but didn't get any closer, however it did distract Grand Fisher long enough for Karin to yank her sword away, and saw his hand stretching out, so she got close, and swung down her blade hard, slicing off the hand of Grand Fisher, with blood shooting out of its hand.

"D-Damn you girl!"

Karin wasn't done though, and turned her blade to the Hollows body, and swung forward, but the Hollow leaps upwards, and got to a nearby set of trees, and shot off its fur like a spear, Karin putting her sword in a defensive position, the fur was strong, and pushed her backwards a good portion, skidding past her Mother's grave, but she still managed to hold her ground, swinging her blade outwards, dispelling the fur away from her body.

"Karin, you cut off his hand! Then maybe we will-"

"Win?" Karin and Yuzu glared at Grand Fisher, revealing the stump of a hand. "This isn't anything to me. We Hollows have a special power that allows us to regenerate quite fast. So, watch this. My hand is going to reappear."

Yuzu and Karin watched with horror as the hand bubbled up, and form his bird like claw once more. The redness of the tips of the claws drew worry from the pair, but they didn't care in the end, and had to do something against this Hollow.

Then rain began to pour down from the heavens.

Karin and Yuzu remembered the day their Mother died.

It rained at that time too.

It felt like this was their chance.

It was their chance to get revenge for their Mother.

To protect their Mother.

To keep their Mother's memories alive?

"For Mom?"

Karin's question was met with a nod from Yuzu.

"For Mom."

They pulled closer to the Hollow, who gave a surprised face.

"What are you girls planning?"

""This is for our Mom!""

Yuzu unleashed arrow after arrow, a barrage of them towards the Grand Fisher.

Karin at the same time came running closer, leaping up towards the Hollow, and swung her sword towards Grand Fisher who pulled backwards, the sword going by the bridge of his mask, as the hailstorm of arrows came closer.

Grand Fisher's speed kicked in, avoiding the attacks all together, only for Karin to have predicted that, and thrusted her foot into Grand Fisher's mask so hard that it began to crack, Grand Fisher's eyes widening, and saw Karin's sword heading for the mask of the Hollow, so his fur came out, wrapping around Karin's wrist, and yanked her upwards, lifting her body into the air, and swung her high.

"A-Aaaaaah! S-Shit!"

Karin let out a yell, while in the air.

"I've got you Karin!"

Yuzu to fire off some arrows for the fur, cutting through the fur of the Hollow, dropping Karin from the air, who came down with her sword like a guillotine.

"You girls are really pissing me off..."

Grand Fisher growled and went to attack the incoming Karin, only for Yuzu to fire off some explosive arrows for the Hollow, stabbing into the fur of the Hollow, exploding inside of the fur, allowing Karin to slice down, cleaving off the entire arm of the Hollow, and then kicked outwards, smashing her foot into the Hollows upper body, her surprising strength knocked the Hollow backwards, and into a few trees, Karin looked down at her body, and smiles.

"Damn, being a Shinigami is quite good."

Karin slightly praised herself, and saw the Hollow attempting to move backwards while its arm began to regenerate once more.

Karin and Yuzu shared a look, before changing for the Hollow once more.

"You damn little bitches! I'll eat your souls!"

The Hollow using its tentacle to try and grab Karin, only for Karin to dodge left, and swung her sword downwards, slicing through the Hollows tentacle, and Yuzu fired off an arrow at close range, piercing the healing arm of the Hollow, allowing its progression to be halted for a few moments, allowing Karin to get close…

But the Hollow smirked, and raised his hand, the claws came out, stretching to an unusual length and headed for Yuzu.

Yuzu, not able to move as fast as a Shinigami, couldn't dodge it in time, so Karin got close to her, putting herself between the two, and took the claw strike head on, stabbing into her shoulder, making her cry out.

"K-Karin!"

"Don't worry about me! Just make sure it dies!"

Karin's body erupted blood, as the fur came out of her body, only for the fur to try and strike her across the cheek. Yuzu however appeared from behind, with an explosive sphere attached to her arrows, and fired it off at the fur, causing it to explode, with water spreading around from the area, since the fur was wet with the thunderous rain, allowing Karin to place a hand on her shoulder, grimacing.

"Karin...are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Karin gripped her sword, ready to strike the Hollow.

However, just as she was going to move, the Hollow released a chuckle.

"Anger fills your minds. It is simple as that. Predictable, is what I can see from you both. That's why you're going to lose."

The Hollows lure springs forth from his head, and then his hand wrapped around the head of the lure.

They watch as he does something to the lure, twisting his fingers across the lure, and then drops his hand from the lure, to reveal the face of Masaki, Yuzu and Karin's Mother, understandably, both girls looked on with shocked eyes.

"M-Mom..."

Karin murmured, Yuzu placed her hands to her mouth.

"M-Mommy..."

The lures eyes went towards the pair, and a gentle smile appeared across the face of the woman.

"Karin, Yuzu."

It was her voice.

Their Mom's voice.

They nearly collapsed onto the ground, and wanted to cry.

Seeing their Mom now...it was amazing, and also gut wrenching.

* * *

Takumi and Orihime watched with horror as Rukia kept getting attacked. Takumi couldn't handle it, seeing Rukia being in pain, being attacked, and bleeding. His sword came out, swinging his sword at the barrier again and again, but it bounced off the barrier, he couldn't get through.

"There's no point trying. A sword like yours isn't going to be getting through my barrier. It can hold off powerful Shinigami, even up to a Lieutenant levels of power, and you certainly don't have the power to stand against me like this."

"Damn it!"

Takumi didn't give up.

He spammed every Kido he knew.

He spammed his sword techniques to slice the barrier.

But he couldn't get through.

He was helpless to watch Rukia getting beaten by the Hollow.

Orihime also saw how Takumi was even crying seeing Rukia being brutalized by the Hollow, and being unable to do anything.

Rukia though still didn't give up.

She tried her best to fight the Hollow but she couldn't in the end, she was exhausted, and couldn't do anything against it.

"No...Rukia-chan..."

Takumi didn't know how to win.

He didn't know how to save her.

He simply didn't have the power…

"Power..."

His eyes went towards his sword.

Then he remembered his Zanpakuto spirit, so he sat down on the floor, laying his Zanpakuto across his lap. Orihime didn't know what he was doing, and could only hope that he was up to something she didn't know about.

"Taku-chan..."

Takumi closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to go to his inner world.

To find her once more.

To get to her…

* * *

Then his eyes opened, feeling a hand on his shoulder, and saw his Zanpakuto spirit. But he also saw that clouds were up above and rain was beating down onto them. The booming of the thunder caused him to feel weird inside.

His body was soaked to the bone within seconds due to the speed of the rain.

"It's raining, do you know why?"

The girl spoke to Takumi while he himself gained a question mark.

"Why's that?"

"Because your heart is crying. It reflects here what's going on inside of you. You are suffering. Why do you suffer so?"

Her gentle voice didn't display urgency, unlike Takumi's own.

"Rukia-chan's gonna die! I need to save her!"

"Saving her...you need to save her."

Takumi took the young woman by her shoulders, and desperately peered into her eyes.

"Please...please help me save her..."

He begged.

In the end, that's all he could do.

He had nowhere else to turn.

He needed her.

"How can I help you?"

"Your name...your power. You said you'd need to see my resolve, my strength...but, I can't wait to show you that anymore. I don't have the power to save Rukia-chan, but with you...with your power, maybe I would be able to save her! Maybe this isn't what you had in mind when saying that I needed to satisfy you but-"

The young woman allowed her arms to wrap around his form, pulling him closer, and his head bounced off her breasts. Her soothing fingers flowed through his hair like sparks of electricity flowing into his entire being.

"Satisfying me only needed for me to see your resolve. Seeing you now, I can see your resolve. I know you more than you think I do, and for you to say these things, it means you're truly passionate. And you wish to save that Shinigami girl, don't you?"

"Yes...I need to save her."

The girls lips curled upwards, lightly kissing the young boy on the cheek, making his face turn slightly red.

"Then, tell me one more thing?"

Takumi cocked his eyebrows upwards in perplexity.

"What?"

"What's my name?"

Takumi suddenly felt the information flood into his head.

He knew it.

He knew her name.

"Your name is..."

* * *

Back in the real world, Takumi rose his blade high into the sky, and allowed his energy to surround his form.

He got off the ground, and his smirk grew on his face.

"Ravage! Kinhime!"

A flash of lightning spread through the sky, and shot down onto Takumi's sword. Rukia, and the others watched as the sword turned beautifully golden light almost like pure energy, with sparks of lightning spread outwards, which began to take form. It zigzagged into the blade of a lightning bolt, and was about the same size as his katana beforehand, but its spiritual pressure had changed. The guard looked like spikes coming out of it, with eight being the maximum.

Orihime watched with happiness, seeing the sword, it looked beautiful.

Rukia with blood dripping off her lips, and she smiled while shedding a few tears.

"_Kinhime, otherwise known as the Golden Princess, one of the most beautiful Zanpakuto rivaling Sode no Shirayuki. Even looking at it now, it makes me teary eyed. It's so beautiful, even the way the blade turns, the way it leaves sparks as he swings it, and the elegance behind the way he moves, as if he's merely dancing with his Princess. Now I do know who this person before me is...I definitely understand this person now. Takumi Urahara, with his Kinhime, is about to play with his Princess, and no one gets in the way of his time with his Princess, even Hollows..._"

Rukia watched as Takumi raised his sword up into the sky.

"Burst Kinhime!"

Takumi swung his blade outwards, and a burst of bright brilliant lightning spread outwards, and slammed against the barrier. The lightning blast managed to shatter the barrier all together, the Hollows face turned downwards in worry and slight fear.

"N-No! You couldn't have! You've awakened your Shikai?!"

"Yeah, and now my Princess wants to play a game till the death, she's kinda crazy like that. Shall we see who survives?"

Takumi nodded with a smile, and disappeared, only to appear before him, and swung his sword outwards, shooting off some blasts of lightning, which wrapped around the body of the Hollow, and flung him away from Rukia's body, slamming him across the battlefield, smashing his body into a nearby building, breaking the wall of it, and caused the building to shake.

"Takumi..."

Takumi leaned down to Rukia, and saw the wounds across her body, as Orihime came running over, and looked over Rukia's wounds.

"Kuchiki-chan, are you okay?!"

"I-I'm..."

Rukia didn't know what to say.

Takumi glanced at the Hollow who had sparks across its body, and took out a vial of liquid, tossing it to Orihime, who began placing it over the wounds Rukia had.

The Hollow scowled towards Takumi who twitched his eyebrows at the Hollow.

"Y-You bastard! How dare you do this to me?! I will completely obliterate you!"

The Hollow opened its mouth, and began forming a Cero.

Rukia grimaced, and called "Takumi!" but Takumi gave her a smile, and stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground.

"Protect Kinhime!"

The lightning surrounding the blade formed a wall before him, and the others. The Cero shot forward, and clashed with the lightning barrier that had been formed, forcing against one another, and then cancelled one another out.

"Amazing...but Takumi, you can't fight this Hollow, it's too powerful."

"Yet, you went to go and fight it on your own."

Rukia lowered her eyes.

"I...I knew that I was fighting a strong enemy, but I knew this enemy well. I knew I could...I thought I could take it down but..."

Takumi glanced at the young girl, who seemed a little disheartened, so he turned back to the Hollow before him. The Hollow placed a hand beside him, and then a hole opened up, revealing Hollows after Hollows that all looked the same.

Takumi ground his teeth, as the Hollow smirked.

"You might've been able to beat me, but can you take these all?"

"So you're the one that gained these Hollows. I heard from a Shinigami that you can enslave Hollows that are weaker than you are."

"That's true. I leave a piece of myself inside of them, and they mutate to look the same way. They might appear to be clones, but they are different Hollows, they are just my Hollows, they have the same pressure because that's my pressure inside of them, they look similar as that's what they transform into once my power takes effect." His eyes went to Rukia who narrowed her eyes. "You know this form, doesn't it look so much like the one that you killed inside of that man? I'm...you could say a distant cousin of that Hollow. I've evolved, and changed shape. His ability to control others by invading their bodies, is what I'm doing with these Hollows, though I'm more powerful than that Hollow was."

Takumi clutched his blade tightly, as the Hollows came out of the hole that had been summoned, and some came right at him. He knew that fighting them all would be annoying, and could prove to be difficult, he was sensing strong spirit energy from them.

He went to move when…

"Have this!"

Hiyori, who was in Shikai, came swinging down, and cleaved through a good chunk of the Hollows going near Takumi.

"Executing."

Nemu comes sweeping down, with her leg extending outwards, and swings it outwards, smashing through the Hollows faces, and killed them off, as Liltotto appeared behind Rukia, and Orihime, shooting off a few arrows towards the incoming storm of Hollows.

"It seems that we're a little late to the party."

Takumi placed a hand on his chest, smiling at the sight of the girls being there.

"I'm glad you're here. I've got to slay the Hollow, can you handle its little buddies?"

Hiyori smirked, and swung her sword around like a tornado, cleaving through the Hollows that were coming near them.

"As if you have to even ask something like that Baldy!"

"Yes, please slay the Hollow immediately. The blonde Baldy and I will handle this with the girl that eats a lot."

Hiyori snapped her eyes on Nemu, but she was busy taking down the Hollows the best that she could.

Takumi smiled at the comrades that had come to help, before Hiyori snapped her eyes to him.

"Come on Baldy! Don't just sit there with your damn Princess, move your ass, and kill the Hollow already! Or, shall I do it for you Princess?" Hiyori smirked out. "I know, it must be so tiring for you, but people like me have no problem when it comes to things like this. So you just sit back and-"

"I'm going now!"

Takumi glanced between them all, before rushing forward. Rukia looked on with worry while the trio of girls managed to take down the onslaught of Hollows. Using his incredible speed, Takumi got through the Hollows, and to the main Hollow before him, and slashed at him with sparks of electricity shining gloriously.

"F-Fuck!"

The Hollow pulled away, and his hands showed some acidic properties.

"So you have the same acid like ability as the others?"

"That's right, now burn in-"

Before he could finish, Takumi appears before him, and says "Strike Kinhime!" and the lightning around the blade glows, and the sword itself begins to move faster, as if it was a bolt of lightning through the sky, and leaving behind a light path of electricity, his sword cleaved through the hands of the Hollow, dropping them to the ground.

"Sorry, but my Princess isn't having any of this."

"M-My hands! My hands! You've cut off my hands! But surely my regeneration will..." He looked down at his hands, and saw that they weren't regenerating. "B-But why?! You couldn't of done something, could you?!"

"High speed regeneration, that's what you Hollows use. I know all about it. And my sword has just shocked every cell near your hands, or what used to be your hands, to a point where they can't be fixed normally. It wasn't just a simple slash, my sword, cleaved right through your hands and to put it simply, shocked your cells into a state that they couldn't regenerate so fast, putting them into a necrosis type of state, isn't that amazing? Using my knowledge on the anatomy of Hollows, and my swords abilities, I'll cut you down until your body turns into a state of nothingness."

The Hollow couldn't believe it.

The sword itself had stopped the Hollows power to regenerate to a degree that he could feel his body attempting to repair the damage that Takumi had done to it.

The Hollow howled into the air, and shot off its tentacles at Takumi who raised his lightning blade, ready to strike down the enemy.

But Rukia recognized something else.

"T-Takumi! No! If you touch those tentacles, your Zanpakuto will-"

"Too late!"

Takumi cut through the tentacles, but the Hollow didn't seem to care.

Rukia's eyes widening, remembering this happening with Kaien.

Seeing his Zanpakuto disappearing, and then the Hollow coming back to take over his body.

The same thing was going to happen to Takumi…

He was going to be taken over after his Zanpakuto was going to disappear.

"N-Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Rukia's scream alerted the others to what was going on.

The Hollow began laughing...but stopped when seeing that his Zanpakuto hadn't been destroyed.

He was confused.

He didn't get it.

But then he saw at the end of his tentacles, that sparks were coming off of them, only for Takumi to swing his sword outwards, and a curved bolt of lightning flashed through the area, slicing through the tentacles all the way down to the body of the Hollow, forcing it to the ground.

"Nemu-san told me about the reason why she was chosen to find this Hollow, and slay it. Because it had the unique ability to destroy Zanpakuto, and she doesn't fight with a Zanpakuto so she didn't have to rely on that at all. I saw how willing you were allowing your tentacles forward so I guessed that's how it activated. So as I cut through your tentacles, I used lightning to extend from the blade, creating a miniature field of electricity so your tentacles couldn't get through, and then allowed the lightning to sharpen to cut through your tentacles, so I've taken your power away now."

The Hollow looked afraid.

Takumi's blade was fantastic.

Yet, scary.

He was scared.

He was going to lose.

Rukia watched with renewed hope, as Takumi rose his blade into the air, and allowed the lightning to gather around his blade. Its sparks surrounded his form, and some stray bolts hit the ground, and caused it to shake around. The roaring sound of thunder came from the blade.

"My Zanpakuto controls thunder and lightning. And its gathering electricity now, for maximum voltage."

The Hollow pulled backwards, feeling afraid of what was going to happen.

"S-Stay away from me!"

The Hollows fur came out towards Takumi, in thin yet strong looking stabbing motions. Takumi went to move, when Hiyori came from the left, and cut right through the hair before it could touch Takumi's body.

"Got your back!"

"I as well, will detain the target."

Nemu appeared behind the Hollow, and forced her foot against its legs, breaking its legs so it couldn't move anymore. The Hollow howled out dangerously, Takumi could feel the power of the blade reaching its maximum, so he strolled forward towards the Hollow.

"W-Wait a second! I can tell you things!"

"Not interested."

"B-But, you can't kill me! I'll summon more Hollows to fight you and..."

The Hollow attempted to open a portal to summon some Hollows, but Liltotto fired off some strong arrows, and pierced the head of the Hollow, forcing it to release a small cry, and pulled backwards, while Takumi spun his sword in the air, lightning becoming a circle in the air.

"Sorry, but that's not going to do. You might be strong, you might have allies, but I have allies too. And you've caused Rukia-chan pain, now I'm going to execute you. With this attack, you'll be finished!"

Takumi thrusted his sword forward, and a huge bolt of lightning rips out of the blade, and wraps around the Hollow. Entering its systems, and forcing its eyes to shake around, its internal organs being shocked to the degree that they burst from the intense power of lightning, the heat of the lightning causing its body to become a crispy husk.

Even with its defences, it was beaten by Takumi and the others, and then, Takumi casually sliced it apart, causing the two halves of the Hollow to disappear into the ether, while Rukia watched on with shocked eyes.

It didn't end up like Kaien.

He didn't die.

Takumi's Zanpakuto didn't disappear.

* * *

Takumi then turned towards Rukia, and walked forward as the sky opened up, and rain began to pour down towards them all.

Orihime gave a gentle smile towards Takumi, who did the same, bending down to Rukia who peered up at him with wavering eyes.

"Dummy."

Takumi lightly tapped her head.

"Ow..."

Rukia groaned, Takumi placed his hand on top of her head as the water had already began soaking her hair.

"Idiot, you had us all worried. Going off on your own, what were you thinking?"

"...I had to defeat the Hollow...that Hollow was...it was..."

"You recognized it, didn't you? You seemed to know its powers when Nemu-san hadn't told me at that point so I couldn't of told you anything. So, want to explain? Do you have history with that Hollow?"

Rukia's face turned downwards, tears dancing between her eyes as the rain also washed over her face, cutting through her was emotions she hadn't dealt with in her life, the loss of Kaien, the loss of her friends, and now, the potential loss of Takumi, and how he had saved her.

It took a lot to reduce Rukia to tears.

Takumi knew she was in true pain.

"...That Hollow reminded me so much of someone that died...someone that I didn't have a choice but to kill...I had to do something...I couldn't let you suffer the same fate as what happened to him...what happened to Kaien…I had to kill this Hollow on my own...but in the end, I couldn't..."

Takumi inhaled slowly, pulling closer, and rubbed her head gently.

"You're silly, you can always come to me with any problem you have." Rukia felt a pulse from her heart. "You are one of those types of people that want to protect others. Did it never occur to you that you're one of the people that needs to be protected too?" Rukia's eyes widened with shock, and realization. "We're a team Rukia-chan, if one of us is sad, we're all sad, we fight these things together. I don't know how normal Shinigami's do it, but we're here for you, you don't have to face this alone."

"T-Takumi..."

Rukia allowed a stray tear or two to fall from her eyes, Takumi's fingers slowly go over her face, Rukia being entangled within the warmth that was Takumi.

"You're not alone anymore Rukia-chan, you don't have to take on the world alone. I'll always be here for you Rukia-chan. You can rely on me, you don't have to worry about me disappearing, okay? Don't do reckless things like this, we can deal with any problem together. Come to me, and I'll come to you if we need help. That's what it means to have friends, you know? So, how about it? Deal?"

Rukia's eyes began shedding a few tears.

It seemed so simple, yet it was so powerful. The fact that he was there for her. He didn't die by the Hollow.

Takumi inhaled slowly, and pulled Rukia close, allowing her to cry on his chest.

Orihime, Nemu, Liltotto and Hiyori watch as Rukia sobs against Takumi's body, until she ended up passing out from her wounds, and the fatigue that she had felt.

Takumi embraced the young woman, and carried her bridal style, using some of his medicine to do a quick first aid on her so she didn't suffer too much.

"Poor Rukia-chan, she felt so alone all this time. She was scared that I'd end up the same as that man she was talking about...she only wanted to protect us. It seems like she doesn't have anyone else to rely on...maybe she's hardened her heart."

Orihime leans onto Takumi's shoulder, and peered at the sleeping Rukia.

"Kuchiki-chan, you truly don't have to be alone anymore. We're all here for her now, aren't we Taku-chan?"

"Definitely, we'll be here for her now." Takumi's eyes go to the sky, and he felt something. "That pressure..." His eyes went towards the graveyard, the place he could sense Karin, Yuzu, and Giselle. "It's coming from Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan's position. Though Giselle-san is also there...even then, we should probably go and make sure that they're alright."

The others nod, and all go towards the Hollow that was showcasing pressure.

* * *

Back with Karin and Yuzu, they couldn't believe that their Mom was there before them.

Yuzu wanted to believe the lie.

She truly did.

Even Karin felt her resolve falling.

The will to fight...the will to get rid of the Hollow, would mean they wouldn't see their Mother again.

It felt sickening, it felt disheartening.

Yuzu's feet carried her forward, her hands twitching, and her body couldn't stop heating up from seeing her Mother.

Karin watched her sister move forward, her hands going towards her Mother's face.

It seemed that Yuzu wanted to believe the lie.

She wanted to give into the lie.

She wanted to be lost in the lie.

"Mommy...I-I'm sorry...I'm so sorry I haven't been stronger...I'm so sorry..."

Karin briefly closed her eyes, ridding her tears that she threatened to shed, then opened her eyes to see that Yuzu had gotten close.

"Yuzu, don't cry now, I'm here..."

Karin felt her hands tightening on her blade.

It was a lie.

All of it was a lie.

Seeing this was a complete betrayal of her Mother, and also, hurting Yuzu more than a wound ever could.

"Y-Yuzu! Get away from her!"

Yuzu's eyes went back to Karin, and Karin saw something profound.

How she was crying.

"Karin, its Mom..."

"No, it's not." Karin breathed out her sadness. "It looks like Mom, it sounds like Mom. But, that isn't Mom. She never could be Mom. Mom was kind and gentle...there's no kindness within her voice. It is only the sound of her voice, there's no emotion behind her."

That's what Karin thought to be true.

No, she knew it was true.

Yuzu didn't know what to do.

She wanted her Mother.

She wanted to believe Karin.

In her heart of hearts, she knew that Karin was right.

"Don't listen to her Yuzu." The lure Masaki called, drawing Yuzu closer. "Come to me Yuzu, come and help me Yuzu. I need your help."

"Mom...t-that's...you're not my Mom..."

Yuzu denied her.

"N-No! Yuzu!"

Karin rushed forward, while Yuzu slowly moved backwards.

However, the lures shot forward, Standing before the lure, Yuzu became worried at the lure, who smiled back, only for the Hollow to thrust its claw right for her chest.

"No Yuzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Karin yelled as loudly as she could, knowing she wouldn't make it in time.

She wouldn't be able to save her sister.

She was going to die…

But then an arrow came from the side, slicing right through the claw of the Hollow, and then through the Hollows arm, cutting it off from Grand Fisher's body, who released a howl, Yuzu's eyes snapping back to normal, as Karin got close, and hugged Yuzu tightly.

"Who did it?! Who did that to me?!"

Grand Fisher shot his eyes for the culprit, seeing that it was Giselle with her bow and arrow at the ready.

Her eyes looked pissed.

She looked ready to take down the Hollow.

"I did it to you, Grand Fisher. Escaped people for over fifty years by using your disgusting acts to stop people hurting the ones they love, it's a despicable act that I hate so much." Giselle pulled closer, pulling back her arrow. "So, you're the sickening Hollow that decided to rob Masaki-chan's life from her?" Yuzu and Karin both looked down. "And now you attack her daughters. You are disgusting. You truly are disgusting."

Giselle's eyes narrow even more, seeing the Hollows body moving towards her.

"So you're a Quincy girl?"

"That's right, I'm a Quincy, trained by a very powerful Quincy. I'll use my training to destroy you."

Laughs came out of Grand Fisher.

It was clear that he was taking Giselle lightly.

Giselle didn't like that at all.

"I'm not a newbie, you can't kill me. I'll show you that my Sensei taught me everything I need to take down a piece of shit like you."

"Like you-" Giselle appeared before him with her fast movements, her arrow pointed at his torso. "-can!"

Giselle releases an arrow deep into the Hollows body, ripping right through its body, tearing half of the Hollows body off his torso, blood soaked the ground, and Grand Fisher screamed loudly at the attack he received.

"Seriously, are you this weak?"

"S-Screw you!"

Fur from the Hollow came out like a whirlwind, heading right for Giselle in an attempt to crush her.

But her speed was beyond what Grand Fisher could deal with, appearing behind the whirlwind of fur just before it could pierce the ground, and pulled back her arrow once more, more arrows forming around her bow.

"As I said, you are too weak to beat me. And definitely, you'd be nothing compared to Masaki-chan."

Giselle unleashed a barrage of arrows in a single pull. The arrows all spread outwards, and stabbed through the torrent of fur that was digging into the ground, puncturing different places on the fur, and then with a final arrow she drew, the large arrow, she shot it forward, and cleaved through the majority of the fur, Yuzu and Karin in awe at her power.

"Wow...she's strong..."

"She definitely is. I'm glad she's on our side."

Karin murmured after Yuzu, who looked at Giselle with appreciating eyes.

The Hollow growled dangerously, spitting out a large volume of blood that hit the ground like a stone. Giselle however just pulled back her arrow once more, Grand Fisher panicked even more, seeing that Giselle was going to attack.

But then he thought of something.

He placed the Masaki lure between Giselle, and himself.

"Please, please don't do this. You can't hurt me, can you? Giselle, it's me, Masaki, I really love you."

Giselle's eyes didn't waver.

Unlike Yuzu and Karin who had already been tricked for even a brief moment.

Giselle seemed resolve.

"You dare use Masaki-chan before me. Before her daughters. That's sick, you truly are a monster that's befitting a Hollow."

"Y-You aren't even thinking about..."

Grand Fisher breathed hard, while Giselle saw the tentacles trying to get close to her. Giselle however, just twitched her hand, and shot off several arrows to cut through the tentacles, and got close to Masaki before her.

"Masaki-chan, it's lovely to see you again. But, I know you aren't the real Masaki-chan. I'm so sorry I didn't save you. I wish I had been here when Grand Fisher attacked, maybe you could've introduced me more to your children, and we could've done more together."

Grand Fisher now was panicking.

He could feel the power of Giselle growing.

It was more than he had anticipated.

It was on a different level to Karin and Yuzu.

"S-Stop! You can't do anything to me!"

Masaki's lure cried out, but Giselle shed a single tear.

"I truly am sorry Masaki-chan. But I'll keep your girls safe now. And I've found love. Isn't that amazing? I guess that I fell for a Shinigami as you did." She was whispering so Karin and Yuzu couldn't hear what she was saying. "Goodbye Masaki-chan."

Giselle pulled her arrow, and shot through Masaki's lure. The arrows energy destroyed the lure all together, Karin and Yuzu watched on with unsure feelings, but they could see how hard it was for Giselle to even do that as well, so it made sense in their eyes that she was truly trying her best.

The lure had been destroyed, the arrow continued on, and shot for the Hollow. Despite its body regenerating, it hadn't fully regenerated at that time, so when the arrow came close, it cut off the Hollows left leg, and also left arm due to how the Hollow was hunched over, forcing the Hollow down onto the ground.

"S-Stop it! Stop this right now!"

Grand Fisher attempted to attack her, only for Karin to come out, and slice through the fur that had come for Giselle.

Giselle paused, glancing at Karin and Yuzu, and then to herself.

Her mind thought about Masaki, and how she wanted to get revenge for her.

But, she also realized that Karin and Yuzu deserved it more.

She was their Mother.

To Giselle, Masaki was someone that couldn't be replaced.

But to them, to Karin and Yuzu, it was the woman that gave birth to them, the woman that they loved.

Giselle noticed that Takumi, and the others had arrived. They didn't say anything, they were flabbergasted that Karin was wearing Shinigami robes. Rukia was within Takumi's arms, and Orihime was on his back, it seemed they had flash stepped to that location.

Giselle lowered her eyes, then looked towards the twins.

"Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan. You want to kill this Hollow? It took your Mom away from you, so it's only right that you both take down this Hollow. You did well against him on your own, you had him on the ropes. If he didn't play that dirty card of Masaki-chan, then you would have been able to deal heavy blows, so what do you say?"

Karin and Yuzu glanced at the Hollow, then towards Giselle.

They then stood up, and turned their weapons on Grand Fisher.

Grand Fisher felt fear coming over him.

He didn't want to die.

Especially now.

He couldn't.

He tried to stand, but his leg hadn't fully regenerated.

He couldn't even go into his lure either.

He was terrified.

"N-No! D-Don't come closer! Stay away from me!"

Grand Fisher's fur came out slower than what it was before. Possibly because of the wounds it had received, it was slower than it was, so Karin managed to get closer, and dodged out of the way, getting closer to the Hollow.

"You stole our Mom from us! As if I'm going to simply forgive that!"

Grand Fisher panted hard.

But he still had one thing left.

The tentacle that he had came out to try and grab Karin around her throat.

"I don't think so."

Yuzu shot off an arrow and with precise action, the arrow cleaved through the tentacle, blood shooting out.

The others watched on as Karin got closer and closer.

"W-Wait a second! You can't! I've evaded Shinigami for fifty four years! You can't be the one who takes me out!"

"I'm afraid I am….no, it's because of me, my sister, and Giselle-san. She gave us this opportunity, and now we're going to take it." Yuzu appeared before her, gripping Karin's Zanpakuto along with Karin herself. "You stole our Mom from us, you hurt everything and everyone. You've done this for the last time."

"This is for our Mom."

Yuzu finished off, Grand Fisher's eyes displayed his fear. He convulsed on the spot. Due to the fact that he hadn't been healed yet, he was at their mercy, there was nothing they would be able to do now.

Then it was over.

Karin and Yuzu plunged the sword through Grand Fisher, right through his mask, and he screamed into the rain, and then they swung their sword upwards, cutting the Hollows head in half, and its body began to disappear into nothingness.

Karin and Yuzu stared down their Mother's killer, and just smiled.

Not just from killing him, but from saving every other future victim that he would have killed.

Karin and Yuzu then fell to their knees, holding onto one another's hands, and wordlessly embraced the other.

Giselle watched the girls embracing, and smiled softly.

But then she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see that it was Takumi.

"Are you okay?"

"It wasn't my kill in the end, it was theirs, for their Mom."

Despite her saying that, Takumi could see that Giselle was slightly disheartened. But he also saw her looking at both Karin and Yuzu, almost longingly.

Takumi tapped her shoulder, and chuckled lightly.

"Thanks for saving them."

Giselle pulled her cheeks, and gave a bright smile.

"Of course!"

Takumi looked at the girls once more, at Karin in her Shinigami robes, and then at Yuzu with her bow beside her. Takumi also knew exactly now what was going on, but he didn't reveal anything, and just kept his eyes on the girls, while carrying Rukia in his arms.

* * *

Later on, with the rain subsiding, Giselle and Isshin stood together, under a porch with a shrine behind them, with Yuzu and Karin sleeping together nearby. It seemed to have taken a lot out of them, both physically and emotionally, Isshin gave his daughters a smile.

"So, they finished off Grand Fisher."

Giselle nodded while playing with her hair.

"Yup, he's gone from this world now. Masaki-chan would've been proud, you'd be proud of them too."

"I'm sure...and Karin became a Shinigami then."

"Are you displeased?"

Isshin shook his neck.

"No, it was her choice. I'm glad she had that choice, I couldn't deny her of her power forever, so I'm glad I spoke to Urahara-san about it. Karin is going to be a fine Shinigami. Though I'd like her to be taught about sword skills from-"

"Me perhaps?"

Giselle, and Isshin shot their eyes towards the shrine, and behind the wall, Takumi came out.

"G-Geez, I didn't even sense you."

"Sorry about that, I wanted to speak to you, but I ended up overhearing your conversation." His eyes went to Isshin. "So, you're the reason Karin-chan is a Shinigami."

"A-Ah, I don't know..."

Giselle lightly taps Isshin's stomach.

"Don't be foolish, it's pretty clear he's figured it out."

Isshin gives in, bowing his head.

"Yes...I'm the reason she's a Shinigami."

"So, you were a Shinigami in the past, and you met a Quincy girl, and had twins, right?" Giselle wore surprise on her face, Takumi chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I got it from a few things, your attachment to Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan, how you even were invited here in the first place, since if you didn't know Masaki-san, it wouldn't make sense why you'd be here. It made sense when I heard from Yuzu-chan that you were friends with her Mother, so she was a Quincy. Amazing, so a Shinigami and a Quincy got together. I'd like to know the circumstances behind that, when you're ready of course."

"Hahaha, I see. Then maybe I'll tell you. But, until I'm ready, could we keep this between us? And not tell the girls?"

Takumi ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"It isn't my place to tell them your secrets, I wont say anything."

Isshin looked relieved.

"And if she asks you about her latent Shinigami power?"

Takumi chuckled, while twirling around playfully.

"Perhaps, being close to a Shinigami like me, and Rukia-chan, allowed some of our power to push her own latent abilities to transform into a Shinigami. If she hadn't been around us, she might've not gained the power, but because she already had high spirit energy, and our locations near her, and the existence of Hollows, caused her own power to take on Shinigami's powers. Doesn't that sound satisfying Isshin-san?"

Isshin lightly chuckled.

"Yes, that sounds perfect. Also...please, will you watch over my daughters too? I know you're a Shinigami, and I've heard from Giselle-san here that you awakened Shikai, so could you protect my girls? And if it isn't too much trouble, train Karin in the ways of a Shinigami? Also, Giselle-san...Yuzu's like her Mom, I'm sure Masaki would love you to pass on her teachings to her daughter. If you could...please teach her."

"Hey, I'm still learning myself. But, I could teach her everything I know...and yeah, you didn't have to ask, I'll keep those girls safe."

"Yup, I'll teach Yuzu-chan~ Leave it to me~"

Isshin adopted a wide smile, as he pulled out a cigarette, and lit it up.

"Masaki always said I looked cool when smoking. What do you think?"

Takumi and Giselle glanced at the other, then chuckled together.

""Definitely cool.""

Isshin, Takumi, and Giselle began laughing together, and soon turned into a burst of laughter.

* * *

Sometime later on, Takumi watched over Rukia, who was laying asleep, while Nemu watched on from beside him. Takumi could see Nemu's eyes on her form, and then he tapped her shoulder, Nemu's eyes going towards Takumi.

"What are you going to do now Nemu-san? Since the Hollows been slain."

"My mission was to check on Rukia Kuchiki-san and also defeat the Hollow. The second has been accomplished, the first has yet to be accomplished. Though, I couldn't help but notice that she hadn't been in her Shinigami form. Conclusion, she has lost some of her powers, or suffered a wound which forces her to be in a Gigai."

"...And what do you think is the truthful one?"

Nemu looked Takumi up and down.

Nemu blinked at Takumi, then at Rukia.

"Do you care for the one known as Rukia Kuchiki-san?"

"Of course I care about her."

"I meant in a romantic sense."

Takumi felt a pulse from his heart.

Feeling something for Rukia…?

Did he have feelings for Rukia?

He had never considered.

He had already accepted he had feelings for Orihime, but for Rukia as well…

"T-That's...I erm..."

"May I add, I owe you one more favour."

"You do…? Why's that?"

"Because, you took care of the Hollow I was sent to take down. Since you accomplished my mission for me, I have decided that I owe you this favour, so you may ask me to do one more thing for you. I am also staying behind for a few more days to confirm the Hollow has indeed disappeared."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, then bowed his head.

"Could you please keep Rukia-chan's condition a secret? Maybe, lie about it, and say that she's been busy with Hollows to contact the Soul Society, and as far as you could tell, it was her and she had her full powers."

"I shall fulfil your request."

Takumi breathed in and out with a renewed sense of happiness.

"Thanks Nemu-san, I knew you were a good girl inside!"

Nemu wasn't used to being praised like she was.

It usually was Mayuri calling her useless, or him pulling her along with him.

That's what her normal was.

But, this was different.

This was...something kinder, softer.

"May I ask, are you not concerned for your own well being?"

Takumi gained a slightly confused face.

"Why would I need to be worried?"

"Because you are Takumi Urahara from-"

Before Nemu could finish, Rukia shot up from the bed, Takumi gave Nemu a curious look who stared blankly back at him. But then he went to Rukia's side, placing a hand on her forehead, causing her cheeks to turn slightly red.

"W-What are you doing…?"

"I'm checking your health, and if you have a fever. We were outside in the rain so I was just making sure." Takumi gave her a cheery smile, Rukia in turn bit her lower lip, Takumi understanding what she wasn't saying by her actions. "I know you're hiding something from me. I've known for a while now." Rukia stiffened, only to see his smile towards her, with his tongue sticking out. "I'm not a complete dolt you know? I saw the way you reacted to my name when you first heard it, and how you've been having verbal banter with my Father along with the looks, and how the others like Hiyori-chan are with me, I've suspected it for sometime now."

Rukia looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Takumi, I...the thing is, I didn't intentionally...it's just..."

Before she could continue, Takumi petted her affectionately.

"But I can see that it's hard for you to talk to me about. When you're ready to tell me, I'll be ready to listen. Until then, we can go about our business with fighting Hollows like usual, as partners, okay?"

Rukia's lips curled upwards, and she began laughing.

"I'm sorry, I was so foolish. I thought I could take it by myself...I just didn't want to lose you, like I had lost Kaien."

"So, was Kaien-san your boyfriend?"

Rukia punches Takumi in the jaw, forcing him to the floor, while Nemu watched with no emotions, but her eyes did display slight surprise.

"N-No! He wasn't my boyfriend! He was married to someone else! He was the first person to actually speak to me normally after I was accepted into the Kuchiki family and helped me achieve Shikai, that's all!"

Takumi shrugged off the punch as if it was nothing, sitting back up.

"I-I see, and he died to a Hollow like that one. You were worried about him destroying my Zanpakuto, did it do that to Kaien-sans?"

Rukia hugged her knees.

"He did more than that to Kaien...he destroyed his Zanpakuto...and then...he...he..."

Takumi could see that it was hard for Rukia, so he gently embraced her, Rukia fell against him.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna push you to talk about anything you don't want. But remember, you can tell me when you're ready. I'll always be here to listen."

Stating it once more, that he'd always be there to listen, she believed him.

His words felt like velvet in her ears.

His warm embrace.

It was so comforting.

She was sinking into his warmth.

She hadn't ever felt quite this close to someone before...

But then it hit Rukia.

Her eyes went up to Takumi who smiled down towards her.

She could feel her cheeks turning redder by the second, his gentle fingers brushed against her skin, and made her feel quite good inside.

"_Oh no...what is happening? My heart rate has increased...his arms around me feel different...they feel….good, so warm...protective...kind...gentle...his smile towards me...I haven't felt quite like this before...he saved me...he got hurt just for me...he keeps doing reckless things for me...and he knows I'm keeping something from him, and still...he doesn't hate me. He doesn't want to force it out of me...he's waiting for me to tell him...Takumi Urahara...you truly are crazy...but, the truth is...maybe I'm beginning to like you more than I probably should...but I can't help it. I'm sorry Inoue...I truly am._"

Rukia felt something stirring inside of her.

She didn't want it to happen.

She already was aware of what Orihime felt for Takumi, and didn't want to come between that.

But she couldn't help it.

She was falling for Takumi.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**Wow, quite a bit happened this chapter! Rukia, Karin and Yuzu confronted things from their past, a Hollow that looks very close to the one that had killed Kaien came to terrorize Rukia, which we'll get more information about later on in the story, who fought it off the best she could, and showcasing that her powers are returning, and by the end, she realized that she's beginning to have feelings for Takumi. Karin awoke her Shinigami powers, and together with Yuzu beat back Grand Fisher long enough for Giselle to come in and beat him down till he couldn't do anything, allowing the twins to avenge their Mother. Takumi also learned the secret of Isshin and Masaki, but has promised to keep it a secret, Nemu also is sticking around for a little while, and hinted at things to come, the same with Rukia. Takumi also awakened his Shikai! Kinhime also known as Golden Princess, I thought that was fitting since his Father's is called Benihime. But that doesn't mean the lightnings only going to be gold, people have asked about different coloured lightnings, and I can't spoil it, but somethings will happen that showcases different colours.**

**Also, thanks to everyone that voted, it seemed pretty unanimous to me, so yeah, female Toshiro is a thing, the banter between her, and Rangiku is going to be quite fun to write.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	9. The spirits are always with you!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Yeah, Karin's a Shinigami now! She did yeah, Giselle was just too strong for Grand Fisher. You never know with Giselle, she might do that with Liltotto. Nemu's quite fun to write for, and she's going to be discovering more about herself, as with Takumi and the others, she's free to explore more about herself. I could see that happening, Nemu would state it in a way which is the most direct. She wouldn't go into great detail, she'd merely say 'Yes, she's in a healthy condition' and things like that. That would be quite funny with Shunsui, and Kenpachi. Yeah, we'll be getting them pretty soon, and yeah, she'd be sat between two busty women~**

**Striker Studios; It surely is yeah! Is it? I don't know much about Toriko, so maybe. Candice, yeah she very well might be pissed off about it when she finds out about it. He is yeah, he's quite skilled in Kido, he's got decent sword skills, his speed is probably the best thing about him, and his hand to hand is alright, not on the level of Soi Fon or anything but he's always improving. Karin is going to take down at least one member of the Espada on her own, and Yuzu and Giselle also will be taking down a member, but I wont spoil which ones yet. That's a cool idea~ He does yeah. He's going to have a few rivals in the series, one being Mayuri as they're quite similar with their intelligence, but take different paths in life, Aizen and Takumi will also have something going on that's gonna be quite deep (can't spoil why though right now), Kenpachi would fit the bill, he's opposite to Takumi in many ways, Takumi's a thinker, Kenpachi's a doer, seeing their dynamic is gonna be fun.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! He did yeah! Yup, Takumi and Rukia are going to have a combination attack with their swords, Orihime and Takumi are also going to be doing a combination or two in the future. She did yeah, it's a very Rukia thing to do to take it on herself to not endanger others. She can yeah~ Karin and Yuzu pushed themselves far. Giselle can see that it would mean a lot to them, so she let them take it.**

**Andrew123456; She'll be apart of it for a little while, as for Arturo, I wont spoil it, but he might be making an appearance in this story.**

**Oblivious IJ; She will be yeah, for some fun jokes too~ Kinhime yeah~ Thanks very much! They are pretty cool huh~?**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! The first one mostly. Yeah, that's what's gonna be a fun gag in the future between Takumi and Candice. We did yeah~ Nemu is quite fun yeah~ Karin and Yuzu stepped up, and took Grand Fisher off guard a few times, with Giselle mostly finishing him off. She is yeah. Well you never know, it could have been~ Rukia and Takumi's relationship is growing yeah~ He does yeah, he's not an idiot, he notices signs of what's been going on. Yeah, it could be like that. Maybe she could apply it to her body in Bankai or something like that. He could have been, we'll be finding out more in the future. Those are cool names~ Yeah, they probably would be~ Maybe he would have been yeah~**

**Guest 1; Thanks! Glad that you like it! There will be for different things~ He has yeah. He's gonna have Nel/Tier for Arrancar, just needs a Fullbringer now~ Thanks for the suggestions, and no it wouldn't be~**

**Guest 2; Thanks very much! Yeah, Rukia's acknowledged that she has growing feelings for Takumi, and Takumi's also beginning to realize that he has something for her, while also feeling strongly for Orihime. That would be a cool name for his Bankai, I had been looking for a name, and that sounds awesome~ Nemu's always fun~ Sure, that could be quite interesting, bringing Shinigami and Quincy together. He did yeah~**

**Guest 3; Thanks for letting me know, sounds cool!**

**Guest 4; Sure, I don't see why not. I've always liked the green coloured light sabers. That would be a fun idea, thanks for the suggestions!**

**Skull Flame; She is yeah, Kinhime's his Zanpakuto. She is yeah, Rukia's beginning to have feelings for Takumi. Similar, while they both control, Orihime's Hollow only controlled, this Hollow could imbue its powers into other Hollows to make them carbon copies of himself. Yup, Grand Fisher's been destroyed now thanks to the combined efforts of the twins and Giselle. Giselle is yeah~ Who knows, Hiyori might call her that. She is yeah, their banters going to be fun~**

**Guest 5; He'll be making her something yeah~**

**Guest 6; Percy Jackson could be fun. Yeah, I don't see why he couldn't be born like that. That would be nice, either would be cool. Sounds good to me!**

**Guest 7; Re Zero, I haven't gotten round to watching yet, I've seen some clips, and I find it fascinating. I'll have to get back to you when I find time to watch it.**

**Guest 8; She will have a small bust yeah. That would be what fem Toshiro would do. That would be quite funny~ I can't reveal it yet, but Rukia and Takumi are going to have quite an emotional scene around that time.**

**A fan; That, who knows what it was. It wasn't really explained well. I can't spoil it, but Takumi's gonna have a cool form when he confronts Aizen that I've already began setting up in these early chapters.**

**Guest 9; Sure, I could see that happening. That would be quite the fun journey, and I like the idea of the weapon~ Elena and him having a dynamic between them would be quite interesting to explore, the Turks have quite a bit of potential for story beyond what was shown, which is why I like the Wutai side quest as we learn more about them, and Yuffie. That would be nice!**

**Guest 10; They'd definitely be opposites yeah~ Half Angel and Dragon vs Half Devil and Dragon~**

**Guest 11; I don't know quite yet. That would be interesting dynamic, an half Angel being the apprentice/lover of a half Devil.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The spirits are always with you!**

It was a typical day for Candice Catnipp. She had been listening to Bambietta go on and on about how she was going to kill the Shinigami, and right now, she just needed to have a break. She needed to relax, so she switched on the television, and flipped through different channels.

But then as she was, she came across a peculiar looking man wearing predominately red, his mustache she found slightly odd, and she didn't care for his fashion sense either. She saw the shows name come up, Spirit Hunter, she rolled her eyes at it.

"_Great, it's going to be one of those stupid shows that try and make believe they can see spirits when they can't see anything at all. And even if they can, it's only just trying to make believe crap that doesn't even matter._"

Candice was going to flip off the television show, when it began.

[The spirits are always with you! Bwahahahahahaha!]

She heard the laughter from the strange looking man, which surprisingly intrigued her more than she thought.

She held off switching the television over, and watched with slight interest.

As it went on however, she was drawn more and more into it.

She found it quite interesting.

She began liking the main character.

Don Kanonji.

She found him fascinating.

The way he laughed, and how he was also doing weird poses, it reminded her of a weird superhero show, something that she found to be fascinating.

"Ooh my God Don Kanonji, you are awesome!"

Candice cheered out, as Meninas came into the room.

"What are you watching Candy-chan?"

Candice glanced up at the woman, before turning back to the screen.

"It smells like evil spirits! Bwhahahaha!"

Meninas gave her a worried look, sitting down close by.

"Did you call me an evil spirit?"

"No, but this guy, is amazing. His show is entertaining. Oh my God, he might be tacky, but I'm so into his vibe. He's amazing..."

Meninas gave Candice a worried look.

She hoped that Candice wasn't going through something weird.

* * *

Several days later Takumi, Rukia, followed by Nemu (who had chosen to be in a Gigai) walked into the school. Nemu watched as Rukia moved herself subconsciously towards Takumi, standing beside him, and looked towards him briefly, before turning her eyes back to the front.

Nemu wrote down in a pad she had [Shinigami female is attempting first contact.] while observing them doing what they were doing.

However, when they got to class, Orihime appeared, with her hands to her chest, in a cross pattern, and she began laughing.

"Bwahahahahahaha!"

Takumi smiled at the young woman, while Rukia and Nemu seemed confused.

"So, Don Kanonji is it? The sp-spirit guy..."

Takumi chuckled out unevenly with his brow creasing a little bit, Orihime raised her finger to the air, winking with her left eye.

"Taku-chan, the spirits are always with you! And that's kind of true now that we can see them~"

Takumi continued to chuckle unevenly, as Rukia crossed her arms like Orihime.

"Bwahahahahaha!"

"You as well Rukia-chan?!"

Rukia gave a sly smile to Takumi.

"It looked like fun."

"Well, it's not." Karin appeared beside Rukia, who jumped as a response. "Yuzu's been doing it all day."

Yuzu shot out next to Takumi, and did what Orihime did.

"Bwahahahaha! Takumi-kun, join in!"

Takumi didn't know if he should or not.

He didn't like the idea of doing it.

"Eeh, maybe later..."

"Executing." Nemu's hands went across her chest, everyone's eyes went towards her seriously. "Bwahaha." She said blandly, before lowering her arms. "Completed."

Takumi and the others sweat dropped.

But then Giselle casually walked into the room with Zombie Chizuru following after her.

"Bwahahaha, that's quite the laugh I've been hearing all day."

Giselle giggled out, as Rukia felt hands cupping her chest.

Fearfully, she turned to see Zombie Chizuru snarling as she rested her head on her shoulder.

"Zombie Chizuru, and Rukia can bwahaha, within the bedroom all night loooooooooooong...and then we can have a sexy bath togetheeeeeeeeeer..."

Fear built within Rukia, as Zombie Chizuru rubbed her front on Rukia's back, making her cringe. What broke Rukia's stability was how Zombie Chizuru tried to lick her face, causing Rukia to convulse heavily from the red headed Zombie.

"Ooh God no! Takumi! Help me! She's coming onto me again!"

Rukia screamed, pushing Chizuru off of her, and shot around Takumi's body.

Zombie Chizuru snarled once more, but then her eyes went to Nemu.

"New presence..." Her eyes went to Nemu's chest. "Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig..."

Her hands reached out for Nemu's chest. Takumi went to stop her, when Nemu took Zombie Chizuru's hands and placed them beside her.

"No. what you are attempting to do is considered bad by standard law. I suggest you desist immediately, Baldy."

Takumi really wished Nemu hadn't of picked that up from Hiyori, and when he tried to explain it wasn't really a way to interact with people, she didn't listen to him though and did whatever she wanted, which made sense to him.

However, Takumi had something he wanted to know.

"Why are you all bwahahahaing anyway? I didn't expect you to be that much into Spirit Hunter or whatever it's called."

Orihime pulled out her phone, and held up what seemed to be a newspaper clip from the internet.

"Check it out Taku-chan, he's coming here tonight."

Takumi overlooked the article, and saw that in fact was true, that Don Kanonji was coming to Karakura town that night. For some reason, he thought that this was going to be headache inducing. He didn't want to have to deal with that.

"Tonight, sounds….fun."

"We should go together Taku-chan!"

Orihime cheered, Rukia leaned in, seemingly interested.

"It does seem interesting. Lets go together Takumi."

Orihime's face didn't change, but her eyes slanted slightly.

"O-Oh, you want to come Kuchiki-chan?"

"Is that fine?"

Rukia's face became lifted up ever so slightly, while Orihime smiled sweetly, with an edge to her.

"O-Of course, it would be great!"

"We'll be going with the family, so don't count us in your plans."

Karin said it with a depressed face, Yuzu's hands waved up and down.

"Don't act like that Karin! It will be great! Don Kanonji is awesome!"

Karin wore a sly smile.

"I'm not so sure about that Yuzu."

"But he is! He is a real spirit detective!"

"We're real spirit detectives, technically." Karin countered, looking between them all, besides Zombie Chizuru. "We hunt those Hollows, so we could be classed more as spirit detectives, than anyone else could be."

Yuzu posed as her finger placed itself onto her chin.

"I suppose you're right...hey, maybe we could have Don Kanonji-"

"Don't finish it Yuzu. He's not joining our group."

Yuzu pouted while Giselle swayed side to side.

"I'll go with you guys! I wanna check out this spirit guy!" Her eyes went to Chizuru. "You're not going with us."

"Zombie Chizuru wishes to gooooooooooooooooooooooo..."

"Go with someone else Zombie Chizuru. I wont have you ruining this for me."

Zombie Chizuru looked complex…

But then she saw Tatsuki.

She walked over to Tatsuki, and hugged her tightly.

"Ugh, go away Zombie Chizuru..."

Tatsuki tried pushing the Zombie away from her, but she wouldn't move. It seemed that Zombie Chizuru was increasing in power, and that scared Tatsuki more than anything, he didn't want to have to deal with the weirdo Zombie.

"No...lets go out...on a date..."

Tatsuki felt like crying at that.

Going on a date with Zombie Chizuru, that frightened her more than anything in that world.

"No, I wont go out with you on a date."

"Zombie Chizuru insists."

"If Zombie Chizuru doesn't get lost, she's going to be on the receiving end of a punch."

Zombie Chizuru lets out a menacing breath that made Tatsuki feel chills down her spine.

"A-Anyway Taku-chan, we can go out together! W-With Kuchiki-chan of course."

She added at the end a little bit uneasily.

Rukia glanced at Orihime, before going to her seat.

Orihime went to her own seat, with Takumi going to his own.

Somehow, either he didn't recognize it before, or the seating arrangement had changed, but he was caught between Rukia, and Orihime sat on both sides of him. Rukia was left, and Orihime was right, and they both smiled towards him.

Nemu stood behind Takumi, within her Gigai, and looked between the two females, before taking out her notepad.

[The Shinigami female Rukia Kuchiki-san, and the human female Orihime Inoue-san, seem to be in direct competition for the affections of Takumi Urahara-sama. Also they seem to be aware of the others romantic intentions with the aforementioned Takumi Urahara-sama. Takumi-sama also seems to be unsure of his own growing emotions for Rukia Kuchiki-san, while his feelings for Orihime Inoue-san seem to be infatuation, perhaps even more romantic intentions, and wishes to move into the territory known as dating. Continuing observation.]

Nemu finished writing, observing Rukia casually hand over a drink that she had just drunk from.

"Want some?"

Takumi didn't even think about what it could mean, and grinned.

"Thanks Rukia-chan!"

As Takumi went to take it, Orihime raised her voice.

"A-Are you sure you want to though?"

"What's the big deal?"

"It's just...erm..." Orihime paused, trying to find the words. "It's an indirect kiss!" Orihime breathed out hard. "I-I mean, a-are you okay with that Kuchiki-chan…? Having Taku-chan drink from your drink after you've drunk from it."

"Try saying that five times as fast~"

Takumi joked, earning a "Haha." from Giselle though she didn't seem pleased with how Orihime and Rukia were fighting over Takumi, when she wanted to get in on the action.

"Oh...is that so…? But even then, it doesn't matter, it isn't like I had kissed Takumi on the lips. Right?"

"E-Even then..."

Orihime wasn't so sure, while Nemu watched on with curious eyes on their forms.

Nemu eyes went to Chizuru when she felt a chill down her spine. Zombie Chizuru lustfully licked her lips at her and mumbling something that sounded like "Love you.", causing Nemu to write in her pad once more.

[Additional, there seems to be a girl of the same sex attraction within this school and has developed an attraction to me, but I had denied her as I do not wish to explore that with her, but I wish her happiness with the female that decides to return her affections, perhaps it is Tatsuki Arisawa-san, from what I have observed. But what intrigues me most is that people refer to her as 'Zombie' when her name is Chizuru Honsho. Conclusion is that she is either deceased, and is in fact a Zombie, or she has an underlying mental condition that hasn't been diagnosed for why is she acting this irrational, and wants to be called a Zombie, as in Zombie Chizuru. Continuing observation.]

Nemu finished writing in her pad, while watching the interactions between Rukia and Orihime, not caring that she was in fact standing behind Takumi, with people behind her unable to see what was actually going on.

The Sensei then came in, and saw Nemu just stood there behind Takumi, unmoving.

"Erm...hello there? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for Takumi-sama to finish class."

She stated matter of factly.

The Sensei chuckled awkwardly.

"Y-Yes, but he's in class right now so maybe you should..."

"I insist I should stay."

The Sensei cringed with how robotic Nemu sounded, and how insistent she truly was about staying there.

"Oh but..."

"I am doing a study on Takumi-sama and his friends. I need to collect all available data, and according to my research, it shall happen during unsuspecting moments, so I need to be around as much as possible. I shall continue observation, thank you Sensei."

The Sensei didn't know what to say and looked troubled by what was going on, while Rukia murmured "What is she studying?" while Takumi had a fairly decent idea on what she was studying, and he just decided to make it easy so he had Rukia use her Kido into making the Sensei fine with her being there.

* * *

While break was going on, for lunch, Giselle approached Takumi while the others were casually chatting to one another.

"Hey, Takumi-kun. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what's that?"

He inquired from the young girl, who put her hands behind her back.

"It's about Yuzu, and awakening her Quincy power. I've thought about how to do it, and since she's not a pure blooded Quincy like me, and it's buried within her, I thought that the best course of action would be to introduce Quincy spiritual energy into her body which should unlock her power. What do you think Takumi-kun?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Sounds great to me. Do you know how you're going to do that?"

"Erm….eeeh...well, I could shoot her with an arrow..."

"You're not shooting her."

Giselle stuck out her tongue cheekily.

"I wouldn't dream of doing such harsh things. I thought that it would be an idea. But there are other ways for them to awaken the Quincy power."

"I see...erm, well, you could surround her with Quincy spiritual energy which rebounds into her, which might unlock her powers. It would be a safe and easy method to do. Since you're a Quincy, I could make a barrier with my Kido, and then you'd just fill the barrier with your Quincy energy, and it would surround her, and go into her without her being in danger of being killed or anything like that."

Giselle raised her hands to the sky.

"Awesome! That would be cool! But there was one more thing I wanted to ask."

Takumi cocked his head.

"What's that?"

"Could you make it so my arrows fire off cleansing energy to Hollows instead of destructive ones? I mean like, how your Zanpakuto does it, purifying Hollows and what not. You could do it, right? Since you're so smart."

Takumi coyly placed with the buttons on his shirt.

"Well, I suppose that it might be possible...but, why would you want me to do that…?"

"Because, I want to save people too. And I'm sure Yuzu-chan would want the same. I'm not asking you turn our weapons into Zanpakuto's or anything, but it should be possible, shouldn't it?"

Takumi placed a finger to his chin as Nemu, who had been listening, walked over.

"Takumi-sama, are you intending to invent something's?"

"Well, perhaps, yeah."

"Then I shall assist you."

Takumi didn't seem to have a problem with it, so he inclined his neck.

"Sure, that sounds good to me!"

Takumi beamed out, Nemu cocked her neck curiously, while Giselle seemed to be fine with what was going on.

* * *

"Ravage! Kinhime!"

Takumi activated his Shikai once more, within the training ground, and showed it off to Karin who leaned in expectingly. She looked at the zigzagging blade of lightning, putting her hands together and spoke "Cool!" as Takumi waved the sword towards the left, sending off a bolt of electricity, which crashed with the side of a bolder, shocking it apart all together, Karin was impressed to say the least.

"Damn it, I go and get my Zanpakuto, and you've gotten a new one!"

Takumi chortled.

"It isn't a new one, I just released it, that's all."

"Still, that's pretty cool, a lightning sword. I also want to release my own Zanpakuto, make it happen Takumi."

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"I can't exactly do that, you have to converse with your own Zanpakuto and do it the old fashioned way. That's what I did. I asked and I received, maybe yours will be more open to speaking with you in the future. How about it?"

Karin furrowed her eyebrows, staring at her larger sword.

"At least my swords long."

"Compensating for something?"

Takumi grinned, Karin's eyes narrowed, and swung her sword for Takumi who parried it with his own, and then swung it downwards to try and get him, but he managed to parry the blade to the left, and cut the distance between them, placing a hand on Karin's hand that held onto her blade, her eyes narrowing at the young blonde.

"That only works on men you idiot! Or, are you saying I'm a man?!"

Karin bellowed out with her annoyance growing even more by the second.

Takumi retreated back slightly, seeing her grip on her sword tightening.

"No, of course not~ I was having a joke~" Takumi sang out, waving his hand side to side. "I'm just saying that your sword is indeed big. It's probably from your unruly spiritual energy, that's all Karin-chan. No need to get hyper about it."

"Even if it is big, I can still wield it easily enough. It doesn't feel heavy at all."

"Yeah, that's good~"

"Anyway, are you going to that bwahaha guy tonight?"

Takumi scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm kinda being forced to go with Orihime-chan and Rukia-chan. It seems that they wish to see it, and asked me. It isn't really my scene."

"Yeah, mine neither. Though it seems that Yuzu and Dad are going so I'll probably be going with them. With luck, maybe a Hollow will show up and save me from having to listen to that grating voice that guy has."

Takumi chuckled lightly.

"You really don't like him all that much, do you?"

"Don Kanonji, no I really don't. Urgggh! He really does my head in! I can't stand the idiot! If I could, I would turn my Zanpakuto on the idiot! I doubt that he even has the power to see spirits!"

"I dunno about that."

Karin paused her movements, while Takumi shrugged.

"What are you saying? He has spiritual power?"

"I don't know. I haven't met him. But if he does, I doubt it would be on our level. He might be able to see spirits, it isn't limited to us, there's many people on this planet that can see spirits and what not. Rarely though, does it go beyond that. It takes a special type of person to have that kind of power to actually fight a Hollow, normally speaking, and it is even less rare to develop powers. Though there have been instances where a human has developed powers."

"Like the Quincy's that Giselle is, right?"

"Yes, like her. But there are other beings in this world that can develop powers."

Karin seemed quite interested.

"As in just normal humans?"

"Something like that. Sometimes they can gain powers from Shinigami, or even Hollows from what I've seen before."

Karin keenly listened to what Takumi had said, before raising her blade.

"If I have to go towards this thing tonight, clash swords with me!"

"Sure, I don't mind."

Takumi took out his sword, and swung it around, allowing a trail of lightning to circulate the air. Then Takumi aimed his sword downwards, and unleashed a bolt of lightning, causing Karin to jump back, and saw that it had left a large crack within the ground itself.

Karin grimaced, looking to Takumi's area he was in…

But he had already disappeared.

Her eyes darted left, and right, but she couldn't find him…

Then she felt a tap on her shoulder, so she instinctively swung her sword in that direction, seeing Takumi's body sailing into the air, his foot touching her blade for a brief second, before leaping over her body, getting behind her, and aimed his sword towards her body.

"Burst Kinhime."

Karin let out a "Shit!" before turning to see the lightning bolt. She tried to avoid the attack, but since it was literally travelling at the speed of lightning, she couldn't, and she was struck in the chest with the lightning blast, blowing her off her feet, and away from his body.

He didn't put out a strong burst, he didn't want to hurt Karin.

It was also training for him so he could measure the output of the attack that he wanted to release, and didn't want to burn through the power of the lightning too quickly on attacks that weren't necessarily going to hit, or attacks that could hit but not kill.

"D-Damn it!"

Karin snapped, with sparks going off around her body.

"Don't fret, you just became a Shinigami, it takes time. I'm still in the process of learning myself, don't worry about it."

Karin didn't seem satisfied with that though.

She got up from the ground.

She then pointed her Zanpakuto at Takumi once more.

"I'll fight you once more!"

Karin dashed forward at quite a good speed, Takumi however flashed beside her within a few seconds, surprising the young woman, and swung his sword for her body, but she parried with her own blade, knocking her sword up into the air, allowing Takumi to place his hand towards her body.

"Hado 1: Sho!"

Takumi unleashed a small blast from his hand, digging into Karin's body, and forced her backwards. Her feet skidded across the ground, but she dug her sword into the ground, stopping her progression, only to see a bolt of lightning flashing towards her body, her eyes widening at the sight, she decided to leave her Zanpakuto in the ground, and leap into the air, the sword of Karin's taking the hit for her instead.

"Here I come!"

Karin pushed the air as she shot for Takumi.

Takumi span his sword around, and orbs of lightning began to form around him.

Karin looked surprised as he shot off the orbs of lightning, each heading right for Karin who was airborne.

"S-Shit! I can't get out of the way!"

Takumi chuckled, and swung out his blade, dispelling the orbs of electricity, so she didn't get effected by them.

"No worries, Karin-chan."

Karin landed on the ground.

"How do you do that fast movement thing? I can do that too, right?"

"You mean Flash Step?" Karin nodded strongly. "I can teach you Flash Step. It does help when trying to fight opponents, to move faster. It's pretty handy."

"Good, because I want to be able to do that too."

Takumi gave a smile.

"I'll teach you how to do that then~ Now, lets continue."

Karin smirked.

"Right! Lets do this!"

Karin charged for Takumi who did the same, clashing blades against one another's...

* * *

Later on that night, Takumi wearing casual jeans along with a short sleeved shirt with 'Love and Death' written on the front of his shirt, something that Orihime had picked out for him, was overlooking the hospital that the man himself, Don Kanonji was going to be coming in rather soon.

He saw many people that were gathering around the area, both old and young and kept going "Bwahahahaha!" again and again. He saw Karin with Yuzu and their Father, also doing the same laughter that the others were doing.

He himself stood with Nemu and Giselle.

He didn't know where Rukia, and Orihime where, they said they'd meet them there.

"This is going to be exciting, isn't it Takumi-kun~?"

Giselle grinned out, playing with her long hair antenna.

"I suppose it could be fun. Though I'm not a fan of Don Kanonji himself, he kinda gets on my nerves."

"This Don Kanonji, I have researched his information, and have deduced that he runs a television program, if he can see spirits is uncertain. The levels of enjoyment from this activity, uncertain. The chances for studying behaviour between male and female optimal."

Takumi gave Nemu a strange look.

It seemed that she was determined.

Takumi then spotted Tatsuki walking in with Zombie Chizuru.

He gave them an odd look, while Tatsuki grimaced as Zombie Chizuru held her hand.

"Zombie Chizuru is excited Tatsuki. Though you do not have the same sized cheeeeeeeest...you are as good as Hime, and better than that man, Takumi Uraharaaaaaa..."

Tatsuki felt like weeping at that moment.

"G-Great, can you leave me alone now…?"

"Nooooooooooooooo..."

She growled out like a wild tiger.

Tatsuki frowned, and pushed away from Zombie Chizuru, storming into the area, bypassing Takumi and the others without sharing a glance with them at all, Zombie Chizuru followed after her with a wild expression on her face.

"You need to reverse Zombie Chizuru."

"I dunno how."

Giselle replied to Takumi who wore a complex expression on his face.

As they waited, more and more people came in, while Giselle looked at the rundown large building before them with some broken windows.

"So, what is this place anyway?"

"It's an abandoned hospital, it's been abandoned for years now, they probably want to believe that ghosts might be here. Makes sense due to it being a hospital. There might even be a Jibakurei spirit being here."

Giselle adopted a cute expression on her face.

"Jibakurei huh. I suppose that an earth bound spirit could be here. Though usually they wouldn't bother showing themselves unless their area is disturbed." Giselle began while swaying, but stopped when she saw Rukia and Orihime walking closer. "Ooh they've arrived! Great."

She seemed happy at first, but then she lowered her expressions and looked sad.

Orihime wore a cute blouse with a flowery design on the left side, the colour being a shade of pink and a contrasting yellow skirt that flowed down to her knees, showing enough leg to entice Takumi, while Rukia wore a relatively normal looking dress that was white in design with blue flowers dotted around the dress itself, it being slightly risqué in design, but still quite modest.

"We're here! Taku-chan!"

"Yea-Yeah, sorry for being late."

Orihime jumped forward, and clung to Takumi, while Rukia walked closer.

"Hey girls, you're looking lovely tonight."

Orihime blushed up a storm while Rukia's face gained some redness to her cheeks.

Takumi went to speak when he noticed something…

He saw Bambietta, Candice, Meninas, and Liltotto all walking towards the meeting area that the others were at.

His face drained of colour, while Bambietta's face grew into a scowl.

"Why are we even here Candice?"

"I like Spirit Hunter, alright?! It's weird, and yet it is awesome! Don't mess with me now! I want to enjoy tonight! So help me if you mess with me then I'll electrocute you all!"

"Tch, don't snap at me."

Bambietta growled, only for Meninas to look on with apathy.

"Even then, it should be fine. We can have fun and forget the Shinigami."

"Forgetting, can you do that Bambi-chan?"

Bambietta wore a confident face answering Liltotto while turning towards her… But then saw Takumi with his group while she was turning to Liltotto, and her eyes slitted.

"Ooh come on! Not you again!"

Takumi released a small sigh.

"It seems that our evening might not be so fun after all if they cause trouble."

Besides Liltotto, he was sure that the others might try something.

Bambietta stormed over to Takumi while the others kept trying to pull her back to no avail.

"Oi Shinigami! What do you want now?! Come to ruin this for us too?!"

Bambietta screeched at Takumi who scowled right for the young woman.

"Contrary to what you believe, I don't have anything against you. In fact, I thought you came here to attack us or something of that nature."

"Hmph, I have better things to do than follow you around. Come on ladies, lets watch Spirit Hunter."

Bambietta turned with the other girls, besides Giselle, and walked away. Liltotto seemed to be conflicted about it, but she followed after Bambietta regardless, leaving the others to not be sure what was going on with her.

"Well, if she's not going to do anything, I don't see why we still can't enjoy our night watching whatever Spirit Hunter is."

Takumi gave Rukia a strange look.

"You don't even know what this is, do you?"

Rukia held a smile on her face, but despite that, she seemed to be unsure.

"I thought that it was about a person that laughs oddly, and does wacky adventures. Was I wrong?"

Takumi wasn't sure if he should praise her for that accurate description of the show, or that it should be weird that they were going to see something like that.

"W-Well...not really, I guess. He's a supposed medium and can see spirits. Who knows if he really can."

"Even if he can, I doubt he'd have the spiritual power that we have with us here."

Rukia explained, as bright lights began to flash around the area, Orihime's face lifted up.

"Ooh, it's starting Taku-chan!"

Orihime wrapped her arms around his arm, and pulled him along.

* * *

The others followed them into the crowds, and saw a helicopter in the sky, with bright lights flashing into the sky, the man in the sky itself was man dressed with a cape flowing behind him.

Karin and Takumi just looked tired when seeing this man, Nemu seemed passive about it, while everyone else was laughing along. A small man that was slightly overweight raised a mic to the sky, dramatically bringing it to his lips.

"Good evening everyone! This weeks Spirit Hunter is brought to you in an abandoned hospital of Karakura town! Where the tortures screams of the dead can be heard echoing through the halls! Who knows what horrifying sights we'll witness this evening! Now folks, lets give him a warm welcome! Everyone's favourite spiritual medium, and messenger from hell! Don Kanonjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

The crowd went insane and cheered very loudly, while Nemu blinked at how he was a messenger from hell, wondering if that was serious or not, and if she should step into the fray and put a stop to him immediately.

The man from the helicopter jumps out, with his cape flashing around and his flamboyant attitude being on high, waving his hands towards the crowd, as he announces a catchphrase of his, a catchphrase that causes Takumi to feel dead inside.

"The spirits are always with you! Bwahahahahahaha!"

[Bwhahahahahahaha!]

The crowd mimic his attitude and cross their arms over their chests while laughing like that, Takumi and Karin both sigh at the sight, they weren't really having the best time, though it seemed like Bambietta and the others are getting into it from what Takumi could see.

"Holy shit! Love you Don Kanonji!"

Candice surprisingly cries out, igniting worry within Bambietta.

A parachute opens up from behind him, allowing him to land on the ground dramatically. Takung out his staff that he had, he swings it around while Candice waves her arms up and down like a hyperactive fan, drawing in the attention of Karin who murmurs "Great, she's nuts." while Takumi sighs deeply.

"And how is everyone tonight!? Are you ready to hear the spirits cries~!? Hold onto your seats my babies for this wild ride! The stench of the spirit world hangs around us! I have to say that..."

[It smells like bad spirits!]

The crowd cheered around Takumi who looked surprised.

Candice though raised her hand to the sky.

"Preach it my Don Kanonji!"

"There's something wrong with this bitch."

Liltotto murmurs to herself, and looks quite sad about what was happening with this.

"Bwahahahahaha!"

[Bwahahahahahaha!]

If Takumi didn't hear that laughing again, then it would be too soon, and then they cut to commercial, and began moving towards a different part of the hospital grounds, the others began walking that way.

Rukia glances up at Takumi's face, giving him a questioning look.

"You don't seem to be having fun."

"This isn't my scene. I don't like how he's exploiting the afterlife for his own fame and fortune. It just seems a bit, tacky to me."

Rukia weighed up her hands.

"It probably is tacky, but as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, then I don't think it's that bad."

"His laugh is grating though."

Giselle commented, leaning her head on Takumi's shoulder.

"Either way, it isn't like that he'll bother us I suppose. We were talking about Jibakurei before you two came."

Rukia placed a finger to her chin.

"It's possible that a Jibakurei might show itself with all of these people here. They are tied to places they held regret, and it is possible that in a place like this that one could show up. But even if one does, it probably wont be a bother to us."

"Even then, we should be on our guard."

Takumi assured them, following the others to see Don Kanonji once more. As they waited for the show to continue, a dark howling erupted into the night, Karin's and Yuzu's eyes widening at the sound, looking around.

"Was that a Hollow…?"

"I don't know Karin. But we're all here. If one does show up, maybe we could ask Don Kanonji for help?"

Karin sweat dropped "Yeah that's not going to happen." while Orihime turned to Takumi with worry.

"Taku-chan that noise..."

"Did you hear it Orihime-chan?"

The reason he asked was because she wasn't wearing any of the equipment he made. It seemed that her spiritual power was increasing to the point that she didn't need any equipment anymore.

"Yes, that howling sound, it sounded like a Hollow..."

"Close." Giselle brought up. "It's a Jibakurei, or more easily put, on the way to becoming a Hollow. A Demi Hollow if you will."

"Demi Hollow?"

Orihime seemed confused, so Rukia broke out her drawings and they looked like awful rabbits, while the spirit himself, with chains wrapped around his body, one attached to his chest which had opened up a hole could be seen.

Without even Takumi saying anything, Rukia threw the pad at him, which he ducked, and bounced off Nemu's arm. Rukia cupped her mouth with worry, but Nemu just blinked, she didn't even seem to be effected by it.

Rukia exhaled, and continued.

"There's a few paths that a soul can take to become a Hollow. One such way is a Jikaburei that has strong attachments to a place, regrets within their life, unable for them to move on. They're bound to the place that they have the deep regrets, such as this one, and it is difficult for us to locate them. But it takes months, if not years for them to fully transform into Hollows. Hence Demi Hollow. A spirit, on the way to becoming a Hollow. Their screams can be heard bleeding into the night. And as you can see, the hole isn't opened all the way. I say we've got about six months before he becomes a Hollow."

"Providing someone doesn't mess with the hole."

Takumi added, Rukia swayed her hand through her hair.

"What are the odds of that happening anyway?"

"You just had to say it."

Rukia gave an accusing stare to Takumi.

"What?"

"When someone says that, it means it is going to come true. Most of the time it happens. Like a curse or something."

"Hmmm, I hadn't expected someone as intelligent as you to believe in silly superstitions."

"I'm not." He countered. "But it feels like this is a jinx. Knowing our freaking luck, it's going to happen."

Orihime's face curled upwards.

"Don't worry Taku-chan, we're all together, nothing bad is going to happen!" The lights from the stage lit up once more. "Ooh, it's starting again!"

Takumi chuckled "Great." and watched with the others.

Nemu's eyes glanced at Rukia who seemed to be paying more attention to how Orihime clung to Takumi than the show itself, Nemu began jotting down a few notes to herself.

"Lets see this bad spirit everyone! Bwahahahahaha!"

[Bwahahahahahaha!]

Everyone, even Karin, and Takumi, who were forced to do it, began laughing like Don Kanonji did. Candice seemed to be in love, laughing the loudest and the happiest, it was surprising for a girl like her to be so invested in something like this.

* * *

Then Don Kanonji leaned closer to the spirit, rubbing his chin in seemingly deep thought, while the angered spirit leans closer to Don Kanonji.

"Huh!? You got something to say? Why are you looking at me?! This is my hospital, get out! What's with the crazy freaking hat anyway?!"

"Seems like he's not on the verge of becoming a Hollow anytime soon."

Takumi commented, Rukia nodding strongly.

"Exactly, as long as nothing happens, we can come back later and perform konso on him."

As they were speaking, Don Kanonji spun his staff around, ramming it right into the hole of the Demi Hollows chest.

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The Demi Hollow released a screeching sound out of his mouth, while Don Kanonji stirred the hole, peeling more and more of it open, the other spiritually aware people all grimaced, besides Candice and Bambietta.

"What is that fool doing?!"

Rukia yelled, Takumi gave her a smirk.

"Told you so."

"Grrr, damn it, we need to stop him."

Takumi nodded, and went to move forward, when a hand laid itself on his shoulder.

"Bambietta-san, I don't have time for..." He turned to see that it was in fact Candice and not Bambietta that had dragged him backwards. "C-Candice-san, what are you doing?"

"I wont let you interfere with him! He is a beautiful human with a pure soul doing his best Shinigami trash!"

Takumi and the others sweat dropped.

"Pure soul...really?"

Candice's eyes snapped hard on him.

"Shut up! You don't understand his beauty! His soul is lovely! And I wont allow you to do anything to him!"

"Sorry!" Takumi brushed her hand off him, and aimed his finger at Don Kanonji. "A low level Kido spell should do the trick." Candice's eyes flared, while Bambietta smirked, seeing this as a chance. "Hado 1: Sh-"

"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Bambietta punched him in the back, setting off a giant explosion against his, he spat out blood, and was shot into the air, firing off towards the building. Orihime gasped, noticing that some kind of paper had been stamped onto his back.

"Takumi!"

Rukia cried out, while Nemu's eyes snapped upon Bambietta who growled, and swung a fist for her, so she quickly retreated out of her Gigai, flipping backwards, and nailed Bambietta in the chin, forcing her body backwards, but as she was getting flung backwards, Bambietta pointed her hands at Nemu.

"Explode bitch!"

Bambietta went to release her power, when Orihime took out what seemed to be Rukia's Chappy gun, and fired off a Chappy face blast at her, colliding with Bambietta, and knocked her down onto the ground.

"That's for attacking Taku-chan."

Bambietta looked at Orihime with surprise that someone like her actually attacked her.

"You bitch, you dare to attack me..."

"You attacked Taku-chan, I wont allow you to do that again."

Bambietta smirked, and walked closer, but Nemu stepped between them, Bambietta's eyes narrowing.

"Who the hell is that?"

One bystander spoke, while another whipped out their phone, to record Takumi.

More and more people looked at Takumi in the air, some paid attention to Bambietta and the others who had been having a mini scuffle.

He sailed through the air while Don Kanonji looked up, muttering "Who's that kid?" and saw him spinning in the air, surprising most around, and Rukia aimed her hand towards Takumi's body, drawing out her energy which was increasing.

"Rukia-chan! Do something! She's put something on my back that's stopping me gathering energy for Kido! I can't get it off in time!"

"Already on it!" Rukia aimed her hand towards Takumi's body, drawing out her energy which was increasing. "Bakudo 37: Tsuriboshi!"

Like she had done to herself, a net of Kido energy came out, sticking itself to different points around the area, allowing Takumi to use it like a spring, the audience were in awe at the sight of what Takumi was doing, they couldn't see the Kido so they record him all the more and cheered for him instead.

"Mommy! He's a ninja!"

"No, he's a magician sweetie, look. He's standing in the air."

"Yay! Mommy! I want his autograph, he's so cool!"

Orihime heard a conversation between Mother and son, while Isshin raised his hand.

"Yuzu! Your boyfriends awesome!"

"Dad! Don't call him my boyfrieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeend!"

Yuzu cried, while Karin slapped herself in the head.

"Great, now he's magical ninja, that's not gonna draw attention at all..."

She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Takumi though shot right back at Bambietta, ripping off his shirt, and tossed it away, showcasing his chest to the others, while teenage, and even adult women began blushing at the sight, Orihime and Rukia blushed at the sight as did Yuzu and Giselle, even Karin was a little red faced.

"Come on then punk."

Bambietta scowled and withdrew her spirit sword, swinging it at the incoming Takumi, who dodged in mid air, and aimed a hand towards her, chanting off a Kido spell.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

Bambietta leaped back, but she was caught in the Kido spell, nailing her in the torso, and blew her backwards, while Candice raised her hands to the sky, sparks of lightning going off around her body.

"Do not ruin this for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

She aimed her hands at Takumi, who wasn't in Shinigami form right now, and shot off a huge bolt of lightning towards him. He jumped back from the bolt, but she followed with her hands, and he ran back towards the hospital, away from the crowd so they wouldn't be hurt.

"Watch what you're doing! You could hurt people!"

"Don't you speak to me like that! Bambietta was right, Shinigami truly do want to ruin everyone's pleasures! Just this one thing, and you're interfering! Now I will make you stop interfering!"

Candice's lightning went to hit Takumi, when Takumi raised his hand to the ground, and gathered Kido energy within his finger, along with what seemed to be a lightning bolt shaped metal that he had with him, stabbing that into the ground, and jumped backwards, aiming his finger at the metal.

"Hado 4: Byakurai!"

He shot off a bolt of electricity and charged up the rod, which directed the lightning of Candice's to her shock, creating a large discharge of electricity, which went through the ground, rupturing it around Takumi, while the crowd went nuts, Rukia seemed surprised by what jusy happened but Nemu understood.

"Takumi-sama's already experimenting with his Zanpakuto and its unique abilities and applying that with science."

"But he's not in Shinigami form."

Orihime murmured, Nemu inclined her neck.

"Agreed, however that piece of metal had been infused with a small fragment of his Zanpakuto while it was in Shikai. It acted as a lightning rod when it had a jolt of electricity from Takumi-sama's Kido spell, diverting the lightning of the blonde haired girl, so it would harmlessly infuse into the lightning rod to keep others safe. His own Zanpakuto also remains as strong as ever, since the fragment that Takumi-sama removed recovered itself within a few seconds as Takumi-sama's sword is made up of lightning, and can reform itself easily."

At Nemu's explanation, the others were quite surprised Takumi managed to make something like that so quickly.

Don Kanonji's eyes shot for Takumi as the crowds sounded "Magician boy!" again and again, completely ignoring Don Kanonji.

"Hey kid, you're ruining my bit here. Could you try and find fame somewhere else?"

"I am not trying to find fame! You need to stop right now!"

Don Kanonji scoffed, and continued on.

Takumi growled, while Candice roared.

"Never! This is unacceptable! Don Kanonji is number one! I wont allow this to happen ever!"

Candice pulled out her bow and arrows, firing off a barrage of them to Takumi, as Bambietta came back, smirking, and aimed her hand towards Takumi to fire off some of her explosive energy, only for Nemu to grab her hand.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I insist you desist right away."

"Get lost woman! This is my chance! I will never lose!"

Nemu bowed her head.

"Then, you may have to leave right away."

Nemu lifted Bambietta's body high into the air, and threw her away.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

She screamed within the air, getting flung away a few good miles, while Rukia sweat dropped at the sight.

"W-What the hell…?"

"I got rid of the nuisance, so Takumi-sama may handle the girl with the lightning attacks. I aimed for the river, she should be crashing into the river harmlessly by my calculations..." Bambietta's screams stopped. "...now."

Rukia sweat dropped even more as Candice's arrows shot for Takumi, who's body began to move like flowing water. The arrows pierced around his form, blowing up the ground which seemed to be in time with what he was doing, and did back flips, and front flips, and other dance like martial arts movements, the crowds were going wild even more with what was happening, Don Kanonji looked shell shocked by what was happening.

"B-But, kid! You can't steal the crowd!"

"I am not stealing the crowd! I am trying not to die by a fangirl of yours! Stop doing what you're doing! Can't you see that it is wrong!?"

Takumi snapped, but Don Kanonji didn't stop.

"Yahoooooooooooooo! Look everyone! I've nearly vanquished the spirit!"

"No! You can't do this!"

Takumi went to get to him, when Candice appeared beside him, extending her leg, and smashed it against Takumi's form, who used his arm to block.

But surprising, she was stronger than he thought, and he was sent flying back into the building, smashing through the glass doors, doing a roll, and got to his feet, to see Candice firing off some more arrows towards him.

"Karin-chan! You take care of Don Kanonji! I've got lightning girl here!"

"R-Right!"

Karin replied shakily, as Takumi rushed into the building, avoiding the barrage of arrows, while Candice chased him down, Giselle scowled, and used her Quincy flash step to cross the distance, following after them.

"Ooh God, Taku-chan's not in his Shinigami form, he's not at full power. He's in danger...we have to help him..."

Orihime expressed her concerns.

"We will help him by making sure he has only one enemy to deal with." Rukia nodded, but saw what was happening with Don Kanonji, so she rushed to Karin and slapped her on the back, releasing her Shinigami form, Yuzu catching her body as their Father casually glanced, understood what was going on. "You take care of Kanonji, Yuzu watch her body. Nemu, and I will watch over that girl called Meninas in case she tries to interfere."

"Alright, but what about Takumi? He's not got his Shinigami form out."

"That Giselle has gone after him, he'll have to be fine on his own for a little while. He's got Kido, and his increased strength. Besides, he's dealing with a lightning user, he'll know how to overcome that somehow, I believe in him."

Karin saw that something had changed within Rukia.

She wasn't the same. In the ways that she was talking about Takumi. It seemed that she had some concern for him, beyond normal friendship.

Karin dashed forward with her hand, and force palmed Don Kanonji away from the spirit, who fell back onto the ground. The others only saw that it was an unknown force that had knocked him backwards.

"W-What are you doing kid? First that blonde kid, now a black haired girl. And what's with the outfit?"

Karin looked down at herself, then back to Don Kanonji.

"So, you can see me?" Her eyes went towards the spirit, and saw that the chains had smashed off his body, and he was screaming loudly. "Damn, we were too late..."

Karin even could see that, and saw the spirits body explode, creating a small duststorm. Rukia and the others watched with eerie silence, wondering what was going to happen next.

"I have vanquished the evil spirit everyone!"

Don Kanonji cheered loudly, and the crowd seemed mixed. It seemed that half cheered for him, and half cheered for Takumi though they couldn't see him. Don Kanonji didn't exactly seem pleased about that though.

Rukia took out her phone, while Nemu directed her hand upwards.

"It's forming up there."

Rukia's eyes went upwards to see that in fact was true. The body of the spirit, had turned into a Hollow. The face was getting crusted over with the whiteness of the mask of the Hollow, and small fragments of the mask fell down to the ground, its fingers digging into the roof of the building, denting it with his strength.

They then heard the howling, so they both looked up to see the Hollow itself.

"What is that?"

"It's called a Hollow." Karin informed. "I hope you're happy."

"What do you mean?"

"That Hollow was formed because of you."

Don Kanonji didn't seem to understand what Karin was talking about.

How could it be because of him?

He didn't have time to think about it as the Hollow leapt downwards towards them. Karin took out her sword, briefly pausing when seeing the others in the crowd, and then Don Kanonji himself, thinking about what to do.

When Don Kanonji pushed Karin's shoulder, pulling her backwards, and he went forwards.

"What are you doing moron?"

"I understand! Now that the evil spirit I sent away before is gone, it's evil master has shown up to take us all on! Do not worry young girl, I shall use my staff and end this beasts life once and for all!"

"Not quite jackass."

Karin sighed out, while the Hollow came slamming down towards them. Seeing that Don Kanonji couldn't take it, Karin jumped forward, and sent her foot crashing into the side of the Hollows face, the pressure from the kick was intense, and knocked the Hollow right away from them, smashing it into the side of the building.

"What are you doing kid?"

"Stopping you killing yourself, and everyone else around us!" Karin watched as the Hollow got to its feet, and charged for them. "Great, now I've got to lead it away from everyone." Karin jumped upwards, and got to the second story while grabbing Don Kanonji's body, the crowd went nuts at seeing that. "Come on you bastard Hollow! Come and get me! Tasty soul right here!"

The Hollow roared out and jumped up towards them. Karin smashed a window with her foot, hopping inside of the building, and stabbed her sword out of the window, stabbing the unsuspecting Hollow's shoulder, dragging the body of the Hollow through the opening of the window, and tossed it inside of the building, kicking its body off her sword, and it skidded across the ground, landing on the other side of the corridor, grabbed Don Kanonji, and hightailed it out of there.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi ran deep within the hospital, as Candice followed after him. Her eyes scanned the area, seeing him rush down a corridor, so her bow landed in that direction, aiming an arrow for the young boy.

"As if you're going to get away from me!"

Candice fired off an arrow, Takumi aimed his hand backwards, and span his hand around while announcing "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" and forming from his hand, was a round orange shield, tanking a hit from Candice's arrows.

"Sorry Candice-san, but I can't simply do anything like that!"

"Well I don't care! Shinigami are my enemies as well! So don't try and run away from me!"

Candice used Quincy flash step to appear before Takumi.

"Shit!"

"Right, shit!"

She smirked, pulling back her arrow, and aimed it for his chest, to pierce him through, Takumi quickly pushed himself to the left, as she unleashed an arrow, piercing him in the shoulder instead.

"D-Damn..."

"Sorry, it seems while you're stuck in your Gigai, you can't do anything against me. I'll wipe your existence off the face of this earth!"

Candice grinned evilly, and threw her hand forward, shooting off a bolt of electricity.

Takumi however aimed his hand towards the incoming bolt of lightning, and yelled "Hado 33: Sokatsui!" and shot off a pale blast of energy, clashing with her lightning bolt, creating a large explosion that forced the pair of them backwards.

Takumi skidded across the ground while Candice elegantly flipped, returning to the ground with markings on her body, her Blut Vene, protecting her from the explosion for the most part, Takumi smiling at the sight.

"You Quincy girls intrigue me, your Blut Vene is quite amazing to see."

"Hmph, Blut Vene is quite useful for attacks like that."

"I suppose that it is. I'm kinda jealous. All I've got is this Kido spell I'm going to fire at you~"

"What?"

Candice seemed confused for a few moments, only for Takumi to clap his hands together, then pulled his hands apart, summoning several barriers between the space that Takumi had created with his hands.

"Chocolate Bar Slider!"

"What kind of shit name is that?!"

"Hacchi made it up! Don't blame me!"

Takumi roared as multiple barriers in the shape of boxes shot for Candice. Candice went to use an overwhelming attack to take them down, when they began multiplying again and again, until dozens of boxes were created, bombarding Candice's body, smashing as they hit her body, leaving some wounds on her, despite her using Blut Vene.

As she was being pressured by the barrage of barriers, she yelled out angrily, and increased her electricity, allowing it to swarm around her, and extended it outwards, destroying Takumi's Kido spell, and forced Takumi backwards, where Candice summoned her bow, and arrow, infusing her lightning into the arrows, and unleashed a hailstorm of them.

"S-Shit!"

Takumi took off running.

Without his Zanpakuto, he was going to have difficulty taking them down with Kido, he wasn't skilled enough yet to take them down with Kido alone. Takumi zigzagged through the corridor, with the arrows sailing past his body.

But some cut into his body, slicing his arms, and legs.

He used some Kido to block some of them, but they were never ending.

However, as Takumi saw the corner coming up, he had an idea.

Takumi rounded a corner, and announced "Bakudo 27: Kyokko!" Candice flew into a rage, shooting around the corner to find...nothing.

He wasn't there at all.

She didn't get it.

Where had he gone?

Somehow, he had become invisible with the Kido spell Kyokko.

"Come out now!"

She shot off lightning down the corridor, but it didn't hit anything. The windows nearby shattered upon the lightning nearing. When she didn't hit anything, she cautiously took out her bow, readying to fire off an arrow.

"Why are you doing this?"

Takumi demanded, Candice turned to see nothing in the side room.

"Because you're stopping my program from happening!"

"That's a pretty weak reason!"

"It's the only reason I need! Well that, and I just hate Shinigami as well after what your kind has done to us in the past. And when one gets in my way, I shall shock you to death!"

Candice unleashed a few arrows into the room, in case Takumi was there.

But nothing came out of it.

She growled at the feeling of not hitting Takumi.

"Boo!"

But then Takumi appeared beside her, with his hand extended, unleashing a Kido blast right for her body, nailing her in the torso, and blasted her away. Candice however used Blut Vene to subvert the damage as much as possible, and barely looked intrigued at all, and sent off a devastating blast of lightning for Takumi.

The young boy went to dodge when Giselle appeared beside him, grabbed his body, flashing to the other side of the corridor, avoiding the large lightning blast of Candice, who narrowed her eyes at Takumi and Giselle while unleashing a number of arrows, Giselle pulled back her bow, and fired off many arrows to combat Candice's own arrows, matching them hit for hit, dispelling them out of the air, which impressed Takumi.

"Seriously Giselle, are you working for the Shinigami now?"

"You're attacking him over a guy named Don Kanonji, so you aren't in a position to lecture me."

Candice narrowed her gaze, and pulled her bow backwards, gathering electricity within her arrow.

"It isn't just about that. Didn't you see it?"

Takumi cocked his head.

"See what?"

"The happiness on everyone's faces! They all were happy, and you were going to ruin it!"

She announced, firing off her lightning arrow, Giselle growled, knowing her arrow wouldn't be enough so she quickly whispering to Takumi, who nodded, placing his hand outwards to create a Kido blast with Sokatsui, clashing with the arrow, while she fired an arrow for the centre of the lightning arrow, dispelling it away from them, Candice being forced to leap out of the way of the Sokatsui spell.

"To stop a Hollow being formed!"

Candice landed on the ground, twitching her neck.

"We can take care of a measly Hollow easily. Hollows aren't worth worrying about, what is, is the Shinigami." Candice's hand sparkled with lightning. "Do you know why Bambi-chan hates you Shinigami so much?"

"Because of what happened to the Quincy two hundred years ago?"

Candice shook her head with a laugh.

"No, we all couldn't care less what happened two hundred years ago. No, we each have a reason as to why. Bambi-chan's reasons are different to mine. Mine are quite simple, I saw some disgusting Shinigami's simply abandoning humans to be devoured by Hollows. These poor humans hadn't done anything, and these Shinigami were laughing as they died! They laughed! How dare they laugh?!"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows at Candice.

"They weren't good Shinigami then. Shinigami come in different ways as do humans. They're all different. What you saw was a bad variety, there are good Shinigami's out there that wouldn't abandon humans to die by Hollows. Rukia-chan's a good example. She could have simply left me to die the day she gave me her powers. But she didn't. She stayed, and sacrificed herself for me, and the others. I don't know what kind of Shinigami you've met, but they weren't good Shinigami's like Rukia-chan is. So stop attacking me, and we can come to a good resolution."

Candice bit her lower lip, thinking about what he said.

But she couldn't get it out of her head.

She could still see the blood.

Hear the screams.

She was just a child at the time, and couldn't do anything.

She simply couldn't do anything.

"I grew to hate Shinigami for that. To just leave them to be devoured by Hollows. They could have saved them, and all they did was laugh about it. That's why I'll have my own hate for Shinigami's, and anyone that gets in my way shall be electrocuted out of existence!"

Candice's lightning surrounded her, which charged the broken hospital with energy, causing the lights to come on until there was too much, and it shattered the lights, and she aimed her hand towards Takumi and Giselle.

"So that's why you're okay with attacking me. What does Don Kanonji have to do with this?"

"As I said, everyone was laughing outside. They were happy. It's weird, I usually hate people like Don Kanonji, who are always boasting and being showboaty. But, there's this twinkle in his eye. Yeah, he's doing stupid things. But he's bringing laughter to the world. I think that's really nice. And then you were going to stop it. Either way, that Hollow was going to be formed, and we would have vanquished it. So why not just allow the laughter to continue?"

Takumi begun to understand more about Candice now.

She was hot headed sure.

She was quick to anger.

But he could see the reason behind her anger.

She wanted others to laugh.

It was simple, yet it was quite impactful.

Even she could tell that Don Kanonji had done something wrong.

But if it was to make people laugh at good things rather than killing things, along with it to do with the supernatural, is what Takumi believed to be the case in regards to Candice which made it more special to her.

As she had seen the supernatural being horrible, disgusting and people mocking the existence of humans.

She wanted humans to enjoy the supernatural world, and laugh at the happiness it can bring.

"As I hear more about you Quincy girls, I grow to understand you all the more. But I simply can't allow you to attack me and get away with that! I wont be your punching bag! You'll see that we can be allies!"

"Yeah right!"

Candice thrusted her hands forward, unleashing a heavy duty bolt of electricity that shot for Takumi and Giselle.

Takumi grimaced, allowing his Kido to swim around him.

"Hako Okuri!"

Takumi announced, as the lightning neared Giselle and Takumi.

From behind Candice, an orange box opened up, and what was inside, was the fragment of metal that diverted Candice's lightning beforehand, and this time, it was doing the same thing, the lightning stopped near the pair, and turned direction, like they were being drawn to it, and shot right back for Candice.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Candice tried to stop her lightning, but it wasn't obeying her command.

Takumi ran a hand through his hair as he explained, using Hainawa to wrap yellow rope around her body so she couldn't escape the attack, Candice's eyes met his own and she looked a little worried about what was going to happen next.

"It's a Kido that teleports anything within the barrier I make. It can either be from what I've got on my person, or on something I've endowed with my power. Hacchi and my Father taught me a bit about Kido, and it's uses, I just modified it a bit for my own personal usage."

"To modify Kido! That's insane!"

"Call me insane then."

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Candice cried, as the lightning struck her.

It sent all of the power that she had sent at them, right into her own system, shocking her to a high degree. Her eyes rolled around, her body smoked from the attack, while Giselle placed a hand over her mouth.

"Amazing Takumi-kun, you're so smart~ You used her own power against her~ You were just getting her to let her guard down, right?"

Takumi nodded, as Candice's lightning spread out, shattering apart of the wall, leaving a hole there.

After half a minute, the lightning stopped and she was left staggering. She walked left to right, unable to stay on her feet for long from the intense shock. She wasn't completely immune to electricity, as Takumi in his Shinigami form wasn't either. They had a resistance to it, but it still could cause them damage of this magnitude.

"Sorry Candice-san, but I had to stop you from hurting us, and others."

Candice shook her fist at Takumi, unable to speak.

Wounds had appeared across her body, and smoke rose from her form. Her hair was also messed up from the shock, and had grown into an afro like look, Giselle secretly took a picture of Candice this way to keep and look at later.

Takumi noticed that her body was getting dangerously close to the opening of the building where she could fall out, and called out to her.

"Candice-san, it's dangerous there-"

Candice shot at arrow at Takumi, which Giselle repelled with her own arrow.

"We'll get you back for this Shiniga-" Candice lost her footing, and she began falling out of the window. "-miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Candice-san!"

Takumi dashed for Candice's body as it fell from the building.

The crowd outside could see Candice falling. Many gasped, and some cried out for help.

It was like time was in slow motion.

Every second felt like an eternity to her…

Then she felt a hand grab her own hand, and she dangled in the air.

"Got you!"

Takumi announced, to the relief of others.

Rukia placed a hand over her heart, and Orihime smiled brightly.

Candice looked up to Takumi who was pulling her back up.

"Why are you helping me? I could get seriously wounded falling from here. My bodies been shocked so it's gonna take me a few minutes for me to recover. I could have been taken away, yet you've saved me...I don't get it."

Takumi gave her a kind smile, lifting her up, and carried her bridal style to her annoyance.

"I'm not going to let you die. Just because you hate Shinigami, and me, it seems that you care about others happiness, that tells me that you've got kindness in your heart somewhere. So why don't we stop for now?"

Candice stared at him for a few moments.

In those moments, Candice saw Takumi as something different.

He wasn't like those Shinigami that she saw in her childhood.

This Shinigami was helping her, a Quincy.

Those other Shinigami had turned their backs and laughed about human suffering.

She also was coming to an understanding now.

She hopped out of his arms, and turned away.

"Fine, I'm going home."

Candice walked away on staggering legs, while Giselle pulled at her hair antenna.

"It seems that you might have swayed her a little bit Takumi-kun."

"Maybe. She also said that Bambietta-san has a reason for hating Shinigami. I wonder what that is?" His eyes then went to Giselle who cocked her neck at him. "And what's your story Giselle-san? Want to share with me?"

"My story? We all have pasts after all, even you do Takumi-kun. I'd be interested to hear yours sometime."

"I don't remember much of my past. So I couldn't tell you."

"I see. Well, maybe I'll tell you some about me in the future." Giselle skipped forward, and took his hand. "Lets get going Takumi-kun!"

"Yeah...ooh wait, Karin-chan! She might need assistance! Lets go and see!"

"Yup, yup!"

Takumi and Giselle took off together down the corridors to make sure that Karin was safe.

* * *

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Karin ran down the corridor on the opposite side of the hospital, carrying the overzealous man Don Kanonji on her shoulder.

"Has everyone ever told you you're very strong for your height?"

"Heh, I get that a lot."

"But, why are we running?"

Karin sweat dropped, muttering "Why me?" before answering once more.

"Because we're protecting the others down there. And I'm going to find a nice safe place to drop you off, so I can fight the Hollow, uninterrupted."

"Unacceptable!" Don Kanonji jumped out of her arms. "I am the Hero here! I shall protect you fair maiden!"

Karin whacked him upside the head, causing his head to shake around.

"Do not try and act all manly now."

"I'm not! But, I'm doing this for my ratings!"

"Great, so you're doing it for your television show? You're not vain at all..."

"It isn't like that! Did you know that my show is has twenty five percent! One in every four households watches my show! And many of those viewers are, children." Karin furrowed her brows. "Those children watch my adventures, and their hearts are inspired by me. They see me stand up to evil spirits, and learn what true courage is! So don't you get it? With all those kids watching my show, how could I let them down now? I wont run from it, and show my courageous side!"

"You're right." Don Kanonji nodded, and went to move forward, but Karin stuck out her hand, stopping him. "But, you're also wrong."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying...that spirit from before, wasn't an evil spirit, that spirit, was a human suffering from pain, and you caused him more pain."

Don Kanonji's eyes locked with Karin's own, confused, and also, a little scared that she could be right.

"Y-You're saying..."

Before he could continue, the Hollow came rampaging towards them from down the corridor, so Karin went to withdraw her sword...but stopped when realizing how confined the area was, so she opted to do something else.

"Hey! Follow me you asshat!"

Karin lunged for the Hollow, Don Kanonji yelled "Watch out!" but she used her honed skills from playing soccer, to slide under the opponent, and then whiz back around, kicking the Hollows body forwards, and then turned around to the stairwell close by.

Don Kanonji watched as Karin dashed up the stairs, and the Hollow chased after her.

Unable to let it go, he chased after both of them, making it to the roof as the Hollow charged for Karin. Karin, who now had a wide space, revealed her Zanpakuto and swung it for the Hollow's incoming hand, slicing it clean off, twirling into said Hollow, and nailed it in the torso with the butt of her sword, the Hollow's eyes popped open, and she was flung away into the railings of the building, Don Kanonji cheered.

"Well done girl! Hey, maybe I should make you my student?!"

"No thanks, I'd rather die."

Don Kanonji released a cry out of his mouth.

"It would be an honour being my student!"

"It would be a horror being your student."

Don Kanonji released an even higher pitched cry, drawing the Hollow towards him.

It howled, and charged for him, so Karin ran forward towards the Hollow to intercept it from hitting Don Kanonji, the Hollow had other ideas, turning around and spat out green goo towards her.

Karin's body naturally sailed forward, she did a number of cartwheels to avoid the slime itself, which hit the ground and created a gooey substance, which she didn't care to be in.

She dodged a good number of the attacks, before getting close with her sword.

She went to stab the Hollow with her blade, when it spat goo for her face, so she raised her blade, and allowed it to take the hit for her, the goo spreading across the blade, and when she swung it downwards to get the goo off, the goo spread from the blade, hitting the ground, creating a glue like substance that she couldn't pull off the ground.

"What the hell…?"

Karin tried pulling her sword away, but she couldn't.

The glue like substance was hardening by the second.

The Hollow however saw this chance to attack her, opening its large mouth to bit her since it was so close.

"Kid!"

Karin turned to Don Kanonji who threw his staff to her, so she caught the staff, spinning it around, and impaled the Hollow through the hole she had created before, making it bigger than before, and used her increased strength to lift it off the ground, surprising Don Kanonji, tossing said Hollow away from her body, and into the roof access area, smashing the small looking door to smithereens.

Don Kanonji looked impressed.

"Well done kid! You did good with my staff!"

Karin gave him a sly smile, tossing the staff back to him.

"Yeah, but with my sword stuck to the ground, I can't purify the Hollow."

"Purifying it with your sword? I see, so you need it! Then as we're partners-" Karin began crying at that. "-I shall help you out!" Don Kanonji tightened his hand, seemingly began concentrating. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I need the power of the Kanonji Cannon Ball! My ultimate technique!"

"The Kanonji what?"

Karin watched with slight interest as his hand erupted with a glowing of blue energy, which turned into a small sphere. Karin blinked at the sight, seeing that Don Kanonji was sweating from using this technique.

Then the sphere travelled rather slowly to the goo holding down the sword that she had, and then erupted with an explosion, tearing through the goo, and released her sword, as the Hollow came charging for them once more.

Karin went to move when the Hollow swiped for her, forcing her to duck, and retaliate with her sword stabbing the Hollow right in the face, between the two eyes, and brought her sword upwards, cutting in half the head of the Hollow, dropping the body of the Hollow into two pieces.

"Aah! Well done my student! You have succeeded!"

"Knock it off with the student crap!" Karin turned towards him with a serious expression. "As I was saying before, what you did to the spirit of that man before, wasn't purifying it, it was helping it become the beast that's before us."

Don Kanonji stepped backwards with confusion.

"You're saying..."

The Hollows mask faded away, to reveal the face of the man that he was before becoming a Hollow. Then his body rippled away, having been purified by Karin's Zanpakuto once more.

"When you were messing with the hole and opening it up, the Hollows body was being created faster. The Hollow itself, from what I overheard from my friends, had a few more months left before it became a Hollow. We could have used our swords to sent him to the afterlife. Instead..."

Don Kanonji's face filled with shame, regret. His eyes danced with fear, fear at what had been happening until that point in his life, dropping to his knees.

"Instead, I sped up the process, and turned him into that being...No...what have I done…? Those spirits before...I've done this...I've caused this..."

A lone tear fell from his eyes, before he began crying a little harder.

Karin developed a surprisingly sympathetic face, shaking her head.

"This isn't your fault, don't place blame upon yourself. You didn't know. Heck, I didn't know until recently when I was told." Karin then heard the cheering's from the crowd, causing her to smirk to herself. "Besides, as you said before, you've got those children to look after, right? To inspire them with courage. I think your show is lame, but you've got to be doing something right if there's really one in every four households watching your program. You've got to inspire those kids, haven't you?"

Don Kanonji looked up to Karin who gave a soft smile on her face.

It seemed so simple now that she was looking like that.

Don Kanonji walked over to the side of the railing, and began laughing once more.

"Mission accomplished! Bwahahahahahahaha!"

[Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!]

The crowd laughed along with him, Karin looked over the edge and saw Yuzu. Yuzu waved up to Karin who waved back down, while glancing at Don Kanonji who was moving closer towards her, freaking her out.

"Y-You keep away from me!"

"But, I just want to be friends! Can I call upon you if I need help in the future?"

Karin grimaced, but nodded slowly.

"I suppose that's fine..."

"Great! You're being promoted from my student, to my number one disciple!" Karin began shedding tears. "Tears of happiness! I didn't think you'd be so pleased with me being here for you! Well done my girl!"

Karin continued to cry, she didn't like this at all.

But then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She whizzed around to see that Takumi and Giselle were stood there.

"You did great Karin-chan for your first solo Hollow extermination."

"Thanks. Had a little help from Kanonji though. Dunno how I feel about that."

Takumi gave an awkward chuckle, as Don Kanonji turned an accusing finger towards Takumi.

"You are my rival from here on out!"

"E-Eh?"

Takumi watched as cameras appeared from...he didn't even know where, focusing on both Takumi and Don Kanonji.

"I can see it! People are cheering for you boy! You will be my rival in my show! You are now apart of the cast!"

Takumi's eyes widened in horror while the announcer from before let out a bellowing scream into the microphone.

"Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Don Kanonji has added a new cast member to Spirit Hunter, as his very own rival, Takumi! How is he going to respond!?"

The announcer asked Takumi who looked into the camera shell shocked, then looked to Giselle who shrugged her shoulders, since Karin was in Shinigami form, she couldn't be seen by others.

"Erm...well, that's...eeh..."

Takumi didn't even know how to respond.

"My rival is speechless! Are you worried about the challenge!?"

"Takumi-sama is your rival?" Nemu appeared beside Takumi, who jumped. "The one named Don Kanonji, Takumi-sama shall join your show as your rival."

"Nemu-san...why?"

Takumi cried out, but Nemu stared back at him calmly.

"So I can study the interactions between humans, I wish to understand more, and this shall help broaden my perspective. Please help me with my request Takumi-sama. I shall compensate you for your troubles."

Takumi let out a sad sigh, Don Kanonji raised his hand to the sky and did an odd pose.

"Bwahahahahahaha! The evil rival of mine named Takumi has now joined my show as my rival!" Don Kanonji got close to Takumi's ear, whispering intently. "This will be good for both of us, I've found young talent that I don't have to compete against, and will boost my own show as well. So lets have fun on the show my rival."

Takumi gave him a dry look with his hand shaking.

[Bwahahahahahahahaha! The rival of Don Kanonji, Takumi!]

The crowd cheered from below, only adding fuel to this fire.

The cameras kept switching between the two of them, while the crowd went insane. Takumi sighed deeply, while Nemu looked on with her usual expressions.

* * *

At the end of the day, Takumi returned back home, still shirtless (he didn't know where it went after he tossed it off, despite looking for it for over twenty minutes), Rukia came up beside him, seeing the wounds on his body.

"That Candice didn't hold back."

"Yeah...but, as I get to know them, I understand that they each have some kind of past. Candice-san said that she witnessed Shinigami allowing humans to be devoured by Hollows, and laughing about it."

Rukia placed a hand on his arm, feeling his warm flesh, and her cheeks turned slightly red, but she fought through that and began using her healing Kido to fix up his wounds.

"It does happen, there are Shinigami out there that love seeing the pain of humans. For the most part, you'll see all sorts of Shinigami that are indeed good, but there are ones that do turn out to be evil."

"I thought so. Heh, at least I managed to survive again."

"Yeah, and you're also becoming an internet sensation. According to Inoue anyway. Though it seems that aren't aware of what happened truly with the Hollow and Quincy girls, thinking it was an elaborate battle between you and the Quincy girls with special effects."

Takumi sighed deeply, feeling as if this was going to become a bother.

"I really don't need that. Even Don Kanonji has called me his so called rival, and now I'm on his show...how did they know my name? They kept calling me Takumi, I don't recall saying my name."

"Well, they were asking around about you, and Yuzu told them your name while Inoue spoke nothing but sweet words about you. It seems that they liked the idea of you from their descriptions of you. But, isn't this everyone's dreams? To be famous?"

"What? On Spirit Hunter with Don Kanonji?"

Rukia released a chortle.

"Well, it might not be so bad. We have serious lives, so why not have some fun every now and again. Besides, you'll gain some fame in this human world. It wouldn't be so bad."

Takumi sweat dropped.

"I suppose I have to see the good side of it if there's anything to enjoy about this...by the way Rukia-chan, I saw you having fun and you were smiling. I'm glad you were able to relax, I can tell you've been feeling stressed lately."

Rukia's lips curled upwards.

"Yeah, today was nice, despite the hectic of the Quincy girls, and the Hollow appearing. It's better than me almost dying last time."

"I guess you're right. Even Nemu-san seemed to be having fun...in her own way. I guess if I end up liking this show stuff, it's thanks to her for her...erm, forwardness I guess?"

Rukia gave Takumi a soft smile, as he did the same thing.

Then she had finished healing his wounds, allowing her soft fingers to slowly slide down his arm.

Neither said anything, and just stared at the other with their smiles showing, but with feelings bubbling underneath, while Nemu watched on from the door, pulling out her notepad.

[According to recent data and my own knowledge I have researched on romantic behaviour from literature, and have been explained to by Kisuke Urahara-san, Rukia Kuchiki-san has growing romantic feelings for Takumi-sama, while Takumi-sama is beginning to feel torn between his feelings for the one known as Orihime Inoue-san, and his growing ones Rukia Kuchiki-san. Continuing observation.]

Nemu put the pad away, continuing to watch as the pair just talked.

It wasn't a deep or meaningful conversation.

It was merely a conversation between the two to get to know one another even more.

But it seemed that they both were becoming slightly aware of what was happening between the two, and neither knew how to approach the subject.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Quincy's returned back to their base, barring Giselle and Liltotto who had refused to go back after what happened during the night with Don Kanonji and how they had attacked Takumi and the others.

Candice herself had torn feelings on the matter at hand, and what she hadn't revealed is that she was the one who took Takumi's shirt for herself. She didn't know if she hated Takumi, liked him, or somewhere between where she could stand him.

Bambietta walked back into their base, and was wet from head to toe, water was literally flowing off of her body like a river.

"Pft! Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Candice burst into laughter, while Meninas held a hand to her mouth, resisting the urge to giggle.

"Don't laugh at me!"

"I'm sorry but come on!"

Candice laughed louder.

Bambietta scowled even more, twitching her neck side to side.

"Don't laugh, because I'm not holding back...wait, where is Gigi and Lil?"

Meninas looked at Bambietta with a small sigh.

"They aren't coming back."

"Why?!"

"Because of what happened with Don Kanonji."

Bambietta seemed confused.

"Because I punched that idiot Shinigami in the back?"

"They said you went too far, you could have killed him."

"Good! He's a Shinigami, he needs to be stopped! And you attacked him as well Candy! Finish him off!?"

Candice let out a breath, shaking her head.

"No, I couldn't finish him off in the end."

Bambietta released a sigh.

"Fine, whatever. It doesn't matter. Because I've had enough. We're going to all out war with them. This time, I wont be holding back. We wont be holding back. With what I have recently received, it's time for us to move out. With BG5, and an army of Hollows backing us up."

"An army of Hollows?"

Meninas seemed confused, Bambietta smirked, and pulled out what seemed to be a ring.

"Hollow Bait."

Candice observed, Bambietta nodding strongly.

"With wanting to protect this town, and with BG5, we will be able to win this time. We wont lose this time, and soon, the Shinigami will be gone, like they should be."

Bambietta's evil smirk grew on her face.

Candice and Meninas looked between each other, and knew that this was going to become complicated.

Even they could see that Bambietta was going too far.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So this was a little relaxing chapter, though we found out a bit more about Candice, how she seems to have some fondness for Don Kanonji, and why she hates Shinigami, Nemu's settling in quite well, taking notes on others for her 'research' and threw Bambietta away to not interfere with the battle, showcasing some attachments to the team, and seems quite intrigued by the relationships between Takumi, Orihime and Rukia. We saw Takumi's ingenuity, his skills in Kido increasing from Hacchi, and his Father teaching him, modifying some Kido to his own personal use, and how he's utilizing his Zanpakuto, and infusing it with technology to create things, he's even training Karin how to use her Shinigami abilities more, how to use flash step among other things. Karin also soloed a Hollow with a little help from Don Kanonji who's named her his disciple, and Takumi's his rival in the showbiz world with how he drew a crowd unwillingly. Giselle also asked Takumi about having her, and Yuzu's Quincy crosses being able to purify Hollows rather than outright destroy them like Quincy's usually do. And finally, Bambietta's getting ready to unleash the Hollow Bait! What's going to come through when she unleashes this Hollow Bait?**

**Well, until next chapter! Thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	10. The Quincy cometh

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah everyone had some fun reactions huh~? They could have been yeah, wouldn't put it past him to do that. Maybe she could do yeah, we'll be seeing growth with Bambietta in these coming chapters, and her realizing a few things. That would be pretty cool, a combo between the two lightning users. That would be quite funny, I like that idea! It probably would be the opposite of Karin yeah~**

**Oblivious IJ; Awesome bwahahaha!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Yeah, a nice calming relaxation before anything bad happens. She is yeah, and yeah, they've both got ways to go before becoming powerful with the higher tiers of this series. She is yeah, Yuzu's gonna get her powers now~ Nemu's going to be going through a few things. She was yeah, Karin's growing stronger all the time!**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Hope you enjoy your holiday. Candice is kinda odd huh. Yeah, that's just not in Takumi to do things like that. Nemu's always fun, we'll be seeing some more fun things in this chapter from Nemu! I suppose they do, but they still care about the other. Something like that yeah. She has yeah, and if Takumi wanted to, he probably could work out a way to do something like that. They did yeah, but that's how they want to fight, and he didn't need it last chapter, he'll be using it a good chunk in these upcoming chapters. Yeah, he managed to beat her, and she even stole his shirt~ She surely did yeah, and you never know what's gonna happen. She is yeah, Bambi's gonna take things up a notch. Yeah maybe they could~ Yeah could do something like that, it would be a cool moment.**

**Guest 1; Sure that sounds pretty cool to me! I like the idea of Elena joining for a little while! And gaining it from his Father would be cool. That would be a cool limit break. Yeah he could have that materia with him~ And yeah, she wont be using it after a certain incident happens~ Yeah he could have a weapon like that.**

**Guest 2; He could do yeah, it would be pretty cool!**

**Skull Flame; She does yeah, and it is understandable why she does, in her own way~ Apparently so yeah~ She does yeah, it's apart of Giselle's growing arc. We'll be seeing different sides to Bambietta as we come through these chapters, and more on her as a character.**

**Guest 3; Yeah, that would be pretty cool! Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 4; That would be quite a funny moment. I could see Hiyori doing something like that. Sure, he could have something like that in his Bankai, sounds good to me!**

**Andrew123456; Takumi and Kenpachi will most likely clash yeah~**

**Guest 5; In a future chapter they could do something like that~ It would be funny to see them play off one another.**

**Reviewer Requiem; Sure that would be pretty cool. Being a swordsman sounds good to me. Those sound great to me! I like Perona, she's cool to me.**

**A fan; I'd have to agree with you there, that's probably my most disappointing fight.**

**Kamen Rider W; Time constraints, along with being ill for a little while.**

**Guest 6; I can't spoil it, but Yuzu and Karin will be getting upgrades in the future. Yeah, that could be cool.**

**Guest 7; That sounds like a fun idea, I've not done an Akeno brother oc fic before, so it could be fun to explore things like that. Going with the Church or Grigori would be interesting. Yeah he'd probably just like the male equivalent of Akeno. Sure, it wouldn't be public knowledge hehe~**

**Guest 8; Yeah they could work on it together, it would begin a little before then though, it could be completed by that time though. Sure, that would be a nice bonding moment between the two of them, I like it~**

**oro03910; She was yeah and she will show some growth in this chapter to make her more likable. I do have a Ajuka son fic, that I will be rewriting so yeah, he could have that, it could be quite interesting to see that happen, and the Sword Birth Balance Break sounds cool, it could be fun toying with that idea.**

**Well with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The Quincy cometh**

"First of all!" The loud and boorish physical education Sensei named Kagine scolded Takumi, Rukia, Orihime, Tatsuki, Giselle, Karin, Yuzu and Zombie Chizuru who kept snarling at him. "Takumi-san, causing that commotion at the broadcast show of Don Kanonji's."

"Ugh, don't remind me..."

Takumi sighed out, but Kagine remained strong while the Principal held himself in the background.

"And then the others that were there, didn't even attempt to stop that ninja, magical business. Now the schools getting none stop calls about the incident, and about how they want Takumi-san's autograph! It is causing a disruption!"

"Wow Taku-chan, you're becoming more famous everyday!"

Orihime cheered, Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"I know, it's really weird. I even get people screaming at me in the streets for autographs and the likes."

"Excuse me! I wasn't finished!"

Kagine yelled, but Tatsuki gave a small smirk on her face.

"Who knew that a weirdo like you would join Don Kanonji's show."

"Trust me, it wasn't planned Tatsuki-chan."

Karin folded her arms.

"I think it's just awesome that you've joined his show."

Takumi glanced in her direction, and saw her grin eating up her face.

"Alright, what's with the grin? You're up to something, aren't you, Number One Pupil."

Karin's eyes snapped onto Takumi.

"Don't call me that! Never call me that! That damn Don Kanonji wont stop bothering me!"

"Welcome to the club, he keeps ringing my house."

"Hello! I am speaking-"

"But wow, Takumi-kun, you get to work alongside Don Kanonji, I'm so jealous!"

Yuzu flailed her arms up and down, speaking over Kagine, who's face was turning more red with rage.

"I know, we're with a genuine celebrity right now. How amazing is that~?"

Giselle spoke offhandedly while playing with her hair antenna.

Kagine's eyes went to the roof, and he let out a bellowing roar, which stopped the conversation.

"Enough with the talk! You're here to receive punishment!"

"Actually, Kagine-sensei, I can get why you'd want Takumi, but Orihime and I haven't done anything." Tatsuki butted in. "So, why are we even here?"

"You were there! You could have stopped him!"

"Actually, I went there with..."

Tatsuki shuddered as Zombie Chizuru bounced up towards Kagine.

"Meeeeee….she was my daaaaaate..."

Kagine felt chills his spine while Giselle whistled and began walking out of the door.

"I've got class so see ya~"

"Wait a second Gewelle-san..."

Kagine tried to stop her, but Giselle snapped her fingers, causing Zombie Chizuru to activate her 'seduction mode' and she gripped Kagine by his hand, and peered deeply into his eyes, smacking her lips together while she did awkward hip thrusts towards him, igniting fear in everyone around.

"Kagine-sensei...lets date."

"A-Ah Honsho-san, that's not really..."

"Nooooow..."

She threatened with a dark growl escaping her lips, igniting more fear into Kagine than he ever thought possible.

Giselle walked out of the room, while Tatsuki took Orihime's hand.

"Come on Orihime, lets leave them alone."

"A-Ah, but Taku-chan is..."

"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine."

Tatsuki dragged Orihime out of the room, leaving the twins with Takumi and Rukia, and of course Zombie Chizuru. Karin looked annoyed by this entire situation, stomping her foot onto the ground again and again.

"This is so stupid, I didn't even do anything yesterday beyond dealing with that idiot Kanonji. Come on Yuzu, lets get back to class."

"Aah, alright Karin."

Yuzu and Karin walked out of the room, while Takumi and Rukia began doing the same thing.

But Kagine stopped them.

"Wait a second! I am not finished with either of you!"

Takumi released a sigh, while Rukia raised a finger.

"I got this."

Takumi was intrigued by what she was going to do.

She then turned to Kagine, adopting a few tears by her eyes.

"K-Kagine-sensei, I don't know why I'm being punished...I didn't even do anything wrong...a=and Takumi-kun d-didn't do anything b-bad...h-he was a-attacked b-by the mean girls...a-and we h-had to do something t-to stop them..."

"K-Kuchiki-san...please don't c-cry, it's alright..."

Kagine wore a sympathetic face, Takumi had to admit that he was impressed with how she could turn it on so easily.

But what Rukia hadn't foreseen was Zombie Chizuru's rage growing.

"You made my flower crrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry..."

Zombie Chizuru pushed Kagine back, and kissed him on the cheek, making him cringe and cry at the same time.

Takumi and Rukia glanced at one another, before walking out of the room at a quickened pace, as Zombie Chizuru attempted to tackle the Sensei down to the ground, but he dodged out of the way, avoiding the crazed Zombie.

"Wait, where have they gone?!" Kagine yelled, dodging another attempt from Zombie Chizuru. "Has everyone lost their minds?!"

The Sensei yelled loudly, trying to subdue Chizuru from going too far.

* * *

Later on that day, they found themselves in the halls of the school, looking over the academic assessment board that was showing everyone's ranking for the term. Giselle glanced through the list, and found her name at number seven.

"Ooh yeah. Seven is good enough for me."

"Where am I…?"

Rukia searched the board at the top ranks, but she couldn't find her name.

Takumi gave her a curious glance while Orihime cupped her hands.

"I'm number three! That's really good!"

Takumi beamed at her, and hugged Orihime tightly who blushed brightly.

"Well done Orihime-chan! You're amazing like always! I knew you could do it! You're so smart!"

"Hehe, Taku-chan's too kind!"

Orihime didn't exactly mind this though, and enjoyed being hugged like she was.

Rukia, still searching for her own, saw Yuzu's at number five.

"So, you achieved number five Yuzu, you must be pretty smart."

Rukia's comment was met with a soft smile.

"I-I don't know about that, it's quite good I suppose. Though Orihime-chan got higher than me. She's got both brains and beauty."

"If it helps, she's a terrible cook."

Karin butted in, Orihime adopted a pout while Takumi casually spoke to Karin.

"Don't say that, Orihime-chan's cooking is divine."

"Divine for the crazy yeah." Karin looked over the board, and found her name. "Ooh, I've moved up seven places since last time. Yeah, number eleven is a good place for me!"

"Well done Karin! You've done so well!"

Karin scratched her cheek.

"Never gonna be a brainbox like you though Yuzu."

Yuzu scratched her cheek sheepishly.

Rukia continued looking for her name...and then she found it, and looked dissatisfied.

"Number eight..."

"What's wrong with number eight Rukia-chan?"

Takumi asked while continuing to hug Orihime tightly.

"B-But, I'm...I'm over...I should of ranked higher surely..."

"Well, you only did start this term, so you did pretty well."

"Where did you rank?"

Rukia demanded, Tatsuki gave a sly smile.

"Where he always ranks." Tatsuki's finger points to the number one spot. "Number one. He's been there for as long as I can remember...yeah, ever since we were in middle school together, he's always been top."

"That's because I study Tatsuki-chan."

Tatsuki scoffs, while Karin slyly thinks "_He's capable of making weapons that fire off energy and other weird gadgets, so it makes sense why he's the top of the class._" while Rukia seemed even more dissatisfied.

"Because he is Takumi Urahara-sama, son of Kisuke Urahara-san, he would rank at the top."

Nemu popped in from...God knows where, standing beside Takumi with a melancholic look on her face, igniting near heart attacks within the others.

"G-Geez, where did you even come from?"

Karin demanded from Nemu, who pointed down the corridor.

"Over there."

Karin glanced down the corridor, and then towards Nemu who raised an eyebrow at the raven haired girl.

Zombie Chizuru then storms over, pushing past the boys, and slams her finger onto the board, showing her number, being number ten.

"Ten, Zombie Chizuru is satisfied."

"Great, go away."

Tatsuki demanded, while Zombie Chizuru hugs her arm, making her cry a little bit.

"Do not worry Tatsuki, I'm fine with being in your arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrms..."

Tatsuki shuddered even more than before.

But then Rukia's watch and the others begin to beep.

Takumi glances at Rukia who nods.

"We've got to go!"

"Yeah, gotta go and spend time together!"

Rukia, and Takumi begin running off, while Karin calls "Do you need help?" but Takumi waves her off.

"Don't worry, we've got this, you can handle the next one!"

"Okay then, have fun."

Karin waves them off, leaving Takumi and Rukia to dash down the corridor and out of the building.

* * *

Takumi and Rukia rush into the city, and followed the trace to the Hollow...but when they got there, it was already gone. Rukia looks around, while Takumi swings his arm back and forth.

"Can you feel that power?"

Rukia nods with a cautious expression on her face.

"Yes, I remember. It's the same as Bambietta's spiritual pressure. She's around here somewhere. We should prepare-"

"Don't bother." Bambietta's voice came from above, Takumi and Rukia looking upwards, to see the young woman glancing down, leaning on her knee, a smirk gracing her lips. "I already took care of the Hollow."

"Bambietta-san. You're not going to start a fight, are you?"

Bambietta jumped down from her position in the sky, landing on the ground with an elegant bow of her body. Then her eyes narrowed at the pair of Shinigami before her. Takumi pushed Rukia behind him gently to protect her, while Bambietta wagged her finger.

"Relax, I haven't come to fight you today." Bambietta surprised the pair. "I thought that I should let you know though, we will be having a battle in the future, to end this once and for all. Shinigami Takumi Urahara."

"You want another fight? Why do you keep insisting on trying to attack me? Especially with what happened at Don Kanonji's thing yesterday. Innocents could have been hurt, can't you understand your actions are hurting others?"

Bambietta adopted a dirty smile on her face.

"Like I care."

Takumi and Rukia both narrowed their eyes at that.

"Are you really that heartless as to not care about normal peoples safety?"

"I guess so."

Bambietta answered Rukia with a sneer.

That only caused Takumi to narrow his eyes even more.

"You want to fight me, fine. But don't endanger other people. This is between me and you Bambietta-san. Whatever it is in your life that has happened for you to hate Shinigami's so much. You come at me, leave the innocent alone."

"Innocent...hah." Bambietta laughed through her nose. "Do you think normal Shinigami care about innocent people?"

"Of course they do. They fight Hollows-"

"Let me tell you something about Shinigami Takumi Urahara." Bambietta growls out. "Most if not all of the Captains of the Gotei 13 are actually cold people. I can tell you that right now. They don't care about innocent people, they only care for themselves."

"Have you met them?"

Bambietta smirked at Rukia.

"That's for me to know."

"Then I can tell you that my Captain, Captain Ukitake, is not as you're describing. He is one of the kindest men I know."

"Wow, one in thirteen. Lovely. So, the other twelve are just horrible, including your own brother Rukia. What are they going to do to you Rukia when they find you here in the human world?" Rukia's eyes lowered as Bambietta moved closer. "You know you're going to be punished, you could face death for what you've done. Giving your powers to this boy here. You know they wont tolerate that. No matter the excuse, and you know it to be true as well. You're dreading it, the day that they come for you."

Rukia's face drifts downwards into a more depressed state.

Bambietta, smirking, pulled closer.

"Your brother, I wonder how he'll feel about you being like this?"

"That's enough Bambietta-san."

Takumi scolded her, but Bambietta smirked and withdrew her sword, pointing it at Rukia.

"Lets face it Rukia, you're going to be executed one way or another. Hey, maybe I could-"

"I said that's enough!" Takumi pushed her away from Rukia who looked to be slightly shaken, Bambietta's feet skidded a good distance away from them. "You've gone too far this time."

Bambietta began to chuckle darkly.

"Ooh, is that your trigger? Have we fallen for the Shinigami Rukia Kuchiki? When she's keeping secrets from you."

"I already know she's keeping secrets from me, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest."

Bambietta glanced at Rukia who couldn't make eye contact with her.

"You've trained him well Rukia, he'll defend you from anything it seems. Maybe even the Soul Society...or is that what you wanted in the first place? Hahaha, I understand now, you've wanted him to grow stronger, to keep you safe, like a pet-"

"I am no ones pet." Takumi cut into the conversation, placing a hand on top of Rukia's head. "Let me educate you Bambietta-san. What you call being a pet, I call being a loyal friend. Defending them from danger, that's what friends do for one another." Rukia's eyes went up to Takumi who smiled down towards her, giving her reassurance about many things. "If you come after Rukia-chan, you're going to have to get through me, and this time, I wont be nice about it."

Bambietta looked between them both, before waving a hand through her hair.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough wont we? Because our match will come. I've been training, you wont beat me this time. No matter if you have Shikai, or whatever. Because I wont lose to a mere Shinigami. All of you are my enemies, and I shall vanquish all of them before me. And I'll start with you Rukia, and if you get in my way boy, then I'll explode you out of existence."

With that, Bambietta jumped, and took off running in the air.

Once she was gone, Takumi released a breath.

"Attitude problem." His joking tone went towards Rukia who's eyes stayed on the floor. "Hey, don't let her get to you Rukia-chan. She's trying to play mind tricks with you so when she does attack, we'd be off guard a little bit."

"Psychological manipulation, that's what you're talking about, right?"

"Right. If she comes for you, I'll defend you, don't worry about her, or the Shinigami either."

Rukia released a small breath.

"I'm not worried about me Takumi. I've already accepted whatever is going to happen to me. I'm more worried about..." She paused when her watch went off once more. "Another Hollow. I guess it's time for us to get going."

"Yeah, I suppose so." Takumi bent down towards Rukia, and patted his back. "Hop on."

Rukia adopted a small smile.

"Right, lets go."

Rukia hopped onto his back, and Takumi took off running down the street once more to confront the Hollow.

* * *

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Bambietta thrusts her hand outwards, and shoots off an explosive energy.

It became faster and faster.

She was training for the day that she was going to take on Takumi in their final showdown.

Her power was exploding faster, and stronger now.

She could also fire her arrows faster, and was doing more with her swordplay, so she could match him in sword combat. She had to be prepared for everything. She had to do anything she could to get what she would need to do.

Then she called BG5 to her side.

"Come and duel with me."

"Yes."

The robot answered, so she drew her sword, and swung it for the robot who parried it with its minigun and then fired off many shots towards the young woman.

Bambietta before would have been caught.

But because she had been training more and more, her sword managed to cut through the bullets that came for her, and allowed her to fire off an arrow with just a swing of her sword, BG5 gave a normal response, and dodged out of the way, only for Bambietta to appear beside him, with her foot swinging for him.

"Bambietta Basterbine's statistics have been raised, and has become stronger as a result of training."

The robot exclaimed, and raised their arm to block the kick, only for Bambietta's kick to set off an explosion, forcing the robot backwards, while the robot turned its minigun towards her, and fired off many bullets.

"Your damn right, now try this!"

Bambietta swung her arms outwards, and set off an explosion around her, catching the bullets in the explosive energy, and destroyed them away from her body, the shock wave of the explosion caught BG5 in it, and knocked the robot backwards, forcing it to skid across the ground, and looked to Bambietta's location, but saw that she wasn't there.

Its robot eye looked left and right, trying to locate the young woman.

But then it felt a change behind it, so it turned towards that location and saw that Bambietta's body was close to his own, and her blade was cleaving for his neck. The robot reacted quickly, and raised its minigun up into the air and attempted to block, only for Bambietta to channel her explosive energy into her blade, and swung it outwards, creating a massive shock wave right in the face of the robot, forcing BG5 to the ground, cracking it with her power.

Bambietta smirked at the sight.

She was happy.

Before, she couldn't catch BG5 off guard.

But now she managed to get the best of him.

Candice looked on towards her from her position within the living room of their small house, seeing how hard and determined she was, then looked at the television screen within the living room, and saw Don Kanonji.

Her face turned upwards at the sight.

"_What would you do Don Kanonji? I can't tell if I should stop this or not. I'm conflicted with the Shinigami and the Quincy. Bambi-chan is being reckless. And what I saw with the Shinigami that day, allowing those innocents to die...but, that boy, Takumi Urahara, he didn't...He didn't seem so bad. But, can I trust that more Shinigami would be fine with that? I don't know, but I am unsure of what to do next._"

Candice seemed to be in a bit of a pickle at that moment.

She knew it was wrong, what Bambietta was planning.

But it also felt right at the same time.

She didn't know what she was going to do next.

But whatever it was, she was going to have to do her best.

* * *

At night, Takumi and Rukia had already gone to bed, and were conversing with one another. It didn't seem to matter that Nemu was there now. It just seemed to be apart of the normal situations that they were in, and Nemu watched both Takumi and Rukia going into their beds, or closet in Rukia's case (which Takumi tried talking her out of repeatedly, but she seemed to be insistent on sleeping in the closet), Nemu also had a bed in the next room…

But she didn't want to go towards it.

She preferred watching Takumi and Rukia's interactions, it seemed to fill her with knowledge about normal situations.

"Aaah, another Hollow done, another nights rest."

"Ever since awakening Kinhime, it seems that you've cut the time in half by what you can do with the Hollow slaying. It is quite amazing actually."

Takumi rubbed the back of his head.

"Thanks Rukia-chan! And your powers seem to be coming back faster than ever..."

Takumi trailed off, realizing what would happen next.

She'd go back to the Soul Society, he might not see her again.

Or rather, something else might happen that Bambietta eluded too.

Before this started, he would have been fine with it.

He didn't know her back then…

But now was different.

He liked Rukia around.

He didn't like the idea that he might not ever see her again, and he especially didn't like the idea that she could be killed if she was found out.

But he didn't let it show on his face, and continued to smile.

"Are you looking forward to going back home?"

"I...I don't know. I suppose that I am in a way, I'm from the Soul Society and it's a nice place but..."

"But, what?"

At Takumi's question, Rukia's face turned slightly crestfallen, glancing over Takumi's body.

"...It's nothing really. I just thought I'd see more of the human world before I go back to the Soul Society. They have different things here than the Soul Society. I thought that it might be interesting to explore more about it."

Takumi gained a wild grin.

"Then we'll go and see a few things before you go!"

Rukia gained a slight smile.

"That would be nice." Rukia let out a yawn from her mouth. "Well, I'm going to sleep, good night."

"Yeah, night."

Rukia closed the closet, and went to sleep.

* * *

Takumi took a few minutes to make sure she was asleep, before turning to Nemu.

"Nemu-san, you can go to bed you know?"

"Yes, I understand. I simply was listening to your conversation. And I have deduced that you have begun moving onto the flirtatious period of a relationship."

Takumi did a spit take.

"W-What are you talking about?!"

"I witnessed it when you fought the Hollow today as I had been following you from the shadows-" Takumi sweat dropped at that. "-how you both showed concern for the other. I detected increased levels of beats of your hearts, and it almost had increased to double the regular the rate when Kuchiki-san and you, Takumi-sama, had accidentally fell onto one another. Then her hand lingered on your chest as you were standing up, and her eyes went towards your chest area, your hip area, first from behind, and then it rotated to the front-"

"Okay!" Takumi cut her off. "N-No, it's not like that. We're just friends. And even if I was interested, we're from different worlds. I'm from the human world, and she's from the Soul Society, it wouldn't work."

Nemu didn't blink as she continued.

"Perhaps I was mistaken."

"Y-Yeah, no worries. But say Nemu-san...can I ask you something?"

"Yes, you may ask me anything you would like to know."

Takumi was glad about that. Since he needed to know something's, and he knew Rukia wouldn't tell him, nor his Father, or Yoruichi. So he had to ask someone that would actually tell him the truth about what he needed to know.

"About the Soul Society...Rukia-chan's in huge trouble, isn't she?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"I see...Bambietta-san said about executing her for that crime, is it really that bad? I had heard that giving powers to a human is an offence but is it that bad that they'd murder her for it?"

"It depends on what Central 46 wish to do."

"Centra 46 are your leaders, then?"

"They hold judiciary authority of the Soul Society, and are in charge of trying all Shinigami of their crimes. Regardless of if they happened within the human world, or the Soul Society. Once a ruling has been made, rarely does it ever get overturn."

Takumi rubbed his chin in thought.

"I see...so that's why Rukia-chan...okay, I understand...guess I'll have to make some plans for if it happens huh."

Nemu cocked her head.

"Are you planning to defy the Soul Society?"

"Lets just say I wont allow Rukia-chan to die for this kind of crime. She's putting on a brave face, even then she spoke as if she could return to the Soul Society normally to not worry me...but I know she's worried, yet she seems to have accepted it, but she shouldn't die for this...I'll even go and see Central 46 myself even if I have too knock some sense into them."

Nemu blinked a few times.

"I do not understand."

Takumi cocked his head curiously.

"About what Nemu-san?"

"I do not understand why you would believe trying to speak to Central 46. You would also be punished for it. And for Rukia Kuchiki-san. Is it these feelings I have been studying? Are you in love with Rukia Kuchiki-san?"

Takumi's cheeks turned slightly red, but then he shook his head.

"It's wrong that's why Nemu-san." Nemu nearly showed surprise on her face. "She shouldn't die because some old dudes thinks it's fine to just kill someone without knowing the circumstances. I mean, someone as kind as Rukia-chan has to die because she wanted to save humans? Not on my watch."

Takumi's words made an impact on Nemu.

She hadn't thought someone would go so far for someone else.

It seemed that he also realized some risks that were going to happen.

"Takumi-sama, I shall inform you of everything I know about the Soul Societies laws, and also, about how you may wish to proceed."

"Y-You would? But why?"

"Because, I am...I believe the word is, enjoying, my time here. I find myself feeling, good about waking up in the morning. Conversing with Takumi-sama, and the others that are here."

Takumi adopted a soft smile.

"So Nemu-san, tell me more about yourself."

He thought that since Nemu seemed to be opening up slightly, he would try and find out more about her.

"Me? What information would you like to know?"

"Well...just about you. Your likes, dislikes. Things like that."

Nemu didn't know how to answer that.

She didn't know what she did like.

What she disliked.

She hadn't ever had the chance to explore anything of personal interest like that.

"I...do not know."

"You don't know?"

"No, I am merely Mayuri-sama's assistant, I do not have the luxury of exploring individuality most of the time, only when Mayuri-sama permits me to do so."

Takumi frowned at that.

"Why not though? You're a person, why can't you explore what you want to do? And who you are?"

"I have to be beside Mayuri-sama at all times unless it is his expressed wish for me to be away from him. This is the most time I've ever had to, as you would say, relax on my own terms. Though, I do not mind being in the company of you, and Kuchiki-san. If only to study mating and sexual behaviour."

"W-We're not sexually active!"

Takumi roared, causing Nemu to cock her head.

"Yes, I realize this. However, according to my data, she also is exhibiting signs of wanting to be active. Like, how she decreases the distance between you when you walk together, how she offers you a drink from her own drink, I have read that it is also called an indirect kiss if you drink from the same drink."

"W-Well, you're not wrong. But that's just childish things, I've drank from Orihime-chan's drinks before after she's drunk from it."

"And you also wish to..." Takumi raised an eyebrow. "...engage with relationship activities with Inoue-san, and Kuchiki-san. I might add, she also doesn't have the smallest breasts within the Soul Society."

"Pft!" Takumi did a spit take. "W-Why does that matter!?"

"I have read in my books that it matters."

Takumi didn't even want to know about that.

"E-Eh, okay..."

"In the Soul Society, the girl with the smallest bust that are Captain or Lieutenant, the people I am most familiar with, is called Lieutenant Yachiru from the Eleventh Squad, followed by Captain Toshiro from the Tenth Squad, and then it is between Lieutenant Hinamori from Squad Five, and Kuchiki-san from Squad Thirteen."

"I-I see, that's quite informative, I think..."

"The girl with the biggest bust would be Lieutenant Matsumoto from Squad Ten, and I would be second behind her, I believe. I will have to measure next time I am within the Soul Society to give you accurate information."

Takumi didn't want her to really do that, he didn't want her to get into trouble.

"So, the second smallest is paired with the biggest...I wonder how that dynamic works?"

"Yes, Captain Toshiro gets...annoyed. It seems that she has a complex about the smallness of her breasts. She begins freezing things when they're mentioned."

"Right, so don't mention she's small in the boob area. Good to know if I ever meet her, I don't want to be frozen."

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

Nemu then raised her head.

"Harem."

"W-What?"

Takumi wondered from Nemu, who held up a book she produced...Takumi didn't know from where.

"The word harem, it means-"

"I know what harem means. But, why are you mentioning it?"

"Because, it is relevant here. Perhaps, because of your conflicting emotions between the two individuals known as Orihime Inoue-san and Rukia Kuchiki-san, you could form what is called a harem. I have also detected elevated levels of lust from Giselle Gewelle-san, Yoruichi the cat, and Yuzu Kurosaki-san, and perhaps Karin Kurosaki-san. I decided to research the information and informed you so you have all of the knowledge you'd need."

Takumi didn't know what to do with that.

It seemed with Nemu, knowledge was a dangerous thing.

So he decided to change the subject, partly to save his own sanity.

"You know, from listening to it, it seems that you have a hobby of gathering information."

Nemu cocked her neck.

"I, do?"

"Yup, it seems so. Maybe you could develop that more...though, if you do ask people sensitive questions, try and frame it in a nice way, don't be blunt about it. Trust me, people aren't receptive if you're blunt about it. Though if you wanna tease them, then I guess if you're ready to suffer the consequences."

Nemu furrowed her eyebrows as Takumi stretched his arms.

"You seem to be, I believe the word is, tired."

"Lately, it's been hectic yeah." Takumi laid down in his bed. "Nemu-san, I don't know if you think so, but what you told me, is really sad."

"It is? Explain."

"Because..." His eyes went towards Nemu with a kind smile that surprised Nemu, who was not easily surprised. "...it's sad that you aren't allowed to express yourself. Even you just saying that you're tied to this Mayuri most of the time and only get to do things when he says you can, don't you find it sad?"

Nemu blinked, thinking about what he said.

Did she want to develop more of herself?

She had genuinely never thought about it before.

"I...I do not know. My life was created in the purpose of serving Mayuri-sama, if I disobey him, he wont be pleased with me."

"But, you're not a slave Nemu-san. You're your own person, you don't have to be confined by this Mayuri, and if he confines you like this, then I can't say that he's a good person."

Nemu's eyes went towards the ground, still holding no emotion on her face.

"Mayuri-sama is Mayuri-sama, I do as he commands me to do, and am allowed time when he permits me to have time to myself. You may be surprised by this, but I do not mind serving Mayuri-sama. He is the one that gave me life, I will do as he asks of me."

"Gave you life...is he your Father?"

Nemu without pause, nodded, to the disgust of Takumi.

"You could say that yes."

"If he is then he's not treating you right. If he's a Father, then he should love his daughter, not just have her be his servant or experiment or anything like that. Aren't there laws against what he's forcing you to do? It's just from what you've said...it doesn't sound like you get to live your own kind of existence. I'm worried about you Nemu-san."

Nemu thought about what he said.

Before, she wouldn't of questioned it.

No one had questioned her about it before.

No one had even ever considered her feelings on this level.

Yet Takumi was concerned for her.

It was strange for her.

She didn't think that she'd be in this kind of situation.

"Takumi-sama. May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

Nemu pulled closer to the bed.

"Would you create life to be your servants?"

"No, I'd only create life to see them grow on their own, and help them along the way. If you're talking about creating life, then the person that gave life to that being has to consider that as precious, you know?"

"Precious...life is precious..." Nemu watched as Takumi smiled towards her, causing her to feel, a little differently than she usually would do. "...I like pike fish."

"Ooh, you do?"

"Yes, I do."

"That's great Nemu-san! Maybe we could find more things for you to like!"

Nemu tilted her head.

It still felt weird that someone was taking the time to even help her with something so trivial.

"You're...yes, I would...like that. Also, I am apart of the Shinigami's Women's Association. I would, consider that, a pass time, yes?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice. It is a pass time if you gather with other female Shinigami and do whatever you want~"

"Yes, it is rare I can attend, but I am allowed when Mayuri-sama doesn't need me." Nemu stood up, and bowed her body. "Then I shall leave you to enter sleep mode."

Takumi chuckled lightly as she walked out of the room, with Yoruichi in cat form leaped onto the bed, crawling under the covers, and landed on his crotch, curling up into a ball, and purred gently against his crotch, Takumi feeling some heat pooling inside of him.

He found her strange, but it was pretty clear that she had been oppressed by this Mayuri.

Whoever he was, Takumi didn't like him already. Having his daughter consider herself nothing more than a slave to him, it sounded like this guy was twisted within Takumi's eyes, and if he saw ever met this guy, he'd have some choice words for him and maybe even a punch if he pissed Takumi off.

* * *

As Nemu was heading off to bed, Kisuke slyly looked towards her, and moved forward.

"Aah, Nemu-san. Are you heading off to bed?"

"Currently yes Kisuke Urahara, the man that my master detests, along with his child Takumi Urahara-sama."

Kisuke released a chortle.

"That makes sense. Mayuri-san has always been like that~" Kisuke waved a fan in front of his face. "But, you seem to be different to Mayuri-san. And it seems that you've taken an interest in my son as well."

"I would like to understand why Mayuri-sama doesn't like Takumi-sama. I cannot understand it myself. Perhaps he feels threatened by his intellect. From my observations, they should be around the same level of intellect, however while Mayuri-sama pursues what he wishes without having a moral centre with his experimentation's, Takumi-sama seems to be more benevolent, and has produced objects more humane, and has forced him to think in different ways to Mayuri-sama, creating different results, yet equally showcasing that they are on par with the intellect they possess."

Kisuke cracked his neck to the side.

"Indeed, Mayuri-san and my son are very intelligent people, and your observations are quite correct. However, there is one thing that you have missed."

Nemu tilted her head curiously but didn't show it on her face.

"What might that be?"

"You've forgotten that my son seeks fulfillment for others, and Mayuri-san seeks fulfillment for himself."

Nemu didn't quite understand.

"Explain."

"Putting it simply, Mayuri-san is out for himself, my son is about helping other people. Mayuri-san indeed is a genius, no one can dispute that, but his own selfishness will be a downfall one day. Living selfishly as he does wont lead him to always succeed. It limits his science. If he's only studying things to benefit himself and pursue his own desires, he wont expand much further than that and limits his options as a scientist, while my son is using his intelligence and science to benefit others. and to fulfil the desires of others. More doors are opened for my son than Mayuri-san because of that one aspect of how they live their lives."

Nemu bowed her head.

"I understand your thoughts. My opinion is...my opinion..."

Kisuke raised his eyebrows.

"Is something the matter?"

"No, I just have been receiving encouragement from Takumi-sama to express my opinion more. Perhaps I should begin also exploring that about myself. Mayuri-sama didn't encourage me to express opinion, while I was designed to show progress through his creation. So, I shall say that you might be correct in your thoughts about the difference between Mayuri-sama, and Takumi-sama."

"Yeah, can't hold a candle to me though~"

Kisuke boasted with a joking tone, only for Nemu to cut him down with her accurate words.

"In your opinion."

"A-Ah...y-yeah, in my opinion...I guess..."

"My opinion is experience is more with you Kisuke Urahara-san, while Takumi-sama is less experienced, but equally intelligent."

Kisuke gave a humbling smile.

"You're right...ooh by the way. You know, my son has nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

Nemu seemed confused, Kisuke hid a grin on his face.

"Yeah, that's right, nightmares. However, if he's held by a beautiful woman, then he doesn't have them anymore. Perhaps you could lend a hand Nemu-san~? I can confidently say you're beautiful, and Takumi would certainly think so."

"I understand. Takumi-sama has nightmares without being held. Then I shall fulfil that duty and hold him."

"No need to wake him up either~ Just, crawl into bed, and hold him. It is also a tradition within Japan to do this to get better acquainted with the opposite gender. In fact, it is considered insulting if you don't do that."

"Yes, I understand. If it is the custom of Japan, then I shall comply."

Nemu bowed her head, and walked towards Takumi's room, while Kisuke chuckled "Don't worry son, your old man is looking out for your needs...plus it will be funny for me to see your reactions~" and whistled as he walked away.

Nemu walked into his bedroom, seeing that he was already asleep, so she walked quietly, almost like she was a ghost, and slid into bed, but not before stripping off her clothing until she wore her panties, and bra, and getting into a very revealing nightdress.

She then took his head, placing it on her breast, and her arms went around his body.

Nemu did this with a robotic like expression on her face.

It seemed that she didn't mind doing this.

* * *

In the morning, Rukia woke up within the closet inside Takumi's room, rubbing her eyes. Her eyes were drew to the door, and could hear snoring coming from Takumi. Rather than be annoyed by it, she found it quite charming in a weird way.

While yawning to herself, she opened the door, looking to Takumi's bed, only to feel shock, and annoyance come over her, seeing that Takumi was sleeping soundly on top of Nemu's breast, making her feel complex about many things.

Without care, she stormed over to the bed, and poked Takumi's face with her fingers, pushing his cheeks upwards.

Her eyes witnessed that he didn't even wake up, so she patted his face.

"Wake up."

She ordered, but he moaned something out that sounded like "No..." and snuggled against Nemu's breasts believing it to be his own pillow.

Rukia's face turned more annoyed than before.

"I said now!"

Rukia used more force.

Not to actually hurt him, but it forced him awake, his eyes shot open, seeing the lovely flesh of Nemu's breasts. His head had slid down to the middle of her chest, while Nemu's eyes opened, and looked towards Takumi.

His bottom lip trembled while Nemu stared back at him stoically.

"Good morning Takumi-sama. Did I manage to stave off the nightmares for you?"

"W-What are you talking about?!"

"Yeah, why are you in bed with him!?"

Rukia added afterwards, as Yoruichi was stirred awake.

She listened silently as she crawled up the bed in cat form.

Nemu looked between them then nodded.

"I did not want to break tradition."

"W-What tradition?"

"It is customary to sleep in the opposite genders bed while in Japan to grow closer. Also, to establish that your dreams do not turn into nightmares. So, have I fulfilled my duties? Did you not have a nightmare last night?"

"Actually I slept quiet well..." Rukia's eyes narrowed even more than before. "T-The point is! W-Who told you this?"

"Kisuke Urahara-san told me this would be the most effective method of gaining affection between two people."

Rukia's hand tightened.

"Urahara..." Her eyes shot for the door, seeing a laughing Kisuke. "You will pay!"

"N-No! Please!"

Rukia dashed for the door, Kisuke ran away at top speeds, while Nemu stood up. She looked towards Takumi, and then towards the door, wordlessly walking out. Takumi noticed how small her nightdress was, and how it showed off a lot of different things, he was stunned by her beauty to say the least.

"It's a good thing they're gone huh Takumi."

Takumi nodded without realizing Yoruichi's voice had changed to her womanly one.

"Yeah, I guess that you're..." He paused, looking towards her, to see that she was stark naked. "Gwaaaah!"

He went to fall backwards when Yoruichi took his head, placing it to her breasts, his face turning redder by the second.

"So, now that you've slept on her breasts, how about playing with mine~?"

"Y-Yoruichi-chan, that's! I mean, I couldn't simply-"

"Hush now." She petted the back of his head, gently laying her lips on his cheek, his cheeks turning a cute pink colour in her eyes. "Don't worry about anything other than this situation between us Takumi. Having a cute boy in my bed, I've hit the jackpot~" Yoruichi pushed Takumi down onto the bed, and pulled his shirt up, revealing his abs towards her. "You've gotten more muscles since becoming a Shinigami, I truly do like them after all. But, I'm glad you've not lost your cute appeal either, you aren't too muscular, which is good for me." Yoruichi bent down towards him, her large breasts pushing against his chest, he could feel her nipples getting perkier by the second. "Now, allow me to take care of you Takumi, my sweet boy..."

Yoruichi's lips pressed against Takumi's neck, nibbling on his flesh, causing him to release small moans out of his mouth. Yoruichi smirked at the noise, only fuelling her desires, her tongue sensually going up his long neck.

"Y-Yoruichi-chan, you're quite feisty today..."

"I just wanted to have some fun with you in the morning~" Yoruichi giggled out dreamingly, allowing her nude body to press against Takumi's own, who's face was flushing brightly.

He had to admit that it wasn't such a bad way for him to wake up with a beautiful woman like Yoruichi.

* * *

Later on in the morning, just before school, Takumi gathered Giselle, and Yuzu towards a secure area of his. Since no one else was around, Giselle thought that this might be an opportunity to get somewhere with Takumi, though when she tried to grab his butt, he casually dodged out of the way, and placed a hand on top of Yuzu's head.

"So, Yuzu-chan. Giselle-san told me that you wish to unlock your power. Is that right?"

Yuzu blushed at the hand that was touching her head. Her eyes drifted towards his butt area, and her cheeks turned even more.

"Y-Yes, that's tight...r-right! That's right!"

Takumi gave her a curious look, while Giselle nodded again and again.

"I see. Then I can help you unlock your powers with the help of Giselle-san here. But, before going forward...are you sure you want to do this? Once you gain your powers, you'll be more of a target for Hollows than before, it could be highly dangerous."

Yuzu surprisingly then gave a conviction look within her eyes.

"You're right, it is highly dangerous. But if Karin is doing it, then I can do it too. If I push myself further and further, I can walk beside Karin and protect her, just as much as she protects me. I don't want to be a burden to her for all of my life. If I can help out, even just a little bit, then I know I've done something's that are good."

Takumi was impressed to say the least.

She wanted to use her powers to fight against the Hollow. Not just to fight them, but to protect her twin. Takumi thought that was rather admirable to have an ambition like that.

And he decided to help her out.

"Okay then Yuzu-chan. Step into the circle I've drawn on the floor."

Yuzu did as she was asked.

Giselle watched with a blank expression on her face, while Takumi clapped his hands together.

As soon as he did it, the circle began to glow a little bit.

"T-Takumi-kun..."

Yuzu's voice held nervousness.

So Takumi reassured her.

"Don't worry Yuzu-chan, you're going to be fine." His eyes drifted to Giselle. "Add your Quincy energy to the circle."

"Right away~"

Giselle strode forward, placing her hands on the circle on the ground, and summoned her Quincy powers. The Quincy power was then infused into the circle, and a large circular barrier raised high into the sky, creating what looked like a column.

Takumi then waved his fingers in front of himself, and they spelled out different words with energy, which sank into the column of energy, which glowed even more, and then a burst of energy shot out for Yuzu, who recoiled, though when it touched her, it bounced right off her, and shot back towards the column of light, Yuzu however felt a pulling inside of her.

"W-Whoa, what was that…?"

Yuzu didn't even know what that feeling was.

It felt strange.

But it felt right.

"It's the power rebounding off of you Yuzu-chan." Takumi explained as the energy struck her once more, but it didn't hurt, and once more, she felt more pulling on her insides. "The barrier is a special barrier that amplifies dormant spirit energy. I conversed with my Father and some Kido Master's about this, and it should work. Rebounding Quincy power would also be a big assistant to this kind of technique. Don't worry though Yuzu-chan, you're in no danger."

Yuzu believed him.

She didn't have a reason not to believe him.

So she allowed her body to take the hits of this energy again and again.

Each time it rebounded off of her, she felt more and more of a pull.

It felt amazing.

It felt so natural.

Then it happened.

A burst of energy surrounded Yuzu's body, and clung to her skin, while Giselle stuck out her tongue.

"Wow, she's really awakening her powers. I thought that this might not work."

Takumi sweat dropped.

"Ooh thanks, you didn't believe in me."

Giselle faced Takumi with a goofy smile.

"Of course I did~"

Takumi wasn't so sure, but he let it go for the moment so he didn't have to deal with it anymore.

"Even then, it seems her power is being released, and the dormant power was more than I expected."

"I know, she's beyond a novice Quincy from what I can feel and even beyond me when I started. If anything, she's at least seated officer level in power from just this initial release. She's probably got a talent for it like Masaki-chan did. If she did inherit her skills with Blut Vene, then she'd be able to tank a good deal of attacks."

Takumi was fascinated with that.

He wanted to know more about the Quincy's, and what they could do.

And from what he heard, Quincy's had certain specialities, which he thought made sense since it was the same for Shinigami. Some were gifted with Kido, some with Flash Step, some with a sword, and some were gifted in many areas.

Once the bright light died down within the area Yuzu was, Yuzu stepped forward, and put her hand outwards.

"Takumi-kun, Giselle-san. It's weird, but I feel different about the world now. I can feel more of the world around me."

"You're feeling spirit energy." Giselle clarified. "It does feel weird at the beginning, but you'll learn to just ignore it. It isn't that bad in this world anyway. But you'll also notice that your spirit senses will have increased. It's something we have over the Shinigami."

"I-I see. But, Giselle-san, we Quincy's have the ability to destroy a Hollow's body. We don't purify it, do we?"

Giselle shook her head, as Takumi gave her a soft smile.

"Don't worry about that. I'm working on something to help you with that. Surprisingly, Nemu-san is also helping me out with that. Call it a project of mine. I think that perhaps infusing some of my Zanpakuto into the Quincy equipment you carry around would be best. Though it wouldn't give you a Shikai or anything, it would potentially allow you to purify Hollows."

"R-Really?"

Takumi nodded.

"It's untested, but it is possible. With the research I'm doing, and what Nemu-san has told me. It should be easy enough to take some of my Zanpakuto and mix it into the Quincy crosses you have to give you the ability to purify Hollows. Until then, don't be so worried about using your powers to defend yourself from Hollows."

Yuzu cupped her hands together, and lightly kissed Takumi on the cheek, surprising the young boy, while Giselle looked on with a hardened expression on her face, and she chanted "She's Masaki-chan's daughter." again and again, clearly annoyed that Yuzu kissed Takumi's cheek.

"I am, thank you very much Takumi-kun! I can't wait to begin now!"

"Good!" Giselle cheered. "I can teach you how to gather spirit energy this morning before going to school, it shouldn't be an issue. And we can train for a little bit!"

"That would be nice Giselle-san!"

Takumi smiled.

He was glad to be able to help out Giselle and Yuzu like this with his science.

All he had to do now was help out Rukia and the others somehow.

* * *

A few days later, Bambietta had readied herself for the next stage of her plan. She was ready to take on Takumi and the others.

She quickly equipped what she needed to equip, and then turned to Candice, and Meninas. Each looked reserved about what was going down.

"What's wrong? Today is the day we take out the Shinigami."

Candice furrowed her eyebrows uncomfortably.

"Bambi-chan, what are you doing?"

"What does that even mean? I'm taking out the Shinigami, like we had all agreed to do. Don't you remember why we came to this town in the first place?"

"To punish the evil Shinigami for their misdeeds."

Meninas piped up, Bambietta nodding resolutely.

"Exactly. Now we have a chance to do just that..."

Candice threw a hand through her hair.

"It was so simple at the beginning. We came to punish evil Shinigami and protect good humans. Now look where we have come."

Bambietta crossed her eyes.

"I don't understand what you're saying. Are you against this?"

"We came to save humans Bambi-chan, and now...you're wanting to endanger them?"

Meninas tried to find a reason, but she couldn't.

Bambietta turned on a dark scowl.

"Are you going against me?"

"We came to save people, not kill them Bambi-chan. I...I can't be apart of that."

Meninas spoke with a sad expression on her face, Bambietta huffed.

"Fine, don't be then. Candy, we're going."

Candice shook her head.

"No."

Bambietta couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You too?!"

Candice tightened her hand, seemingly going through a few emotions within herself.

"...As she said, I came to punish evil Shinigami for their misdeeds...but we didn't find any here. I thought that Takumi could have been evil...but, he didn't take the chance to kill me. He stopped me from killing him, and then let me go. He could have killed me that night during Don Kanonji's show...but he simply let me go."

"One good deed doesn't change what those bastards have done to us all! They let humans die to Hollows Candy!" Candice looked uncomfortable. "They didn't even come to help you Minnie when you were attacked by Hollows when they were supposed to be guarding the town you lived in!" Meninas exhaled slowly. "Now, you're going to side with them monsters? For what they've done?"

"If we unleash Hollows onto this world and they kill people...are we any better than they are?"

Bambietta's face contorted into a mixture of anger, and sadness.

She didn't even know what to think when it came to this.

"We came to protect the innocent, not kill the innocent."

Meninas turned around, and walked away.

Candice looked at Bambietta who was shaking with her anger.

"Bambi-chan..."

"I guess I know who my friends are, don't I?"

With callous words, Bambietta turned away from Candice.

"It isn't like that. We can't agree with what you're doing. We care about you...we can't do this anymore."

"Don't, I can do it all by myself! I guess that's how I'll end up then! All alone once again! That's fine, I like being on my own! Now get out and don't come back! I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"

Candice bowed her head, and left.

She couldn't see the tears that hung within Bambietta's eyes.

She didn't cry.

But she was close to it.

Now that all of her friends were gone, she didn't have anything left now.

Apart from one thing.

And that was her own brand of justice, however warped that was.

* * *

Meanwhile after school, because everyone else was busy, it was only Takumi and Rukia who were heading off into town together. Even Nemu seemed to be busy, and had taken off to do her own 'research' though Takumi didn't even want to know what that was.

Rukia could see that this was quite intimate.

She didn't expect to feel quite nervous to have something like this.

She walked beside him while entering town together.

"So, Rukia-chan. What is it that you want to do?"

"Well, I thought that it would be quite interesting, if we did things that you thought would be quite enjoyable. I just want to explore the human world a little more..."

"What I think would be enjoyable...well, that's a good question. I find things interesting where others might see it as strange and what not. But, if it is about exploring more of the human world..." Takumi had an idea, grabbing Rukia's hand who blushed at the touch. "Come on, I've got the perfect idea!"

Takumi took off running with Rukia who didn't even know what was going on.

But she was just excited to see what was going to happen next.

They took off running as fast as they could, shooting down the streets, and down a few alleyways.

"Are you going to tell me where you're going!?"

"Aah, you'll see!"

Rukia didn't know what he meant by that, but she was intrigued, so she decided to just allow it to happen.

After twenty or so minutes of running, they stopped outside of a theme park. Rukia noticed a lot of fun rides inside of the theme park. Rukia's eyes lit up, as Takumi walked forward, offering his hand towards her.

"Come on, lets go and have some fun Rukia-chan."

Rukia adopted a soft smile on her face, taking his hand.

"Yes, lets go and have some fun."

Takumi and Rukia walked into the theme park after paying to get inside. Of course Takumi paid for it. Rukia tried to pay for it...but then she realized that she didn't have any human money, so she felt slightly embarrassed, but Takumi laughed it off.

They walked around the giant theme park together, still holding one another's hands. Many people zipped past them, running them at high speeds, laughing and having a general good time with one another.

"It seems strange that there's this many people here."

Rukia noted, Takumi chuckled lightly.

"I think it's because of some sort of promotional thing. I was surprised that there would be this many."

Takumi and Rukia continued on together, looking at the extravagant scenes before them. Rukia's eyes saw a roller coaster, her eyes lit up at the sight, so Takumi walked over to the ride, together with Rukia, and got onto it.

Then the ride began, shooting them up into the air, with a jolt, Rukia gripped the railing before her tightly.

"Geez, that was rough."

"These rides aren't known to be gentle Rukia-chan."

Rukia released a small laugh out of her nose.

"I suppose..." They got to the top, and then it show down like a rocket. "...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Takumi chuckled wildly while seeing Rukia screaming out loud due to how fast they were going down. He could see her shaking, and holding onto the railing so tight that her knuckles were turning white.

He actually found it quite adorable to see her do something like that.

Then after the ride, they noticed a photo booth before them, so they decided to take a few pictures together. One of them giving the peace sign to the camera, one pulling funny faces, one laughing together, and a bunch of other weird but nice ones.

After that, they went on a few more rides together. Each seemed to be fastest ones that Rukia could find.

Takumi was sure Rukia actually liked going on fast rides, but she'd show a rare side to her that she usually didn't show others, and that was her own worries in a cute way.

Then after about an hour or so, Takumi and Rukia found themselves sitting on a park bench, eating some dango together.

"So, this is called dango?"

"Don't they have that in Soul Society?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I don't usually eat foods of this nature."

Takumi gave a smile.

"So, you're more of the stick to what you know type, right?"

Rukia shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess that you're right. I just don't have many chances to explore more about different types of food among other things. Honestly, this is the most I've learned about other places in a long time. We don't really need to know much about the human world, besides how to handle Hollows and the basics of human being understanding to help them cross onto the Soul Society with normal spirits."

"I think I understand. You're taught more how to handle Hollows than humans."

Rukia nodded with a small smile creeping onto her lips.

"Yes, that's right."

"I can get that. Might I say though, you're a quick study." Rukia cocked her head curiously. "You've become friends with the other girls, right?" Rukia's eyes broadened slightly. "I've seen it, you've become good friends with Orihime-chan and the others. And they're normal humans...well, some of them are."

"I never even thought about it...I guess that you're right. Weird...I didn't plan to do things of this nature. I didn't plan to really become apart of the lives of you and the others...but, it seems like...no, never mind."

"It seems like, what?"

Rukia shook her head, staring into the blue sky.

"It's nothing really. This is just...the most fun I've ever had."

"Really now?"

Rukia's eyes went back towards Takumi.

"I think so. I don't remember the last time I've ever had so much fun. Usually, my life consists of fighting Hollows, and other things the Soul Society wish for me to do. But this is different...this feels like I do have..."

Before she could finish, her eyes caught the sight of a haunted house.

She had to admit that a small part of her wouldn't mind seeing if Takumi got scared from such things.

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the haunted house.

"Come on, lets go inside here."

"I didn't think you'd be into a horror show."

"Come on, it's open during the day, it isn't going to be scary."

Takumi gave a small chuckle, and entered with Rukia once checking in at the front.

As soon as they entered, they saw thick curtains hanging up, black in colour, and they barely could see any light at all. So Takumi casually walked forward, Rukia followed after him.

"Don't become scared now Takumi."

Rukia smirked out, Takumi released a small laugh.

"I fight Hollows everyday, a haunted house isn't going to scare me."

"If you say..." Rukia's eyes drifted left as they came to a new area, seeing a deranged looking woman on the bed. "...so."

Rukia paused when looking at the woman.

She hung from what seemed to be a large bedpost...then her eyes drifted to the bed, that had a red liquid on it that looked like blood.

Rukia had to admit that she looked a little crazed, but she didn't allow any fear to come to her.

"Do you want to play…?"

"Ooh God..."

Rukia cringed as the woman's neck twisted to her.

Takumi glanced back to see Rukia looking a little freaked out.

"You okay Rukia-chan?"

"Y-Yes, you don't have to touch my back Takumi."

Takumi held up his hands to her, making her face drain of colour.

"I'm not touching you."

Rukia sobbed a little bit, putting a hand to her mouth.

"W-What's touching me then…?"

"Me…."

Rukia sobbed some more, cocking her eyes back fearfully to see a bloodied lipped man.

"W-What do you want…?"

"You."

"No..."

At that, Rukia shook so hard Takumi thought she was going to fall over.

Takumi then felt arms slide around his body, his neck turned back to see an older woman licking her lips.

"Would you like to play a game with me…?"

Takumi bit his lower lip, and didn't say anything, as he felt more and more people surrounding him.

"N-No thanks. D-Don't attack me..."

The woman on the bed twirled around, with some red blood like substances dripping onto the bed, Rukia's eyes flared with fear, while the woman smacked her lips together.

"Come and live with me forever, Rukia."

Rukia's body convulsed at the thought the woman knowing her name, not realizing that Takumi had said her name so that's why the woman would know it.

Then the woman on the bed leaped towards her menacingly, Rukia screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Rukia shot for Takumi and hugged onto him tightly while Takumi looked between the people coming...and then he saw what seemed to be a clown holding a knife.

"W-What the hell…?"

Takumi watched as the man came closer and closer, running.

"T-Takumi, it's coming closer!"

"Lets get the hell out of here!"

Takumi and Rukia both let out screams, and rushed out of their as fast as they could while being chased by a demented clown, holding onto one another's hands tightly for dear life.

Many scary images came up, like pictures of skeletons, real looking skeletons, many corridors to walk through, things jumping out, scaring them all the more.

They didn't even stop until they hit daylight, and once they got outside, they both panted so hard.

"W-We deal with Hollows...a-and that was more terrifying...s-she knew my name..."

Takumi inhaled slowly.

"I did say your name, so she probably just used it to freak you out more..."

"T-That's for kids? That's terrifying..."

Takumi shook his head, and pointed to a sign.

"Teenagers and up."

"I'd rather fight a Hollow. C-Can we find something else, less scary to do?"

Takumi chuckled awkwardly, looking around.

* * *

Then he saw a Ferris wheel, so they went onto that, and it began going into the air.

They sat opposite one another, and enjoyed their rise into the sky all the more.

Rukia glanced out at the town of Karakura that she could see, and her lips curled upwards.

"Today was nice Takumi."

"I'm glad you're having fun Rukia-chan."

Rukia released a small chuckle.

"Yeah...this day, it's been fun. The rides were fun...the haunted house was...in its way, interesting I guess, still think it's scary for most teenagers. Even eating the dango was quite fun. Takumi, can I tell you something?"

"Of course, tell me anything you want."

Rukia fiddled with her shirt before her, surprisingly acting a little shy.

"I just wanted to say...this has been fun. Being in the human world. I've talked to you more about many things than I have with anyone else since...Kaien."

"Aah, your friend Kaien-san."

"Yeah, since Kaien. I wish that it didn't have to end."

"Who says it has to end?"

Rukia brushed her fingertips together, unable to reveal what she was really thinking.

"Everything has to end, eventually."

"Not necessarily. Things change sure, but it doesn't mean the end, it just means a shift in that particular thing." Takumi pulled closer to Rukia who looked right back at him with a certain feeling of sadness within her. "I know, about the Shinigami. And how harsh they can be. And I will protect you."

"Takumi, you're speaking about taking on the Soul Society-"

"Yeah, so?"

"You're crazy."

Takumi gave a slight chuckle.

"So what if I'm crazy?"

"Being crazy is..." Rukia steeled herself, and parted her lips. "Takumi, if you're speaking crazy, then I might as well just say that I have feelings for-"

Suddenly, interrupting Rukia, was a large banging on top of the roof, stopping the pair.

Then they felt the pressure coming above them.

"Rukia-chan..."

"Yeah, it's her."

Takumi and Rukia both slid out of the window, Takumi got onto the roof, and helped Rukia onto the roof, and saw that Bambietta was stood there with her arms folded.

"Of course it's you. What do you want Bambietta-san? I'm not fighting you here."

Bambietta developed a smirk across her face.

"A fight. That's cute. I want more than a fight."

"And what does that mean?"

Rukia demanded from Bambietta who revealed what seemed to be several rings.

"Do you know what these are?" Takumi and Rukia didn't answer, so Bambietta filled them in. "It's something called Hollow Bait."

"Hollow Bait...but, you've got more than one."

Bambietta's smirk grew on her face.

"You're right. Great observation Rukia. If I shatter these Hollow Baits, then many Hollows will come to this town."

"Why would you do that? It would endanger everyone."

Bambietta shrugged her shoulders.

"Like I care. If you want to put a stop to me, then come to the park near your school. I've cleared it out from other humans. All so we can have our final battle. I'll be waiting for you there."

"Stop Bambietta-san! Can't you see what you're doing is wrong!? You want to fight, fine! Fight me! Leave others alone!"

Bambietta licked her lips.

"Lets see who's better. The Quincy, or the Shinigami!"

Bambietta's fingers stretched out, and began moving to the baits to crush them.

"No! Don't!"

Takumi tried to stop her, but she fired off an arrow at close range, forcing him to dodge, as she crushed the baits within her fingers, shattering them and the particles of spirit energy went into the air.

"Aah, now I've done it. Hollows will come here, but don't worry, I'll slay them all by myself, then I'll slay you. To show you the power of the Quincy, and you evil Shinigami's will be exterminated once and for all! See you soon!"

"Wait!"

Takumi went to grab her, but she used her Quincy Flash Step to move out of the way at high speed.

She disappeared, leaving Rukia and Takumi alone on the roof of the Ferris wheel they were in.

"What is her game? Why endanger others like this?"

Rukia's question was met with silence as Takumi didn't know the answer either.

His eyes drifted around, and couldn't sense anything different around them.

But then he heard the sound of cracking.

At first, he didn't even want to know what that was…

But he dared to look up into the sky, and he saw...

"Ooh my God..."

"What?" Takumi wordlessly pointed upwards. Rukia cast her eyes up, and saw what he was looking at. "Oh God...Hollows, so many Hollows..."

Up in the sky, was a giant crack, like the very air had suffered a giant crack, and it was growing. Hollows were pouring out of it like a water fountain. Though they seemed to be relatively weak type of Hollows, since they were growing in numbers, it was going to be difficult to fight them all.

"I'm counting over fifty and more coming Rukia-chan."

"I know...those Hollow baits of hers..."

"Dangerous, very dangerous it seems. They've summoned many Hollows here."

Takumi continued watching the Hollows, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do next.

All he knew was that he'd have to fight against many Hollows, and they all looked very dangerous, menacing.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, that's the end of it! Bambietta's friends have left her, seeing that she's going too far, Takumi helped Giselle with awakening Yuzu's powers. Nemu and Takumi had a moment and talked about various things, including helping Nemu realize more of her self worth, then Kisuke got involved, and caused a scene hehe~ Even Yoruichi had a little fun~ Takumi's realizing his feelings for Rukia more and more, and Rukia's also beginning to accept her own feelings, though is torn about putting him in danger, though Takumi's already beginning to make some plans for the Soul Society, we'll see more about that later on. At the end though after Rukia's and Takumi's sort of date, Bambietta's unleashed the Hollow bait, more than one, and now many Hollows are coming to Karakura!**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	11. Protect Karakura part one!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**oro03910; Yeah, I can get that. He probably could yeah, Takumi's a pretty smart guy, so using his sword like that could be quite fun to do. Those would be pretty cool magic's, and it would be different to the usual types that most seem to use. And that would be pretty awesome with the wings~**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, we'll be seeing a few things going on during this part of the story. Yoruichi will become involved yeah~ In the future chapters she might do something like that yeah. Yeah she could do, and who knows if they do or not, they very well could do. Nemu's quite the fun character huh, she just comes out with the random things and what not. Yeah maybe he could do something like that~ It's gonna be fun when we get there~**

**Crenin; Maybe she could yeah, I dunno about her yet. She does yeah, she's got a complex about them~ And thanks!**

**Oblivious IJ; He might do yeah~ Yeah, I can agree with that.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; She has yeah, and we'll see her and the others unleashing their powers during this arc. Yoruichi is yeah, she just does what she wants to do. Nope, but that's Nemu for you. She has yeah, Bambietta's gone off the deep end now, with everything that's happened to her.**

**Reviewer Requiem; Sure, that sounds great to me~ Yeah, she'd be like that in my eyes. Yeah maybe she could have something like that. Nami is quite skilled with her weapon, she doesn't get to shine as much as the other Strawhats, but back against the wall, and Nami can pull out some cool moves. Sure, I like Nami so I don't see why not. Hancock would be funny to write for. He could do yeah, sounds pretty good to me. Water would be fun, and I think personally it could happen as we already have watery like substances in the story anyway, and yeah he could have something like that~ Sure he'd have Haki abilities. I wouldn't know which he'd specialize in though yet. I do hope Nami unlocks it in the canon series, it could be fun adding armament to her Clima-tact. That sounds good to me! **

**Andrew123456; Yeah, that would be quite interesting to write about, that sounds good to me~**

**Guest 1; He could have something like that if he's her brother yeah. That would be quite the arc between Rias and Akeno to have something like that happen.**

**A fan; I'd have to say probably Iba from Squad Seven since he's literally there to fill space, we don't even know the name or abilities of his Shikai, and know nothing of his combat prowess or anything. I think that the one who had the most potential in the story but didn't do anything with it really was Momo as she had a connection to Aizen and just got stabbed twice, first time sure was shocking and built tension and drama, the second time was unnecessary. Rangiku also had a story with Gin which was pretty good, wish it was expanded upon though more. Yeah maybe, it could be an interesting opponent for Nemu to face.**

**Guest 2; Yeah, that could be pretty cool.**

**Ragna; Thanks for the suggestions, the Quincy girls are still around.**

**Guest 3; Sure, she could do something like that, it sounds pretty good to me. And that would be pretty funny~**

**Guest 4; Ooh she will be doing something like that. Sure he could have that. He could do something like that yeah~ And eventually, it will be shown that Takumi is yeah.**

**Skull Flame; She did yeah, even Meninas can see it is wrong. Indeed, Nemu can be quite innocent in the way she acts sometimes. I bet he did yeah, and yeah, she does a little bit. Yoruichi truly doesn't she knows what she wants. Soi Fon wont huh, we'll see some interesting twists and turns with Soi Fon and Takumi. Ooh yeah, Rukia found something scary alright~ It could be a good omake yeah. In a way she is yeah, they aren't the most stable bunch. Yeah, we will.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much, and I'm glad you did! He does yeah, he's pretty intelligent, so school exams wont be a problem for him. They wont fight this chapter, but a fight is going to come up soon enough. Some are and some aren't, Bambietta was mostly trying to freak Rukia out with her statements, and attempt to put a rift between her, and Takumi, though it failed in the end. They did yeah~ She is yeah, Candice is coming to the good side. Nemu's always quite fun~ Maybe by the end of the story, he'd be acknowledged to be the smarter one. Yoruichi takes what chances she can it seems. Yuzu's got her powers now! She very well might be in for a massive shock yeah. We'll see their relationship changing yeah. Maybe he could become like that yeah~ Isshin could say something like that yeah. I have yeah. The Sacred Gear is indeed a simple power, but it's still nice to see, I hope the others are more unique though. Could be pretty fun yeah~ And yeah, he might do~ No, she'll have his basic power set, albeit with some alterations. Maybe they could do something like that yeah. They sound good to me. Eh, I dunno, perhaps. Kenpachi seems to be the type that would take pride in it yeah. Maybe he could do something like that yeah. Well you never know, and yeah, he might learn a little bit of it. Vampire with that would be cool. It could be, you never know~ **

**Guest 5; He could have a bad sense of direction, it would be fun for comedy purposes. That would be a funny scene~ Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Guest 6; There might be a scene like that in this chapter yeah~ And there could be yeah.**

**Guest 7; I've watched a little of that show, and it's quite fun to watch, so doing a story for it might be fun, and being his son sounds quite unique to someone like me. I like the pairing, always liked Black Cat. And yeah, that sounds like a fun scenario for them to meet, and having them be like that!**

**Guest 8; He could be something like that yeah. And yeah, that would be nice to see a bond like that between him and Lucy.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Protect Karakura part one!**

"Hehehehe! Come back and play!"

A young girl with light green hair, and a tattered looking dress, a cracked mask on top of her head, chased after what seemed to be a dog with a Hollow mask on its face. The girl looked to be quite young, and innocent looking.

Though he had a Hollows appearance in the fact that she had a mask, it seemed that she was quite a nice girl all in all.

Within the dusty area that they were in, the sand thrashed around with the sparkles of lightning spreading outwards.

The young girl placed a finger to her chin in thought.

"Why's it different?"

The girl spoke to herself.

But the dog barked at her, so she took off chasing after it once more.

As they ran, the dog seemingly was running towards a hole within the area.

It was just in the sky, looking as if it was a portal.

The young girl didn't even register the hole until she tripped on the ground, which was on a small hill, and her body rolled down it.

"W-Wait! N-No!"

The young girl rolled down the hill, and slipped into the hole in the sky, while the dog barked loudly into the air into the hallowed area of the place known as Huedo Mundo.

Watching the experience happen, two more Hollow humanoid like creatures saw what had happened, and both looked completely shocked.

"N-Nel!"

"No, she's gone through that doorway!"

The pair rushed to the portal in the sky in hopes that they would be able to get towards her, and save her from what seemed like a very bad experience.

* * *

Orihime was watching Tatsuki train within the dojo at first that was close to the school, but as time went on, more and more of her thoughts drifted off to Takumi and what Rukia was doing with him right now.

Wondering if she was having fun with Takumi...

But then as she was thinking about it, Tatsuki walked over to her in her karate outfit on.

"Hey Orihime, what are you doing?"

Orihime turned towards her with a gentle smile on her lips.

"Nothing Tatsuki-chan! I'm just thinking that's all!"

Tatsuki chuckled, lightly patting Orihime's head with her knuckle.

"That's not good." She joked, but saw the seriousness on Orihime's face. "Don't tell me you're thinking about that idiot Takumi, and Kuchiki-san."

"N-No..." Tatsuki raised a brow, Orihime crumbled. "...maybe a little bit."

"Urgggh! That damn Kuchiki-san! She seriously is getting in the way! I was secretly routing for you two as well!"

"Y-You were?"

Orihime wore surprise on her face, while Tatsuki adopts a sly grin on her face.

"Of course I was! I just kinda always thought it would happen, you know? Eventually, you'd just get together, and be weird together and have lovely dovey moments...and eventually get married or something..." Tatsuki noticed some ghosts floating past her face, and were looking to get some personal time together. "...ugh, I hate ghosts sometimes."

"Ghosts?"

"Yeah, I...well, it's been happening a lot lately, with ghosts appearing in my face. And then they'd annoy me, so I can't see anymore. Why can't they just leave me alone." Tatsuki became more irritated, seeing two ghosts kissing one another. "Ugh...I really detest ghosts with their habit of making out, and what not..."

"I think it's nice. Even after they're gone, they still find love!"

Tatsuki gave a sour expression on her face.

"That's one way to look at it." Shaking her head, she produced a drink, and sipped from it. "Either way Orihime. I keep telling you, just profess your feelings for the damn guy. I don't personally understand why someone would want to date him. But, you seem to truly like him, so go for it. Just do your best."

"Do my best..."

"Yeah, just do your best. Just storm over to him, grab him by his stupid shoulders and proclaim "I want you as my boyfriend!" and then leave it to him."

Orihime's cheeks flashed several shades of red, wondering if she ever could be so forceful.

"N-No, I couldn't do that! Besides, if Kuchiki-san does have feelings for Taku-chan then who am I to..."

"Whoa, hold on. No, she doesn't get to be the first one to say her feelings. You've had them for years now, she's not been here for a semester of school. So, you can be the first one to say your feelings. Trust me, I know that he has them for you."

"Really Tatsuki-"

Before she could finish, there was a loud explosion at the school a good distance away from them.

"What was that?"

Tatsuki's question wasn't answered by Orihime.

Instead, they went to go and investigate what had happened...but something forced Orihime to stop.

She felt a chill down her spine.

Her eyes looked to the sky, feeling the nervousness coming from that direction and she saw a crack in the sky. Though she couldn't see it clearly, she could feel the many dark presences falling out of the sky, and ready to strike.

"Taku-chan..."

She knew something was wrong.

Something was happening.

But she didn't know what that was right now.

All she knew was that Takumi would be involved, and she wished that she could do something, anything to help.

But the reality was that she didn't have any powers.

She wished that she did have some, but she didn't which was something that made her sad.

As Rukia could help, and she couldn't...

"Come on Orihime, lets go and check out what that was!"

Orihime was snapped out of her thoughts, and nodded, walking over to Tatsuki, and followed her back into the school grounds, and saw that the windows in the building had been shattered, with many students overlooking the area.

Orihime however couldn't get the uneasiness off of her chest.

She knew something was different.

Something was off.

It was creeping up and down her spine, it felt that weird to her.

* * *

Candice, and Meninas walked through the streets, through the town at a high pace.

They were heading for the Urahara shop to explain what's going on.

However, on the way there, they saw a number of Hollows falling down to the sky. Meninas tightened her hand, and thrusted it forward with the strength to crush the enemies, destroying a good chunk of the area with her fist colliding with the Hollows, and created a decent sized air pressure that would break most easily.

"G-Geez Minnie-chan! You could mess up my hair doing stunts like that!"

"Sorry, but there's many around."

Meninas said apathetically, while Candice raised her hand to the sky, and sent off a bolt of lightning, crashing with the Hollows that were attempting to sneak up upon them, and destroyed them with a simple blast.

"Geez, it seems that Bambi-chan's done it now, the power being released here, is scary. This is the most amount of Hollows I've ever felt. It feels like hundreds are flooding this city right now, how are we supposed to stop them all?"

"We get help from the Urahara people."

Meninas explained, and ran forward together with Candice.

They took down a good bunch of Hollows on the way to the Urahara shop, and on the way, they caught the sight of Liltotto looking at a certain something on the sidewalk.

"Lil! What are you doing?"

Candice demanded as she moved closer.

Liltotto pointed towards the right.

"I've been here for two minutes, and I've seen the most terrifying thing in the world."

"You do realize the towns under attack by Hollows, right?"

Meninas offered Liltotto who just blankly stared on.

"I know that, but this is more scary."

Candice scoffed, and looked...only to be terrified.

"W-What in the actual hell…?"

"Yes, it seems that her Zombie is...weird."

What they saw was Zombie Chizuru grabbing many Hollows, who all screamed, and she threw them against the wall, pinning them with chair legs...where she got them from was a mystery, and it didn't matter to the three ladies.

"W-What's going on here?"

Meninas' question was answered by Zombie Chizuru though she spoke to the Hollows.

"Hollows, are my enemieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! I take Hollows and cuddle theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem!"

"N-No please!"

A Hollow pleaded with her, another nodding strongly.

"I'm scared of you!"

"Stop this you weirdo! I am terrified of you! Make this stop now!"

The three Quincy's couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Hollows...terrified of a human being.

It was a weird yet wonderful experience to behold.

"So, she's terrified the Hollows into submission...what is this woman?"

Liltotto didn't have an answer for Candice, and they watched as she slapped the Hollows across the face, who all cried for mercy, to be saved from everything that was going on around them.

"Zombie Chizuru is building army now. You will follow Zombie Chizuru."

The Hollows looked mortified upon hearing that. They looked as if life had left them.

"Did she just say she's building an army?"

Candice sobbed out, Meninas merely could nod.

"I don't want to be in your army you freak!"

A Hollow with yellow eyes snapped at her, causing her face to contort into anger.

"Are yooooooooooooooou defying Zombie Chizuru?"

"Yes! Of course I am! Get out of my life now!"

Zombie Chizuru raised her hand to the sky, and then brought it down onto the Hollows head, crushing its skull, igniting fear into the Quincy girls, seeing how strong Zombie Chizuru was becoming.

"It wasn't suggestion. It was order."

The Zombie girl said it with wild eyes and an equally wild heart.

The Hollows burst out into tears, Candice pulled back with a hand over her mouth.

"W-What has Gigi created?"

"No, this isn't Gigi, this is her hidden power, being realized as a Zombie. She's something new, she's something scary. She's a Demon..."

Liltotto spoke with a frightened tone.

"I-I'm getting out of here, I can't handle this anymore. She's….She's too much! I can't deal with this anymore!"

Meninas turned around and began walking away with fear in her eyes.

Liltotto glanced at the Zombie, and then towards Candice.

"I'll go and support the town, go and get some help. If only to get away from this Zombie, and her army of Zombies."

"I was doing just that before I found you! I was going for Kisuke Urahara!"

"Good, then I'll go into the town to protect people that could be attacked."

The pair nodded, and took off in different directions.

When making it to the shop, Candice busted down the door, moving forward with her breasts bouncing along, whacking Jinta in the face, and knocked him down.

"Watch where you're going kid."

Candice scowled out, while Jinta's eyes focused in on her chest…

But stopped when Candice scowled at him.

"What are you looking at brat?"

"N-No! Nothing at all! Please don't hit me!"

"Keep quiet, and I wont have to resort to that."

A groaning sound came from the back, and walking out was a sleepy Kisuke.

"What's going on…?" His eyes focused in on the girls. "Quincy customers. That's rare, so what can I do for you?"

"Can't you even feel it!?"

Kisuke gave Candice a curious look.

"What are you talking about?"

"The fact that we've got, I don't know, hundreds of Hollows pouring out of the sky! Does that not ring a-" Kisuke flashed past her, and outside, looking to the sky. "-don't ignore me!"

Candice stormed outside, while Meninas followed after her.

"My God, there's so many...what the hell is going on…?"

"It's Bambi-chan." Meninas replied to Kisuke's doubt. "She's unleashed Hollows onto the town with her Hollow bait. She probably used more than one though."

At Meninas' words, Kisuke gripped his hand tightly.

"She even went this far? This entire town is in danger..."

"That's why we came here! We need some kind of plan old man!"

Candice snapped at him, just as Yoruichi rolled around the corner.

"Kisuke, this is quite the mess."

Candice and Meninas both went wide eyed at the sight of the cat speaking.

"D-Did that cat just speak?"

Candice didn't even want to deal with it.

Kisuke on the other hand adopted a unsure expression on his face.

"This is very dangerous indeed. We have to do something. And with this many Hollows, the Soul Society simply wont ignore this...they'll definitely pick up on this, and in that case...Takumi is...Yoruichi-san. I guess that it is time for us to become involved."

Meninas gulped.

But then pointed at the cat with confusion.

"How is a cat going to help?"

Kisuke let out a laugh.

"Haha, don't worry about that for now girls. Just watch."

The girls didn't quite understand what was going on, and saw that Yoruichi's cat like body began growing more and more, raising into the sky. Her fur became beautiful skin, her chest area expanded, making Candice feel jealousy while Meninas just tilted her head curiously at the sight before her.

Yoruichi then displayed her womanly form, her naked form at that it seemed.

"W-What the hell?! She transformed?! How did she do that?! Tell me how she did that! Some kind of magic Kido shit that came from the Soul Society!? That's insane! That's mad! What the fuck is going on with that?!"

Kisuke chuckled awkwardly, while Yoruichi dashed away for a few seconds, and reappeared wearing some clothing.

"Heh, what's wrong Candice? Are you jealous of my body?"

"S-Shut up you! I am not jealous of you! I have amazing powers! You are nothing to me!"

Yoruichi adopts a small smirk on her face.

"That's adorable Candice, I see that you have a red face of embarrassment." Candice snaps her hand at her with a blast of lightning, but Yoruichi hops into the air, and tightens her hands. "I suppose that I should also become serious here."

The young woman disappears in a burst of speed, and in the next instance, the air above them was cleared of many Hollows. Candice sweat drops at seeing that happening right before her eyes, she didn't think it would happen.

"W-What the hell…?"

"Oh yeah, you should know that she's able to move faster than anyone I know. She's not known as a Flash Goddess for nothing you know?"

"Hmph, Flash Goddess, I just hear that she's a pervert having such a name."

Kisuke gave her a curious look before shaking his head.

"It's best if we each go to a section of the city and blast away the enemies. That's what you like doing, isn't it Candice-san? Meninas-san?"

"Ya damn right! Now you're talking! I'll leave the complex stuff to you, I've got some rampaging to do!"

Candice shot into the air, and withdrew her bow, firing off a myriad of arrows into the sky, and pierced many Hollows, slaying them off instantly, while Meninas cracks her neck side to side, showcasing her ability to remain calm under pressure.

"Then it is my turn."

Meninas punches the ground, tearing off a huge piece of the ground. Even Kisuke had to sweat drop from seeing that, and pull backwards, while the young woman shoots into the air, swinging the large piece of ground like a bat, and smashing Hollows into the ground with her incredible strength.

Kisuke felt sweat dropping from his forehead.

"Well, that's one way to get rid of someone I suppose."

He continued chuckling awkwardly to himself, unsure of what he was supposed to say in this kind of situation.

But he knew that he also had work to do, so he didn't just stand around, and he got to work immediately.

* * *

Takumi and Rukia watched as more and more Hollows spewed out of the hole in the sky. Standing there on the roof of the Ferris wheel they went in, they knew that the situation was only going to go from bad, to worse within minutes.

Seeing the people down their just going on with their day like normal, it worried Rukia about how much damage that this is going to cause. The town was in danger, neither she or Takumi could understand what Bambietta was thinking about when it came to things like this.

"We need to get a hand on this situation."

Takumi nodded at Rukia.

"We need to contact the others. And then I'll have to go and face this town with my Zanpakuto. Kinda glad that I know Shikai now, I should be able to take lower ranked ones with ease, but the amount of bait she used. What if she lures something powerful here?"

"I know, and these Hollows are going to be drawn to people with high spiritual energy. So that includes people like us, and Karin. Yuzu as well."

"And Orihime-chan. Damn, she's going to be the most vulnerable..."

Takumi grimaced at the thought of Orihime being in danger.

The others could fight, Orihime couldn't fight on her own.

Especially with the amount of Hollows that were coming about.

Rukia looked down at her Gigai, and then towards Takumi.

"Takumi, I need to go back into my Shinigami form."

"But Rukia-chan..."

"I know what you're going to say. But this is too dangerous for one person alone. I couldn't ask you to take on all of these, and we don't have time to go back to your house to get your Father. We have to make a stand now."

Takumi closed his eyes briefly, but then nodded.

"I understand. If you think you're ready."

"Yes, I'm ready Takumi. I'll need your assistance."

"Right."

Takumi took out two soul candies (regular) and placed one in his mouth, and swallowed, releasing his body.

Rukia looked at hers, thinking about going back into her Shinigami form.

If she had her powers back.

She didn't know. She felt stronger, but now she'd have to try it herself in a combat situation.

She inhaled, and went to take the pill when Takumi casually injected something into her.

"Aaaaah!" Rukia cried out. "W-What was that for?!"

"Something I've been working on."

Rukia didn't quite understand, but she took the pill, and her body was released from her Gigai.

What she showed up in was...her normal spirit body.

She saw her Zanpakuto equipped to her side.

Takumi looked towards the two Gigai's and said "Go back home and alert the others." to which they nodded at, and ran off once jumping off the Ferris wheel that they were on, leaving Takumi and Rukia together.

Rukia glanced up at Takumi who whistled innocently.

"What did you inject me with?"

"Just something I've been working on. That's all."

"Care to share?"

"Maybe in a minute." Takumi chuckled, and raised his katana. "Ravage! Kinhime!"

A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, and transformed Takumi's sword into its Shikai form.

Taking aim at the Hollows, he then swung out his sword with a single swing, and unleashed a wave of electricity that caught up the Hollows in its path, electrocuting them with enough power that their bodies were reduced to nothingness.

"Even with this, it seems it is going to be difficult."

"Yes…"

"So. Activate your Shikai."

Rukia had a little less of a disbelieving look on her face.

"I don't think I'll be on that level yet."

Takumi leans closer to Rukia with a smile on his face.

"Rukia-chan, trust in me. Activate your Shikai."

Rukia gave him a wary expression, but she took out her sword, and then began.

"Dance! Sode no Shirayuki!"

Rukia didn't think it would work.

She didn't have enough power…

Or so she thought.

Seconds later, it happened.

Along with a gust of cold air, Rukia's blade turned pure white like ice with a long white ribbon coming from the pummel. Takumi looked at the blade, and couldn't help but admit that the blade itself did indeed look to be quite the beautiful blade.

"Wow Rukia-chan, how cute of a sword. It's pure white...it really does suit you."

"Cute, huh." Rukia overlooked her blade. "How I've missed you Sode no Shirayuki." Her eyes went towards Takumi who continued to smile towards her. "What did you do Takumi? My powers…I feel complete again."

"Fufu, I've been working on that drug I injected you with by transforming spiritual particles to spiritual energy, and the natural ability of healing through Gigai technology. Mixing it together with your own power, it allowed your powers to be restored all the more than usual, and your power now is, back Rukia-chan, near enough anyway. Saved it in case there was a special emergency. It could have gone either way honestly. Your head might have exploded."

A tick mark appeared at Rukia's temple.

"What?!"

"Geez, relax. I'm joking. I know what I'm doing." Takumi patted her head who frowned up towards him. "Don't frown, it's unbecoming." Rukia huffed, and saw a Hollow before them. "Then I guess that I will-"

"Haaaaaaaaaah!"

Rukia leapt forward, and sliced through the Hollow with her ice blade. Cleaving right through the Hollow, Takumi saw that the two halves of the Hollow froze upon the cut, and the ice grew over the entire body of the Hollow, before shattering into tiny pieces of ice.

"My, nice blade Rukia-chan. You control ice then."

"Sort of." Rukia revealed. "My sword has dances that allows me to control ice in a few ways."

"Awesome~"

Takumi petted her head...but noticed that her body was cold.

Colder than she thought that it would have been.

Then it returned back to normal which confused him.

"Your sword controls ice right?"

"That's right, why?"

"Then, why was your body cold?"

Rukia gave him a curious look.

"Was it? I didn't even realize. Weird. My body shouldn't be cold..."

"Hmmm, requires further study. Either way, ready to get to work Rukia-chan?"

"Yeah, lets take care of the Hollows here, then we'll split off."

"I'll get Orihime-chan, you go and alert Karin-chan and anyone else you come across."

"Right, lets get to work!"

Takumi and Rukia leap down from the area they were in together, and rush through the air, swinging their blades together in tandem with one another, and spun around one another as a armada of Hollows came for their bodies.

But with their timed swings, and the way that their blades sailed through the air, they cut through a good chunk of Hollows within seconds, showcasing their teamwork and how they complimented one another on the battlefield.

From behind Rukia, a Hollow came to try and attack her.

Takumi noticed the Hollow, and went to stop it, when Rukia casually thrusts her sword behind her from the right hand shoulder of hers, piercing the Hollow in the face, and ice spread through the body of the Hollow once more, turning it into ice chunks within seconds.

"Geez Rukia-chan, that's cool. No pun intended of course."

"Hm, of course. But there's many here..."

"Well, we've got an ice sword, and a lightning sword here. Water, which ice is just a frozen equivalent, conducts electricity. I think that we could combine our techniques to slay them in one fell swoop."

Rukia gave a smirk.

"I like the way you think." Rukia lands on a building that allows her maximum area of the park they were in. She then pierced the ground, and multiple ripples of ice came upwards while the ground below her froze. "Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!"

As she said that, a large wave of icicles came out of the sword and area she was in.

Takumi landed next to Rukia, and swung his sword in complex manners, leaving a lightning trial in the air.

"Raiju!"

Rukia watched as the lightning in the air formed the shape of a lightning beast. It was the size of two fully grown humans, and it was sent out right for the enemies. The lightning beast moved with the wave of Takumi's blade, and it was fast, it travelled at the speed of lightning, where Takumi overlapped his sword with Rukia's own.

""Combined attack! Mai, Shiro Raiju!""

Using their Zanpakuto together, to create a combination attack called Dance, White Thunder Beast, the beast of lightning mixed together with the ice, creating a white variant of lightning colour with the power of ice mixed into it, and the ice that Rukia had fired out, also gained yellow sparks laced in with the ice.

Then the white beast of lightning dashed through the air, going through several Hollows body, freezing them and then shattering them with power of lightning mixed together, happening all within a moment in between the instant freeze, and the lightning blast erupting out of the ice.

The attack Rukia sent forward had the same effect. Freezing their bodies solid, and then smashed apart with the lightning energy, killing off the Hollows in one fell swoop.

Rukia and Takumi glanced at the other, before adopting a small smile on their faces.

"See, we're cool together Rukia-chan."

"Y-Yes, I suppose so. That wasn't half bad."

Takumi and Rukia overlooked the area, seeing that their combined attack had taken out the Hollows in the area. There wasn't even a trace of the Hollow in sight, besides the ones spewing out of the hole in the sky.

"Now that they've been taken care of, they should follow us if we leave. So I'll go and get Orihime-chan."

"Right, then I'll go and get Karin, it's better if she's also in Shinigami form. I have a feeling we'll need everyone for this...but Takumi. What Bambietta said, about how she's going to be at that park. It's going to be a trap. And if it isn't, then she's going to be packing a lot of things there for you to be fighting against."

"She thinks these Hollows will wear me down enough so she can beat me. Don't you think so?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I've been training with Yoruichi-chan and the likes. She also might have been training so it might be difficult. But I'm not alone, I've got you and the others to back me up. Even if the others are there right now."

"Right...be careful Takumi."

"You too."

They nodded at one another, and shot off in their individual ways to go and get what they needed to get to save the others.

* * *

Yuzu was walking back towards her home with bags of shopping in her hands. Surprisingly, Nemu was stood beside her, giving her a blank stare.

She didn't quite get what was going on with her.

"Erm...why are you following me?"

"To understand the human experience better."

"Human experience?"

Yuzu's question was met with a blank stare from Nemu.

"Yes, to understand your feelings, and others, I have decided that I should understand the interactions between humans and Shinigami such as myself. As you, are human Quincy, I have decided to learn more about you, and why you are the way that you are. Would you like to elaborate why you're in love with Takumi Urahara-sama?"

"Pft!" Yuzu did a spit take. "W-What kind of question is that?!"

"A valid question. Please answer with your heart."

Yuzu's face turned several shades of pink.

Then she looked at the ground shyly.

"T-That's quite a difficult question to answer Nemu-san. I don't know how to answer that."

"Please do your best."

"I-I can't...it's embarrassing to even try something of that nature..."

Yuzu looked before her, and then in other directions, besides the one that Nemu was in.

But then they both felt presences above them.

Turning, they saw that Hollows were looking down at the pair with a menacingly look in their eyes.

"Hollows...why are there so many of them?"

"I do not know, but we should begin destroying them."

Nemu vacated her Gigai, and ordered it away, before leaping upwards, and spun around delivering several harsh kicks towards the group of Hollows, scattering them around the area, and destroyed them easily.

She then leaned backwards, and kicked the Hollow in the face so hard that it shattered the mask, Yuzu couldn't help but be surprised, and slightly in awe at what was happening.

"She's strong, very strong. And she isn't even using any kind of weapon. Just who is she?"

While she muttered that, a Hollow appeared before her, and showed a menacingly look in its eyes.

Yuzu placed the bag of shopping down onto the ground, then she held up her wrist, allowing a single cross to dangle from there.

"Lets see if this works."

Yuzu channelled her powers into the cross the best that she could and waited for a few moments.

Then materializing at her wrist, was a thin bow but it seemed to be radiating a good level of energy.

"Yes, I did it!"

The Hollow charged for her, so Yuzu dodged to the left, the Hollow hitting the ground as Yuzu returned to her feet, pulling back the string of her bow, and unleashed an arrow right for the Hollow itself, shattering right through it so hard that the Hollow's mask was torn away with incredible power, and it was slain.

Nemu looked down at Yuzu briefly, and thought about what she just saw.

"_Her power is definitely on par with a seated officer, and perhaps she's got amazing potential. I shall study this girl further._"

Nemu landed on the ground, and crushed two Hollows with her feet, breaking them apart.

Yuzu looked back at her with a smile.

"That was amazing Nemu-san."

"I am currently restricted in what I can do because of my rank. However, I am pleased that you are able to learn from my example."

Yuzu didn't know if that was true, but she stood back to back with Nemu.

"We should take care of these. Since you're a close range fighter, I'll support you from behind."

"Understood. Executing."

Nemu launched herself forward with a spring in her step, while Yuzu provided cover fire.

It seemed together, they worked quite well.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giselle and Hiyori were surprisingly walking together through the town. They were enjoying the suns rays beaming down onto them, though Hiyori had to have a small dig at Giselle, and had to make fun of her.

"So Zombie girl, what's it like being a walking corpse?"

"I dunno, what's it like being a weirdo?"

Hiyori's eyebrows twitch wildly, while Giselle showed a superior smile on her face.

"I really dislike you sometimes!"

"That's not my fault, baldy."

Hiyori's eyes flared angrily at the young woman.

"How dare you ever call me that? I am a young woman that..." She paused when a Hollow went to attack her, only for her to grab it by the throat, and squeeze the life out of it, causing its head to burst with her strength. "Rude. When people are trying to do interesting things like beat a baldy like this, and then interrupted by a stinking Hollow." Giselle's eyes tossed upwards, and she noticed that legion of Hollows. "What's wrong with you?" Giselle wordlessly pointed upwards so Hiyori looked, and saw the same thing as she did. "Oh, I see. Well, that's not good. Heh, so it seems that friend of yours has gone nuts."

Giselle let out a sigh.

"Idiot, did she really use Hollow bait here?"

"It seems that she did yeah. Your friend is an idiot it seems."

"She's not my friend if she's pulling crap like this. Seriously, endangering people like this. With the amount here, we could attract a Gillian or even worse than that. Does she not understand?"

As Giselle spoke, Hiyori adopted a smirk on her face, a daring and challenging smirk that showed that she was quite serious.

"Heh, bet I can take more than you."

Giselle turned her eyes to Hiyori with a daring look in her eyes.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, bet I can take at least 100 more than you."

"Winner gets Takumi-kun first."

"Heh, what a juvenile bet. But, you're on. Only because I want to beat you."

Hiyori smirked, and pulled out her sword.

She then held it to the sky.

"Chop Cleanly! Kubikiri Orochi!"

Hiyori activated her Shikai, and then she leapt upwards into the air, and spun around like a spinning top, cleaving Hollows left and right, while Giselle calmly took out her bow, aiming it for the sky, seeing Hiyori's superior smirk on her face.

"So, you think that's gonna be enough to impress me?"

"Naah, I haven't even begun yet girl!"

Giselle smirked, and pulled back her arrow, forming other arrows around her which seemed to materialize on Giselle's will.

"Neither have I. Arrows of Heaven!"

Giselle fired off the arrows towards the sky, which then tracked down Hollows, and pierced them through their brains, killing them off instantly.

Hiyori looked down at Giselle who smirked at her right back.

"Take one, me."

Hiyori stomped her feet angrily.

"Grrr, you are pissing me off girl!"

"Sorry, but that's how it works when it comes between people like us. I've just taken down 15 in one fell swoop, what about you Hiyori-chan?"

Hiyori showed a daring look on her face.

"I've taken out 12, but I will never lose! I'll take out the 500 on the left!"

"Then I'll take out the 501 on the right."

"Don't one up me! Bitch!"

"Sorry, but I don't mind being a bitch at all, if it means that I can beat you~"

"Grrr! Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Hiyori ran through the air, swinging her blade left and right and cleaved through many Hollows, all the while giving a challenging look towards Giselle.

Giselle just watched on with a cute look on her face.

"See this? This is how you do it bitch! Show me something amazing!"

"Amazing. Hiyori-chan please, I am amazing."

Hiyori gripped her head tightly.

"Ugggggggggggggggggggggggh! This is pissing me off! You are annoying! Go and drown or something!"

"In my cleavage, Takumi-kun could~ We all can't be on itty bitty titty committee~"

Hiyori's eyes blazed with her anger.

Pure, and unadulterated rage.

"You are going to suffer for that comment!"

Hiyori roared, and continued slicing down Hollows, taking out more than fifty within a few seconds, while Giselle matched her Hollow for Hollow, not backing down for even a second, it seemed to be a competition between the two of them.

* * *

As that was happening, Takumi dashed through the town, leaving only a trial of lightning behind him. The Hollows didn't stand a chance. It was very different to how it was before. How he was able to slay the Hollows with his power while before he would have found it difficult.

But as with all things, fate was quite weird…

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Takumi heard a scream from up above him.

It sounded childlike.

Almost like a cry screaming.

As his head went up to see what that sound was...

CRASH!

"Owww!" Takumi cupped his large bump on the head. "W-What hit me…?"

He looked with pain throbbing in his head to see that on the ground, was a green haired girl wear tattered clothing.

He saw the mask...but, he didn't know what she was.

If she was a human or not…

She looked human enough.

He couldn't see anything besides the mask that would alert him to anything weird.

"A-Ah, hello there little girl. Are you okay?"

The girl looked up to Takumi, and looked at his sword, and his robes.

Her face drained of colour.

"A-A Shinigami has come to kill Nel!"

Takumi was surprised that she seemed to recognize his robes.

"I-I'm not going to hurt you little girl..."

"Nel doesn't believe you!"

Takumi saw that Nel was pulling away from his form, so he placed his hand outwards, but in Nel's eyes, he looked more menacing than anything else.

"W-Wait, no, I've not come to hurt you-"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Like a frightened child, Nel took off running away from Takumi, who twitched his eyebrow.

"What the heck was that about?"

Not asking anyone in particular, he decided to go after her to make sure that she was safe.

He sensed power from her, so he knew that she could be in danger from the Hollows around.

But there was an air of mystery around her, and wondering what she was, and what she would want as well.

* * *

Back with Orihime and the others. Since they were there, the Sensei's had ordered her, and Tatsuki along with Michiru who was a friend of the pair to clean up the broken glass that's on the floor. Orihime though was continuously distracted by the feelings she had inside of her.

Not for Takumi.

But the negative feelings of Hollows all around.

She felt overwhelmed.

It was like she was in a daze.

Her eyes hazily went left, and right, but she couldn't see anything.

"Geez, can you believe Zombie Chizuru just took off after this happened?"

Michiru spoke up to the others, Tatsuki shuddered.

"I'm kind of glad, I couldn't handle another one of her loving weird hugs again today. It overwhelms me."

Michiru giggles slightly, only to see Orihime looking spaced out.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I think she's probably thinking about Kuchiki-san and Takumi."

"Ooh my! Are they dating!?"

"I hope not. At least for Orihime's sake. She'd be crushed if something like that were to happen."

Michiru's lips curled downwards.

"I think it would be pretty bad if that happened. Orihime-chan would be so sad."

"Yeah..."

Orihime's eyes looked towards the entrance of the school, and saw standing there was a Hollow.

The Hollows mask has the appearance of a jellyfish with six appendages at the bottom and three circles of protrusions at the top. It's body is composed of twelve tentacles light blue or lavender in color. The Hollow hole is above the mask, at the meeting point of the tentacles.

She only saw it for a few seconds, but in those seconds, she knew that she and the others were in danger.

"Hey Orihime, are you okay?"

Tatsuki questioned her friend, who's eyes briefly went to her, and smiled weakly so she didn't alert her friend to any worry.

Then she looked back towards the Hollow...but it had disappeared.

"It's gone..."

Orihime muttered with some relief, but also tension within her knowing that this might not be the end, while Michiru moved closer, putting her hands behind her back.

"Don't be gloom Orihime-chan. We should do something together. Maybe a makeover! We'll make Takumi-kun see your cuteness!"

"Makeover..." Orihime thought about it briefly, then knowing that she should do, putting her hands on Michiru's back, and Tatsuki's. "Yes! That sounds good! Lets go together!"

"H-Hey wait!"

Tatsuki called, but Orihime continued pushing the pair towards the exit of the school so they wouldn't be caught up in whatever was going to happen next. She just knew something was going to happen.

"_I have to be calm. That Hollow could be anywhere, and I don't have Taku-chan with me...I can't fight the Hollow...but, if I can get the others out of here, then I can at least keep them safe. I'm glad that no one else around here has spiritual power...at least I don't think they do….please, just please don't come back, don't attack anyone else..._"

Tatsuki, in the middle of being pushed around, broke free from Orihime's grasp.

"Ah, Orihime. I've got to go and change. You go on ahead, I'll meet you there."

Orihime's eyes widened immediately.

"No, wait Tatsuki-chan!"

Tatsuki took off running back towards the school.

"I'll be right there, go on!"

"Wait Tatsuki-chan! Don't go! It could still be here!"

Michiru seemed confused by that statement while Orihime felt a pulse from her heart, feeling the Hollow behind her.

"So, you did notice me, did you?"

Orihime gulped a little bit, her neck turning backwards towards the way entrance of the school was, and saw floating in the air, was the Hollow itself. The octopus Hollow that had cold eyes for Orihime, and Michiru.

"Hollow..."

"So, you know what our kind is called? Interesting. It's been a while since I've met someone that has known us like this. So, you're not an average person are you? What are you girl?"

Orihime stood her ground, looking directly in the face of the Hollow, showcasing a will to not surrender.

"I know enough about you to know that you're not a nice person! Now, please leave us alone!"

Michiru, unable to see the Hollow, questioned Orihime.

"Orihime-chan, what's going on? Are you talking to me?"

While showing a serious face, her eyes cast to Michiru.

"Michiru-chan, you have to go! Run, right now!"

"But, I don't understand..."

"I wont let you get away!"

The Hollow snapped at her, and from its head, seed like protrusions came out, and began firing downwards, shattering windows, and hitting the ground, ripping it up a little bit with the strength behind the attack.

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Orihime gripped her head, and let out a cry, while the Hollow laughed at the sight.

Michiru, not understanding, looked around curiously.

"What's going on?"

As she asked, a seed hit her shoulder, and she let out a cry "Aaah!" as she fell down to the ground. From the injured area, her own blood began to appear with it running down her arm, Orihime gasped, and ran over to her friend.

"Michiru-chan! Are you okay?"

Michiru looked at her shoulder, as she stood up.

"It's bleeding...but, I don't understand, what's going on?"

Orihime's eyes gained a few tears.

She didn't want anything to happen to her friend…

But that's when Michiru grabbed Orihime by the throat, with the arm that the shoulder was connected to gaining more veins across it, Michiru's eyes widening in pure shock and horror.

"W-What's going on? I-I can't control my arm!"

Michiru cried out, while continuing to strangle Orihime's throat.

Orihime clutched Michiru's hand, trying to pull the hand off of her, but the girl seemingly had more strength than she thought that she would have.

"W-What have you done to Michiru-chan!?"

"I just used a bit of my power. I much prefer watching you silly humans fight amongst yourselves. I don't like doing violence myself. The seed I shot into her is taking a hold of her body and is taking her over, to become my puppet. Isn't that lovely? She's going to be the one who kills you little girl."

Orihime was gasping for breath at this point.

The girl was tough, she was strong, she couldn't get her off.

"Now everyone, it's time to get started."

Orihime slowly turned to see more and more students having been taken over by the Hollow. Men and women alike and they were all coming for her body. They looked like zombies, no free will of their own, and all had one agenda.

And that was to take out Orihime.

"A-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Orihime wished she had some kind of power.

Something that could help her out…

* * *

Karin was out playing with some of her soccer inclined friends, and thanks to her training with the Shinigami form, and against Hollows, her body was able to move better than before, and kicked the ball around so easily.

"Geez Karin, you've gotten so much faster!"

A friend of hers praised with a grin on his face.

Karin smirked, flipping the ball above her head, and then spun around, kicking the ball towards the net, gaining a goal, and landed on her feet, her body bent downwards, and a small grin on her face appeared.

"_I guess that thanks to these Hollows, that I'm able to do these things huh. Guess it isn't that bad if I can do these things._"

Karin gave a soft smile to herself, and her head went into the air…

But she wished that she hadn't as she saw Hollows raining down onto them. Her eyes widened in horror, and she jumped back as a bunch of small Hollows came down towards her, slamming into the ground again and again, creating a dust cloud.

"Whoa, what's that?"

"Yeah, what's going on?"

Karin's friends questioned as they moved closer.

"N-No! Don't come any closer!"

Karin warned, but they didn't heed her warnings.

"What's having you go so crazy all of a sudden?"

"T-That's difficult...d-don't come here!"

Karin pulled backwards, and began running away.

"Hey Karin! We're in the middle of something here!"

Karin continued running regardless of what was going on.

She just wanted to get out of there, and have the Hollows follow her.

Which was a good thing that they did.

Rather than go for the humans, they chased after her instead.

She inhaled a relieving sigh.

"Good...now how am I supposed to do anything!? Damn it! I don't have anyone around to get me out of my body!"

Karin watched as the Hollows flew in swarms towards her.

She looked around for something, anything, to help her out with this problem.

But she couldn't find any.

So she turned to the swarm, holding her ball in her hand, and took aim.

"You want a piece of me?! Fine, have this!"

Karin kicked the ball right for the Hollows and smashed into a few of them, killing them off.

Karin couldn't help but be more surprised by what she had witnessed.

"A-Amazing, that's..."

Karin didn't know what to say.

But then more came for her, so she took off running once more.

"Damn it...come on Takumi you idiot! You always show up when I need your help!"

"I'm not Takumi, but would I do?"

Karin paused and looked towards the voice.

Seeing her stand to the side, was Rukia.

"Sorry I'm a little late, but I'm here now."

She placed a hand over her chest in relief.

"Bout time."

Rukia nodded, and got before her.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"

Rukia swung her sword outwards, and from the ground, a large moon shaped circle appeared, allowing Rukia to jump out of the area, and raised a large pillar of ice into the air with over a dozen Hollows getting caught up in the ice, surprising Karin immensely.

"Wait, since when could you do that?"

"This is the power of my Zanpakuto. Speaking of." Rukia tossed a soul pill towards her. "Have this, and join me in the fight."

Karin nodded, swallowing the pill, releasing her from her body, and revealed her Shinigami side. She brought out her sword, and swung it left, the large blade cleaving through four Hollows at once, killing them off, while sending her human body back home so she didn't get damaged.

"It's like a mad city. What's going on?"

"Short version is, Bambietta's released Hollow bait, drawing many Hollows to this town. We've got to keep the civilians safe."

"Right, then I'll go and help out somewhere else. What about you?"

"I don't know yet. I suppose I'll do the same. But we still have Bambietta to confront. She wont stop until we've put a stop to her once and for all. But first, our priorities are these Hollows around us. We have to secure the town before dealing with her."

"That's probably what she wants though. For us to be tired to fight her."

"Probably. That's why we have to use the least amount of energy that we can."

"I understand...then I'll go, good luck."

Rukia nodded, and split off from Karin to deal with more Hollows.

* * *

Takumi continued chasing after the little girl who kept looking back and yelling "Stop following Nel!" but Takumi would reply with "I need to make sure you're okay!" and their back and forth would go like that several times.

He saw that she was quite fast for a little girl, but he didn't have time to follow her, so he flashed before her, Nel fell backwards onto her butt, and raised a finger to Takumi who cocked an eyebrow upwards.

"Shinigami! Nel w-will not lose to you!"

Nel got to her feet, and thrusted her head for Takumi's crotch.

He grimaced, and flashed behind her, only to save his private area some damage.

She then took off running once more, Takumi released a small sigh, and went after her once more.

However, before getting out of the area, a few Hollows appeared before Nel, and raised their hands to the sky.

"Eeep! Nel's under attack!"

Nel cowered away like a frightened child would, and thought she was going to be hit.

"Raigeki!"

From Takumi's sword, a bolt of high density electricity shot out, and pierced through the Hollows bodies easily. Then the electricity spread through their bodies, shocking them out of existence all together.

Nel looked up to see Takumi walking forward towards her once more, and saw the Hollows gone.

Seeing that she was pulling away, Takumi crossed the distance quickly.

"Wait a second, please. I don't want to hurt you, I just want to keep you safe."

"T-Then why is your sword c-crackling with l-lightning?"

True to her word, electricity was crackling around the sword.

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"My Zanpakuto spirit is quite feisty when she wants to be. But I wont hurt you, I don't want to put you in danger at all. I want to protect you. Please, let me protect you. It's dangerous out here, there's many bad Hollows out here. You are going to be hurt if you keep being on your own."

Nel pulled backwards, Takumi bent down towards her with a caring smile on his face.

His hand reached out to her head, and gave the mask a small pet.

"There's a crack in your mask. Did you get hurt?"

"Nel, doesn't remember...Nel has crack in her mask...but, it is still good!"

"No doubt. But from this distance, I can tell that your mask is leaking spirit energy. It must have been pretty painful."

Nel ran a hand over her mask, and then peered up to Takumi.

"N-Nel's safe? And we'll find Nel's brothers and sister?"

"Your brothers and sister?" Nel nods with a whimper. "Sure, we'll go and find your brothers, and sister. It isn't a problem. But you have to come with me, okay? Don't worry, I'll keep all the naughty Hollows away from you."

Nel whimpered once more, and walked slowly towards Takumi.

Her hands went upwards, so Takumi lifted her and placed her on his shoulder. Then quickly he ripped off some cloth, and tied Nel around him so she didn't fall off his body.

"Now, I have to go and help my friend out quickly. Then we'll go and find your brothers, and sister, okay Nel-chan?"

"O-Okay! What's your name?"

"Hehe, my name is Takumi Urahara."

"Sakumi..."

"Takumi."

"Sakumi."

"Takumi."

"Sakumi."

"Sakumi."

"Takumi!"

Nel finished off, Takumi nodding.

"Yup, that's right. Sometimes, people call me Taku."

"Saku."

Takumi released a sigh.

"Taku...ugh, Saku, Taku, whichever you want Nel-chan."

"Saku Taku!"

Takumi just went along with it, he didn't want to argue with her anymore.

"Right. Now lets go and find my friend, then we'll go and find your family."

"Yes!"

Takumi sensed for Orihime briefly, and felt Hollows presences around her, so he naturally was worried for her.

"Shit...Orihime-chan." He looked back at Nel. "Hang on Nel-chan, I'm gonna have to go fast."

"Fast! Go fast!"

Takumi gave her a smile, and took off at blinding speeds.

The wind brushed through their faces, and Nel felt her hair waving in said wind.

"Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! We're going so fast!"

"Yeah, and I can go even fasteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Takumi dashed through the air at breakneck speeds, while Nel was having the time of her life.

* * *

Back with Orihime, the girl was in peril. Being swarmed by many controlled students, she didn't know how she was going to get out of this one. It was scary, she felt like she was in danger, she wasn't sure how she was going to make it out of this alive...

But she didn't in the end, and all she could do was cry out as they came closer and closer to her body.

But then she was saved when Tatsuki came running in, kicking one of the controlled people in the side, forcing them down, and then flipped over another, landing on her hands, and kicked upwards, smashing the boy in the face, and then she spun around on her hands, delivering a propeller like kick to the others that were around.

"What the hell are you people doing!?"

Tatsuki demanded from the people around her.

"T-Tatsuki-chan, I'm so glad you're here!"

"Yeah, sorry Orihime. I should have noticed it before. That thing up there."

Orihime looked relieved.

"You can see the Hollow too?"

"No, I don't see it." Tatsuki's eyes went to the Hollow, and only saw a blur. "But I can tell exactly where that thing is." Tatsuki thrusted a finger to the Hollow. "Hey you! Ugly! You made Orihime cry! We've got this long standing arrangement, anyone that makes Orihime cry gets the crap kicked out of them!"

"You don't say."

Tatsuki noticed that more mind controlled victims were walking closer and closer.

"Stay back."

Tatsuki span around and kicked one of the victims in the face, then she jumped upwards, bringing down her foot like an axe, knocking them down to the floor, and ducked someone attempting to punch her, smashing her fist right into the face of the attacker, forcing him down to the ground.

She took out a good number of people, and then cracked her neck.

"Isn't there anyone that could give me a fight?" As she said it, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Get off!" Tatsuki turned to the presence, and saw that it was Michiru who's arm looked more and more vein filled. "M-Michiru?"

"T-Tatsuki-san...r-run, I can't control my arm..."

Tatsuki then felt the girl squeeze her shoulder so hard that she was dropped to her knees.

"Aaah!"

"Tatsuki-chan!"

Orihime went to move forward, when she was grabbed from behind, and held against her will.

Then Tatsuki was shot in the shoulder by the same seed as the others, and it caused her to bleed.

She was forced to the ground, where her eyes went towards the Hollow who moved downwards towards her.

"That seed I shot into you will take root soon enough and you'll be mine to manipulate. How should I make you suffer?"

"S-Shut up..."

The Hollow looked slightly dazed by that, seeing Tatsuki twist her body so she was getting onto her knees.

"W-What?"

"I-I said shut up...let go of her now!"

The Hollow adopted a small smirk on its face, and moved its tentacle towards her face, slowly stroking it.

"Don't you realize the position you're in right now. Soon, you'll have no control over your bod-" Before it could finish, Tatsuki bit down into the Hollows tentacle, making it scream. "Aaaaaaaah! Y-You bitch! Let go of me!"

The Hollow hit the young girl with its tentacle, but Tatsuki still kept a tight hold on it.

The Hollows eyes raged.

"Tch, you're not worth controlling! Now die!"

The Hollow shot off three more seeds into Tatsuki's body, Orihime gasped, and broke free from her aggressors, running desperately to her friend.

But then, Tatsuki succumb to the control, and kicked Orihime in the stomach as she gained distance, Orihime's eyes widening and she spat out bile, falling down to the floor.

Just as that happened, Takumi arrived, and saw the situation with Nel on his back.

Withdrawing Kinhime, he was about to bring down a lightning bolt upon the Hollow…

But stopped when seeing Orihime.

He felt something...different about her.

"Saku Taku, go and save her!"

"Wait a second Nel-chan. Something is happening with her..."

"What? Is her boobies growing?"

Takumi gave her an odd stare.

"No...keep watching Nel-chan, we might see something amazing."

Nel cocked her head curiously.

Orihime on the other hand looked up at her friend, and thought about her long hair, how it was thanks to Takumi and Tatsuki that she could have her hair so long again.

How she could have friends again.

To see the world better with the people she cared for, with people she loved.

"_That's right...Tatsuki-chan, because of you, and Taku-chan, I didn't get bullied anymore. Everyone was nice to me, you made them stop. After Sora died, I felt alone...but then Taku-chan was there beside me, and held me as I cried...and then Tatsuki-chan came into my life...I can't always rely on Taku-chan to come and save me...I can't be a burden to Tatsuki-chan either...I can't let this Hollow do this anymore...I have to do something...anything..._"

Her eyes noticed that Tatsuki was crying while looking at her.

Takumi watched on as Orihime embraced her friend.

"Don't cry Tatsuki-chan!"

"O-Ori...Orihime..."

Despite being controlled, Tatsuki was trying her best to fight it.

Takumi noticed from his body, a strange mysterious glow was happening.

"Wow, your bodies glowing Taku."

"Y-Yeah..."

"It's real pretty...it's blue!"

Takumi didn't quite get what was going on, as his eyes went towards Orihime, who was showcasing a kind and yet gentle smile on her lips.

"Don't worry, this time, I'll protect you Tatsuki-chan."

As she said it, her hairpins glow bright orange, and a massive whirlwind erupts around her.

Takumi places a hand to his face, while feeling the increase of power from Orihime, and also the bright light coming from him.

"_I don't understand what this is. Is something inside of me...helping her unlock some kind of power…? But, if that's the case, how is that possible? She's not a Quincy...she's not a Shinigami, and Don Kanonji's power was hardly amazing, but this is different, this feels...could it be those mysterious humans I've heard about? The ones that have powers related to objects…? That can use different powers based on an object affinity...but, what has she unlocked exactly?_"

Takumi watched with keen eyes. Seeing Orihime in the centre of the whirlwind, six little fairy like creatures flew around her body.

Takumi found them to look quite cute if he had to say so.

But he also felt that they were connected to her somehow.

"Tatsuki-chan said that you picked the fight with the wrong person. She wasn't quite right. What she should have said was, you had picked the wrong person to hurt. Anyone that wants to hurt Tatsuki-chan, has to answer to me!"

Takumi was surprised by her forceful side, something that didn't usually come out.

The Hollow watched on with worried eyes, as Takumi casually sent out bolts of lightning around the area to slay Hollows that were nearby so they didn't come between this battle. Orihime was awakening some new kind of power, and he was very interested in it.

"Just what exactly are you?! Using those strange powers, but how?!"

Orihime stared deeply at the Hollow...before noticing the six fairies flying around her body.

"Pretty, those flying pixies! What are they Saku Taku?"

"That's a good question...erm, I'd have to say they are a manifestation of her soul..." Nel looked lost. "Eeh, it's her powers, in the form of six fairies."

"Ooh, I get it!"

Takumi wondered if she did or not, but it seemed that she understood.

"W-What are they?"

Orihime watched as the six fairies came closer to her body.

Takumi leaned forward with interest.

"What are they? What kind of question is that girly?!"

A more aggressive fairy yelled out, while a blonde haired one landed on her shoulder.

"Don't say that. I'm sure she noticed us. We've been close to her for so long now."

"_It's kinda like seeing a Zanpakuto spirit in six forms. Maybe each represent a side of Orihime-chan's personality? But if there's six...is that six different abilities? Or is it that they combine together to use one ability? Or two, or three? Since there's six...is it three combine for one technique and three for the other? Or is it something else? Either way, I am very interested in this._"

He theorized to himself, while Orihime watched on.

"We're the Shun Shun Rikka, and we've come here to protect you!"

The blonde said to Orihime who felt a little dizzy, Nel tilted her head.

"What's Shun Shun Rikka Saku Taku?"

"Erm...it means basically six Princess shielding flowers which fits really since Orihime-chan's name means Princess...yeah, sounds good to me."

Nel slowly nodded, while petting Takumi's head.

"Good student."

Takumi gave her a curious look, but Nel was nodding again and again to his confusion.

Orihime also looked confused at the spirits.

"Protect me...w-wait a second! Why are there a bunch of little fairies flying around and talking to me?"

"Geez, that was quite the reaction. To be accurate, we aren't fairies. We are the powers from inside of your soul, and apart of you." Takumi was thankful he had gotten that right. "Only people that have spirit energy will be able to see us."

"Like Taku-chan?"

"Yes, like him. Actually, it was thanks to him that we were born."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"_Because of me…?_"

He thought to himself while the more aggressive fairy kicked the blonde.

"Look! It doesn't matter who we are! All you need to know is that we're apart of your powers!"

"You're so bossy, for someone so tiny."

The spirit gained a tick mark beside his head.

"Quiet you! Just learn how to use us before it's too late!"

"Learn how to use you? What do you mean?"

Another spirit, that looked bulkier spoke up.

"Right! You can construct a shield between you and your enemy with us. You have to say our names, and our Kotodama."

"K-Kotodama?"

Orihime's eyes swirled around, unsure of what was going on. Even Takumi had to admit that this was strange. He hadn't seen anything like this before, so he was immensely intrigued by what was going on right now.

"Kotodama...what's Kotodama?"

"It's spirit chant basically Nel-chan. She has to call out a phrase...like Kido. Do you know what Kido is?" Nel stuck out her tongue, nodding. "Then think of it like that."

"Okay!"

Nel cheered out, while the Hollow began moving.

"It's coming!"

The feisty male spirit spoke to Orihime directly.

The seeds from its forehead shot off towards her.

Takumi's hand rested on his blade, just in case he'd have to step in.

But he watched keenly as the spirits flew around her body.

"It's time Orihime! Now call out our names! I'm Hinagiku!"

"I'm Baigon!"

"And my names Lily!"

Orihime looked unsure, but the blonde spirit came over, and landed on her shoulder.

"Repeat after me." Orihime nodded strongly. "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily."

"H-Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily!"

"Santen Kesshun I reject!"

"Santen Kesshun...Santen Kesshun I reject!"

From the three spirits having been called, they formed a triangle barrier before her, orange in colour, and blocked the shots of the seeds coming for her, Takumi's eyebrows knitted together at the sight.

"_I reject...what is she rejecting? The damage? The attack itself? Is she rejecting negative things happening to her..._"

Takumi couldn't be more excited and intrigued by Orihime's new found abilities.

"Cute! It's so orange!"

Takumi gave Nel a light smile, as the blonde spirit spoke to Orihime.

"Your powers allow you to put up a shield, and reject what's outside of that shield."

"_Reject what's outside of that shield...so, it isn't a simple barrier technique at all. She's rejecting negative things...like I thought. I see, I understand...she could use it for more than simple defence, she could shape that into a cage, and any attack would be rejected immediately, trapping them inside of that barrier. Or conversely, she probably could use it to defend allies as well as herself, and maybe...if she's rejecting things from one side of the shield, she'd be able to use it in a melee way, by slamming the barrier against someone, which would reject them away from her...pretty useful. She probably could even use it to break peoples falls as it would reject the impact happening on one side, and keep the other safe. But, I sensed a hit to Orihime-chan's spirit energy then...so, it does take energy from her...okay, that makes sense. She can only reject as much energy as she has. But still, if she grows her power, then she'd be able to reject a good chunk of damage._"

While Takumi thought, the blonde haired spirit flew over to Tatsuki on the ground.

"We have the ability to reject what's within a shield. We are able to make a refined space within our shield, and reject damage within that space." Takumi watched on with more interest than before, he couldn't help but feel quite excited to see what was going to happen next. "Now say our names. I am Shun'o"

"And I'm Ayame."

Orihime placed a hand to her breast.

"Shun'o, Ayame."

"Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

The spirit said, so Orihime copied.

"Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

The shield went up, and Orihime's powers began to work once more. The damage done to Tatsuki was being healed away.

But Takumi furrowed his eyebrows. Nel however was bouncing on his back and jumped up and down and shook all the way around on his back, making him feel a little sick.

His analytical mind was beginning to work once more, he suspected something more to Orihime's powers than what was being seen.

"_Hold on a second..._" His eyes went to the ground below Tatsuki, and saw some damage that it had suffered, was being repaired. "_What the little fairy just said then...this is a little more than what the spirit said...then that means...Orihime-chan's powers all rejecting something, it's branched under one ability but used in different ways. From what I can tell, she's not just healing, she's doing something else. Something I've only see people like Hacchi do...maybe even better than that. It's healing her sure, but it's...if I'm looking at this correctly, then it is taking Tatsuki-chan's body back to a previous state...if I'm right, then she's not just rejecting damage, she's rejecting...wow. But still, like with the shield, it is taking her energy to do it, so if she ran out of energy, she wouldn't be able to reject it anymore._"

While he thought about it, Orihime overlooked Tatsuki with a worried face.

"Tatsuki-chan..."

"Not now girl! We still have an enemy to defeat! I'm able to reject on both sides by blowing a hole in the enemy and cutting them! My name is Tsubaki, and my chant is, Koten Zanshun."

Orihime eyed up the Hollow, while Takumi watched on.

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

"N-Noooooooooooooooooo!"

The Hollow couldn't do anything other than fall victim to Orihime.

The spirit Tsubaki slammed against the mask of the Hollow, and cut it completely in half, Takumi watching on curiously.

"Wow! Did you see that Saku Taku!? She cut it in half!"

"She surely did, she's amazing, isn't she?"

"Yes, yes! She's amazing!"

Takumi gave the girl a smile, while going into thought once more.

"_That last one...they all reject something, my theory about the powers all revolve around a single theme but used different is solid. The last ones basically an attack version of the Soten Kisshun ability. Rather than repairing, it's tearing away. The former binds matter together again, after things have happened and takes it back to a place before anything bad happened...and this one rejects matter by defusing it and basically could cut through anything...I could see her being able to use that to destabilize peoples attacks with that kind of power, or even..._" His eyes drifted to Orihime, and saw that she was panting. "_But, it seems to take its toll on her. It makes sense, she's using her spirit energy to power them. She's got powerful abilities yes, but she's also got her own limits as well. All in all, this is amazing to see. To think Orihime-chan would have this kind of ability._"

Takumi couldn't help but be proud of how much Orihime accomplished with her unique and interesting powers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin ran through the city and tore through a good number of Hollows with her Zanpakuto, and had taken out over 50 of them within five minutes, showcasing how power that she truly was.

Because of her training with Takumi and the others, she could move much more elegantly than beforehand, and it seemed like she was doing it for a serious situation.

However, she was stopped when a sticky substance rained down from the sky, forcing her to jump backwards, but her foot was caught in it, and stuck her down to the ground.

"Uggggggh! W-What the hell is this shit…?"

Karin grimaced at the sight of the sticky substance, only for her to sense something above, seeing that a Hollow...a humanoid type Hollow that was quite slim coming down with a loin cloth on his body.

"You! Where is Nel!?"

"Nel? Who the heck is Nel?"

Karin seemed lost, while the Hollow came down towards her.

"I wont accept your lies!"

"How can I lie, when I don't even know who you're talking about!?"

Karin snapped at the Hollow who pulled backwards with surprise.

"Enough Shinigami! If you've hurt Nel, then I'll hurt you!"

Karin releases a dramatic sigh.

"Don't even start with me, I am tired of your crap already. If you want to fight me, then I don't have time for that. I have to stop this town being invaded by Hollows! And that means with you as well! Now leave!"

"Never!" Inside his loincloth, he pulled out a sword, a Reishi sword at that, and pointed it at Karin who inhaled deeply. "If you wont tell me where Nel is, then I'll have no choice but to cut you down Shinigami!"

Karin exhaled deeply, and held her sword outwards angrily.

"Fine, I'll kick your ass quickly, then I've got to get back to beating Hollows."

Karin cut the slime off of her, then aimed her Zanpakuto at the enemy, a Hollow named Pesche.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuzu and Nemu together exhaled, having cleared an area full of Hollows, and peace had been restored to that location.

"We're making good time, aren't we?"

"Yes, I must commend you for being able to hold your own as well as you can considering that you only recently awakened your powers."

Nemu complimented Yuzu who scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"T-Thank you very much Nemu-san! You are doing quite well..." She stopped when Nemu's eyes slitted. "W-What's wrong?"

"We aren't alone." Nemu's eyes turned to see a hulking humanoid Hollow swinging down what appeared to be a mace. "I will not back down."

Nemu pulled backwards, and landed next to Yuzu.

"N-Nemu-san, is that a Hollow…? His mask looks like one...but, he also kind of looks like a human..."

"Yes...I do not know what kind of Hollow we are looking at currently. But his spirit energy cannot be mistaken. This is a Hollow before us."

"Where is Nel?! What have you done to her!?"

He shouted dramatically, while Nemu and Yuzu glanced at the other.

"Who's Nel-san?"

"I am not familiar with anyone named Nel. Is she currently within this town?"

Nemu's question was met with a darkened glare from the Hollow before them.

"Do not lie! We followed Nel here! She's here, and she's scared! You Shinigami girl, and you other girl, have you done something to Nel?!"

"H-Hold on, we haven't done anything to Nel-san...whoever that is."

Yuzu tried to get her view across, but the Hollow wasn't having any of it.

"No, this is wrong! We cannot continue with this! If you wont speak, I will force you!"

Yuzu pulled backwards, with hesitation in her eyes.

"W-Wait a second, we don't have to fight..."

"The time for talking has finished." Nemu spoke up. "This intent to harm is increasing from the Hollow. We have to defend ourselves Yuzu Kurosaki."

Yuzu looked unsure seeing that the Hollow was walking forward.

But if she had to fight, then that's what she was going to do.

Against the Hollow known as Dondochakka.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bambietta sat in the park with BG5, waiting for Takumi and Rukia to arrive.

She tapped her foot onto the ground, and bit her lower lip.

She had waited over 20 minutes at that point, and it was beginning to drag her spirits down.

She had already taken out the Hollows around her.

Now she was having to wait for an enemy that she didn't know how long it was going to have to take.

"For God sake, you'd think that I'd be the most dangerous thing around and they'd rush here to stop me or something..."

Bambietta was getting infuriated more by the second with what was going on.

"Bambietta-sama, they are currently fighting Hollows and lowering their stamina, as you had wanted."

"I know that, but it's so boring waiting around for them to stop this crap...seriously, why is this happening to me?"

"Then maybe I could entertain you until they get here?"

Bambietta blinked, looking towards the left to see Liltotto walking closer. Her eyes narrowed at the small girl, and casually raised her hand to Liltotto, ready to shoot her if she tried anything, while Liltotto just calmly stared back at the young woman.

* * *

Back with Takumi, while Orihime was panting, her legs gave out on her, and she began dropping to the floor.

But Takumi flashed before her, and caught her in his arms, while the little spirits returned to the hairpins that dropped to the floor.

He lifted them up, and placed them within her hair once more, causing Orihime to smile with a tired expression on her face.

"Taku-chan...I-I did it..."

"You surely did Orihime-chan." Takumi casually took out a pill, and placed it into her mouth. "Here, eat this."

Orihime believed in him, so she bit down onto the pill, and tasted nothing but sourness, making her cringe.

"Blaaaaaah! That t-tastes awful!"

"Haha, it surely does. But you'll begin feeling good soon enough."

But then she felt something happening to her.

She felt her energy returning to her.

It wasn't fully, but she felt like she was able to move again.

"W-Wow Taku-chan, that's amazing. How did you do that?"

Takumi rubbed under his nose in some triumphant moment.

"Mehehehe, when you're a scientist like me, you tend to want to stay up late into the night, and for a while, so I invented these energy tablets. Though, if you have more than one in every two or so days, you might explode."

"Taku-chan! Don't say that with a peppy face!"

Takumi stuck out his tongue at her.

"Kidding, you wouldn't explode. Though I do recommend not taking more than one every two days...trust me, I suffered the consequences, they're weren't good Orihime-chan."

Orihime adopted a smile onto her face.

"I see...hehe, Taku-chan, always inventing amazing stuff."

"I watched your fight. You were amazing Orihime-chan."

Orihime's face dyed a shade of red.

"I...I have powers, I'm just like you now Taku-chan."

Takumi adopted a soft smile for the young woman before him.

"I think you've got amazing potential Orihime-chan. I'd like to study your powers at your earliest-" A Hollow appeared behind Takumi, but he casually sliced it without looking, surprising Orihime. "-convenience."

Orihime wore surprise as he did that so easily.

"Y-Yes, of course! But Taku-chan...what am I now? Am I like Don Kanonji?"

Takumi's face drained white when he thought about Orihime and Don Kanonji standing together, and doing a superhero pose, while going "Bwahahahahaha!" again and again, making him tear up.

"God no! Never say that! You are nothing like Don Kanonji! He's...ugh...and you're lovely...no, his powers aren't like yours, his is basically just taking his spirit energy and projecting it outwards, anyone with a good amount can do similar things...but you're...actually, if I had to categorize you...I'd say your closer to being one of those mysterious humans with powers."

"Mysterious humans with powers?"

Takumi nodded.

"I've heard rumours in the past, about humans possessing special abilities linked to objects they have an affinity too. Like you, those hairpins, you love them because they came from your brother. Your attachment to them is nothing short of outstanding. So if you are one of these humans, then that would make sense. But, your Shun Shun Rikka powers seem to also resemble a Shinigami's Zanpakuto spirit a little bit...but yeah, I'd have to say that you'd be one of them..."

"What are they called?"

"That...I don't know. It's still rumours, so I couldn't tell you what they're called, and only have limited information. But several sources of mine have seen them before, and I'd say you'd be like them. I heard that they can also move fast like Shinigami's do, a version of Flash Step."

Orihime put her hands together shyly.

"S-So, even I could…?"

"Hehe, I suppose you could yeah~" His eyes then went towards Tatsuki and the others. "It seems that they'll be out for a while. Just in case, better to put them into a barrier so they don't suffer any negative consequences. Or are attacked by Hollows. That would suck, wouldn't it?"

"Hehe, yes it would Taku-chan~ But, what's going on here? The Hollows are everywhere..."

Takumi's eyes went to the open air, and felt the pressure of dozens if not hundreds of Hollows coming around the city.

"Short version is that Bambi-chan's lost it and has summoned Hollows to Kuoh, and we are all in danger. People with spirit energy and what not…."

"We have to find my brothers and sister, remember Saku Taku?"

Nel popped up from behind Takumi, giving Orihime a small fright.

"W-Wait, why is there a child on your back Taku-chan? Did you adopt her?"

"I-I didn't adopt a child! I just kinda...erm, found her. She fell on top of my head, and after chasing her down, I saw that she needed help, so I'm helping find her brothers, and sister."

"Ooh I see! Yes, that does sound like Taku-chan!" Nel's eyes went towards Orihime, and narrowed childishly. "I-Is something wrong?"

"Uhhhhh...what's your relationship to Saku Taku?"

Orihime's face turned a few shades of red, then shook her head.

"W-We're best friends! V-Very super best friends! T-That's all!"

She felt embarrassed about revealing what she really felt about Takumi to a child like Nel, and hoped that answer would satisfy her, which it seemed to have done.

As they talked, Rukia flashed into the area, Orihime was surprised that she was wearing Shinigami robes.

"You're both..." Her eyes went to Nel, who glared back at her. "...you've had a child? I didn't even know that you had..."

"S-She's not our child Rukia-chan!"

Rukia placed a hand to her mouth.

"Well, I wasn't insinuating, but now that you've brought it up..."

Takumi lightly tapped her head.

"Quiet you."

Rukia huffed, and hit him back in the head, making him cry slightly.

"In any case, it seems that our comrades are joining the fight. I've had Karin help to fight, and I also felt Nemu with Yuzu. The Quincy girls are also joining in the fray."

"I can also sense Giselle-san and Hiyori-chan together, and the Hollows decreasing quite well over in their direction. Also, I sensed a spike within Yoruichi-chan's spirit energy, so she's joined in together with my Father. If they're helping out, then we can leave that area to them. And it seems that Bambi-chan is still in the park, waiting for us to come."

Rukia tilted her head.

"It's become a battle ground this entire city. But it's good that we have these allies defending..." Rukia's eyes looked over Orihime who smiled towards her. "...Inoue, you can see us, can't you? And hear us?"

"More than that Kuchiki-chan! I have powers now too!"

"P-Powers?"

Orihime thrusted her hand to the sky.

"It's time for me, the sweet bubbly maiden of Karakura to shine brightly with her six flowers! Because I will join Taku-chan on the battlefield!"

Takumi gave her a curious expression...but then his face dropped.

"Rukia-chan, can you feel that…?"

"What are you feeling Saku Taku?"

Nel questioned Takumi who narrowed his eyes.

Rukia also narrowed her own.

"Clashes of spiritual pressures. I can sense Karin, and Yuzu along with Nemu fighting powerful beings. Stronger than average Hollows..."

"Hey, maybe it's my brothers and sister Saku Taku!"

Takumi gave her a light smile.

"Maybe you're right. But if they're attacking my friends...then we'll have to go to them."

Rukia nodded with conviction in her eyes.

Takumi felt worried for the others, and right now didn't have time to deal with Bambietta, as he had to go and help his friends.

* * *

In the sky, above Karakura town, a lone female with aqua eyes, thick eyelashes, and short golden blonde hair, which she usually keeps messy with three braided locks overlooked the town together with a dog on her shoulder.

Her eyes scanned the area seeing all of the mindless destruction of the Hollows, and people alike.

"This area is dense with power..." Continuing to overlook the town, the dog began to bark. "Hmmm? What was that Kukkapuro?" Kukkapuro continued to bark in her ears, forcing her eyes to narrow slightly. "I see, so that persons here in this town after all. I thought that...but here in this town...alive..." The young woman casually withdrew her sword, and pulled forward. "I guess it is time for me to become involved as well. Let us go Kukkapuro."

The young woman descended onto the town, her aim only on one thing, and that thing, Tier wouldn't reveal to anyone, not even her current Master.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we went through quite a bit! Everyone's noticed the Hollows, and are mounting a defence against them! Orihime activated her powers, with Takumi commenting on her powers, and for those wondering, I will be having more defined limits to her powers than canon showed, and of course as I've said, Orihime's gonna be in more fights than in canon to show some unique skills off, and what Takumi mentioned was Fullbringer related to Orihime as she's said to be that in the novels from what I've read and been told by others, so I thought it would help her keep up with the others here in this story.**

**Anyway, the others also had quite the battles, and now Nel has arrived! She crashed into Takumi, and after running away for a bit from him, he managed to convince her that he's a good person and now is helping find her brothers, and sister.**

**Speaking of, they've also appeared, and are targeting Karin, Yuzu, and Nemu as Liltotto has confronted Bambietta. Hiyori and Giselle are having a game between them to see who can kill more Hollows with Takumi on the line~ Finally, Tier has appeared with Kukkapuro, and for those wondering why, it shall be explained in the future as to why they're together, and why she's in Karakura town.**

**Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	12. Protect Karakura part two!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, it's going to be quite the ride huh? At this point, there isn't a reason for her to transform. However, she'll be doing a few things. Tier's got her reasons for being there, and she'll have a little fight with someone. She'll eventually change yeah~ That would be quite funny~**

**Oblivious IJ; Saku Taku indeed~**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks! Yeah, Nel's here, and thanks for letting me know~**

**Skull Flame; It's Karakura~ Filled with a bit of action yeah~ Yeah, it sort of is it seems~ No worries, they're good~ That's Nel for you, she's very good at making friends~ Yeah, they came to save Nel, though jumped to wrong conclusions based on what's been going on. Zombie Chizuru is a very scary person, I'm sure Giselle's got this. it's gonna be a fight between two Quincy girls~ Yup, Orihime's got her powers finally, and Takumi knows at least a little about them, he doesn't know them fully though due to how few there are. Tier's got some reasons to be there in the town, we'll find out some now, and some later.**

**Vizard Masky; Thanks very much! I'm glad you like it~ Yup, Yuzu's a Quincy, and Karin's a Shinigami, and yeah, she's gonna have Zangetsu, but she'll also have a few more techniques than Ichigo did in canon. Yeah, at the beginning, they were split with Liltotto, and Giselle having no problems, Bambietta, and Candice did, Meninas was on the fence about it. Now, besides Bambietta, all of the Quincy girls don't want to fight the Shinigami. That's Bambietta for you, she does have a reason for why she's so forceful about her views, as shown in this chapter. Ooh yeah, I've got plenty of ideas for that arc, it's gonna be quite exciting. He could have been experimented on, we'll find out more and some hints have been given in previous, and even this chapter has a hint or two. And thanks very much!**

**Terrariuz; Yup, Nel's arrived, and yeah, corrected. Yup, we'll see them fighting this chapter. Hehe, we'll learn more as the story goes, I can't reveal much, but it's going to be rather intriguing to find out.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Yup, Nel's arrived! She is yeah, but Orihime's not gonna sit back and quietly take it. Tatsuki always thought they'd end up together, now with Rukia, it's gotten complicated. And yeah they definitely will be now. It's gonna be quite the ride~**

**oro03910; That would be cool, and yeah eventually he probably would~ That would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestions! We'll see some of those in this chapter in his struggle with Tier. He would yeah considering it's his Zanpakuto, like others have natural resistance to their powers to a degree. Maybe he could do something like that yeah. Well, he can make a thunder boom if he wanted to do so. He controls lightning and thunder. And that's true yeah~ **

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Nel's arrived~ Orihime was great yeah, and we'll see her continue being great. They were yeah, they understood they needed help. Zombie Chizuru is...something alright. Maybe so~ Yeah, Kisuke's too focused on that right now. He wasn't no. Maybe she would feel that, and yeah, when we get to Soul Society and beyond, we'll see more of scientist Takumi in action. The combos were cool huh~? Yuzu and Nemu make a surprisingly good team, and Hiyori with Giselle...yeah, they're having an adventure all their own. I haven't given it yet, I haven't fully decided what it would be. Chibi Nel is quite cute~ She has yeah, Orihime's got her powers, and Takumi knows something's about the Fullbringers, but not fully. Karin's got her own battle going on. They have yeah, and he wont appear, but will in the future. Liltotto and Bambietta are going to be going at it. Nel's quite fun huh, she got a little jealous of Orihime. Tier's here with Kukkapuro, it's gonna be fun huh~? Maybe he could do that. I could see them mowing down Quincy soldiers or Arrancar's together. I hope it's unique too. Yeah, it isn't weak, it's just simple which is fine. Well, you never know, it could be an armour. Maybe he could have yeah~ He'll always love Orihime's food~ Sure, he could do. She could do~ He could have been critical of it, if he was there. Sure, he could have~ That would be rather funny. Well, he looks about teenage age, so he's a bit younger than Byakuya. Kukkapuro's got an interesting role within the series which I can't reveal just yet. Visiting Hell, perhaps he could have. I'll probably do the hellverse with my own twist on it at some point. I've got some plans for the Fullbringers. It's a good idea, perhaps it will happen like that. Yeah, they'd be decent. True, the Quincy war was more serious. He could do yeah, and yeah, we'll get lemons in the future. I can understand why people wouldn't like them, I'm not too keen on them, though I don't hate them or anything. I'd only have them actually use their powers in more fun ways. Maybe he might be~**

**Kitsune No Hero; Thanks very much! Yeah, some Arrancar characters have been introduced. Nel's a character I really do love, wish she got more screentime, but in this story, she will! It seems that they do know one another, why they do shall be expanded upon, along with why Tier's even looking out for her. They have yeah. You never know, Fullbringers might be involved sooner. I can't spoil it, but Karin is going to be fighting one of the Espada as her rival of the arc, so is Yuzu. I've played some of them, and I do like them, so you never know.**

**Guest 1; Yeah, that sounds pretty awesome to me! It would be interesting to see that happen with Lucy. Aries could do that yeah, and showcase why she's close to Oc. Cool harem! Yeah, he could be~ That sounds pretty great to me! Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Andrew123456; Most disappointing huh. Well, I do think they're a little disappointing, the arcs you mentioned, but I thought they still had pretty awesome moments, I'd say the Fullbringers, not because I hate them, in fact I quite like the idea of Fullbringers, it's just they weren't developed enough and in the end, they weren't a threat to the Shinigami at all, like the Arrancars were, the Quincy's in the final arc were. If they had been a little more, then it would be interesting, and they don't have to be stronger than canon, but they had unique powers that could have messed with the Shinigami even more to make it harder for them, and have some interesting battles. But for this story, I'll be doing more things with the Fullbringers.**

**Reviewer Requiem; Yeah, it could be~ Yeah, he could have all three types. That sounds great to me!**

**A fan; Yeah, that would be pretty good, I'm sure Kenpachi would love a three hour fight like that, and it would be cool if he did do that for Yachiru. And I could see Kenpachi doing that.**

**Aoi valt; Thanks! Yeah, it would be rather interesting to see their relationship. That sounds like a pretty awesome idea to me~ Sure, he could have something like that~ Yeah, he could be a shota, it would be fun. And thanks for letting me know~**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Protect Karakura part two!**

Liltotto came to confront Bambietta, along with BG5. The robot just stayed silent while Liltotto looked on with her lowering eyes.

"It's over Bambi."

Bambietta was caught off guard with that statement from Liltotto.

"How can you say that? Can't you see-"

"Can't you see?" Liltotto spoke over her. "Look, at this town. The mayhem, the destruction." Her hand went over the town, showcasing the many Hollows spewing into the sky, and flooding through the town, Kisuke and Yoruichi could be seen at a distance along with Meninas and Candice dealing with many of the Hollows using their powers. "This town has become a Hollows hunting ground. People could die if this doesn't stop."

"Yeah, the right people like the Shinigami. I don't get why you're so against this anyway. The Shinigami have done so much to us Quincy's, and you're siding with them? Why? What have you thought about? Did you think that I could be right when I say that we aren't actually evil? That I'm doing the right thing?"

"The right thing is endangering peoples lives?"

Liltotto countered Bambietta who narrowed her eyes.

But then she relented slightly when looking around at the Hollows all descending onto the normal people. Though Kisuke, and the rest of the Urahara shop minus Takumi who wasn't there managed to slay them in no time flat.

But with the onslaught of the Hollows, it was anyone's guess when they were actually going to win the fight. Kisuke and Yoruichi were strong, but they also had their stamina deceasing more and more as the Hollows came so it was only a matter of time before the Hollows end up getting the upper hand on the situation.

Bambietta did feel some remorse, seeing the humans, normal humans, getting attacked, and saved.

"...I didn't mean for it to get this far. How was I supposed to know that I'd cause this amount? I thought it would be more than usual, but this has brought on a new and different set of circumstances all together. Even then, it doesn't matter. The Shinigami want to prove that they're not bad, then they can save everyone!"

"Like they didn't save you?"

Bambietta's scowl grew on her face.

"Lil, don't you dare..."

Bambietta's growling didn't bother Liltotto who just remained calm and collected.

"We know what happened to you Bambi, how Shinigami murdered your family before you." Bambietta's eyes turned downwards, refusing to cry. "Not all Shinigami are like that though Bambi. That guy Takumi, he isn't evil, he wouldn't kill people unnecessarily. If anything, you've given him reasons to kill you, so has Candice, so has Meninas. But he's never done that. He's never even attempted to slay you. Subdue you sure, but never gone in for the kill, when you've done that so many times."

"So he appears to be nice, how do you know he's not going to backstab you. That's what those Shinigami did to my family. They befriended us, they wanted to work in harmony, then as soon as they earned our trust, they turned around and slaughtered my family, and stole their spiritual power for themselves. If it wasn't for His Majesty, I'd have been next."

Liltotto's face curled downwards.

"I know, that was a tragic circumstance. But not everyone in the world is going to betray you."

"You all did."

Bambietta shot back, only for Liltotto to shake her neck side to side.

"No, we didn't betray you. We are trying to save you, from yourself. I left, and thought it might wake you up. Maybe you'll finally see that we're not against you, we're against what you're doing. We care about what happens to you Bambi, we don't want you to be lost like this. In the beginning, we came here to slay the Hollows, now you've turned it into your crusade against Shinigami's. Ones that have been nothing but kind to us."

Bambietta almost gave into what she said.

Everything sounded so beautiful.

Even now, they were with her…

But she recalled what happened to her parents.

Their blood staining the ground, their corpses looking at her…

"Nice try, you're just trying to betray me! Now get out of my way Liltotto or I'll blow you away!"

"I can't move. If I move, you'll do something you regret. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but eventually, it will creep back up on you, and you'll realize what you did is wrong. I'm stopping you committing an evil, even if I have to fight you. One day, you'll see I'm doing you a favour."

Liltotto took out her bow, so Bambietta did the same thing.

"A favour. Yeah, sure you are." Bambietta's neck bent towards BG5. "Come on then BG5, lets take care of her once and for all."

"Yes mistress."

BG5 raised his gun arm, while Bambietta aimed her bow at Liltotto.

Knowing that she was outnumbered, but also knowing that since there were so many Hollows around, that even if Takumi managed to come here, he'd have exhausted stamina, so to make sure that she could stop Bambietta as much as she could, she was going to be fighting against her, and weaken her as much as she could.

That's the role Liltotto had to play now, she knew that, even if it meant risking everything she had.

* * *

Having felt the clashes of spiritual power, Takumi, Orihime, and Rukia all looked around, wondering where they should go. They felt Giselle and Hiyori still going at it with the Hollows, and were slaying them rather quickly.

However, Nel kept her eyes on Rukia, who seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"Is something wrong? You keep glaring at me."

Rukia didn't quite understand why Nel was doing that. Though Orihime had an idea, as she remembered when it did happen to her, and that wasn't a pleasant experience for her either, mostly because she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Takumi.

"Ughhh….what is your relationship to Saku Taku."

"Who's Saku Taku?" Takumi gave her a curious look, Rukia picked up on it right away. "Oh, that's you. Erm, our relationship…?" Orihime paid attention to that while Rukia looked troubled. "Erm. we're just friends, that's all."

"Nel doesn't believe you..."

Nel showed a childlike jealousy, while Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"Even if you don't, that's just how it is." Rukia's eyes went towards Takumi. "Where are we going? We should probably split up to cover more ground."

"You're right. Since Karin-chan's alone, and Yuzu-chan's with Nemu-san….I'll go to Karin-chan along with Orihime-chan, and Nel-chan here. You go and make sure Yuzu-chan's fine. Considering that Nemu-san's with her, even without her full power thanks to the limiter placed on her, I think they'll be relatively safe."

"Perhaps you're-"

"So, you're the Shinigami around here."

They paused, hearing a new voice.

In the air, Tier stood there, in all of her glory.

Her short sword was withdrawn, her eyes focused on the quartet.

Takumi felt nervous when looking at her. But when looking at the dog on her shoulder, he muttered "Kukkapuro..." and when hearing the name, the dog barked, and went to go towards Takumi when Tier stopped him.

"Do you know this dog?"

Tier demanded from Takumi who looked between the girls, then the dog, then Tier herself, who gave an uneven expression. She didn't look exactly pleased with what was happening right now.

"Well, I think that maybe..." His eyes saw the mask of the dog. "...a Hollow dog?"

"My dog, is my dog. It doesn't matter if he's a Hollow or not."

Takumi understood that, though he was intrigued by a dog Hollow. It seemed rather than in the shape of a dog, it was a dog before it had died. He hadn't known that before. He had seen humans take on different forms when turning into Hollows. But he didn't know why he knew this, it was just something buried deep inside of him, and it was clawing its way to the surface.

"Yes of course. But it is interesting that a dog has been tamed by you, who is a..." His eyes scanned Tier, and couldn't help but notice the duel energies coming off of her. "...who are you anyway? Why do you feel like...a Shinigami and a Hollow at the same time?"

Tier lifted her brows.

"So you-"

"Ooh! It's Nel's big sister!"

Takumi glanced at Tier, then at Nel.

"So, she's your sister Nel-chan?"

"Yup! She's here! Tier-chan! Tier-chan! I'm here!"

Tier looked at Nel, and didn't show it on her face, but she felt relieved that Nel wasn't harmed.

But then her eyes went towards Takumi.

"Shinigami, how dare you?"

"H-How dare I what? What have I done now?"

Takumi released an awkward chuckle, while Orihime clung to Takumi's arm, feeling the spiritual pressure that Tier was releasing. It was dense, powerful. It was overcoming Orihime's body, even Rukia wasn't looking so hot.

Takumi himself felt sweat pouring off of his brow, feeling the same as the girls, but to a lesser extent.

Tier came down to the ground, and moved towards Takumi.

Orihime's body couldn't take the pressure, so her legs gave out, and she fell to the floor, though Takumi caught her, and placed her down so she didn't hurt herself. Then he saw Rukia leaning on a single knee with how much power she was releasing right now.

Her finger tilted Takumi's chin up, while Nel got onto Takumi's shoulder, and stared at Tier.

"Big sister, don't be mean to Saku Taku, he took care of Nel!"

Tier glanced at Nel who nodded childlike.

"Is that so?" Takumi nodded, his voice failing him. "Then you truly are someone that I might have to challenge."

"B-But, why?"

Takumi didn't want to fight.

He had enough of fighting people that he didn't even know why they were attacking him in the first place.

His eyes caught the blade she had, and found it rather odd. Unlike normal swords, this sword was mostly hollow in the middle. It didn't even the usual thickness a blade had, and really only was an outline of a blade made of metal.

Though he could still feel the power rolling off of Tier, so it wasn't a joke that she was using a blade like that.

"Because, I wish to see your power!"

Tier swung her sword at Takumi at speeds that Rukia wasn't even able to see…

But Takumi managed to react to it, and parry her blade up above, creating an area doused with sparks.

Takumi noticed however, that a small cut appeared on his cheek, forcing himself backwards as an eruption of spiritual energy was released, nearly encompassing Orihime, and Rukia, but he managed to use Hainawa to grab them both, and drag them away.

Tier cracked her neck side to side, readying herself once more.

"Impressive, many wouldn't be able to do that. Usually, that would have slain most Shinigami, but you managed to dodge the attack expertly. It seems that your reflexes, and speed aren't anything to laugh at. I am impressed Shinigami boy."

"T-Thanks I think. But, why are you attacking me? Nel-chan is here, she's safe. You're her sister, right? Please take care of Nel-chan, she was worried, so we don't have to fight, do we? We can just be together, normally, no need to have a battle now. Clearly you're very powerful, stronger than I am I wager. So there's no point to our match, you'd probably beat me. I can sense your power from here, it is quite intense."

Tier raised her sword, and pointed it at Takumi, so he placed Nel next to Orihime, and held out his own blade.

"Yes, it does seem that she is alright, and perhaps if you weren't someone I was curious about, a battle between us would be rather pointless. However, I need to confirm something about you before moving forward."

"Something about me?"

"I'll tell you if you dodge my next assault!"

Panic entered Takumi's heart, and he raised his hands up to the sky, knowing the power Tier was packing, and he knew she was keeping a good chunk of it back.

"W-Wait!"

"Prepare yourself Shinigami!"

Takumi pleaded, but Tier didn't heed the call, and disappeared with incredible speed. Rukia couldn't follow it, Orihime was at a loss, but Takumi had dealt with Yoruichi before, so he could see where she was, reacting to it was a different thing all together.

"K-Kinhime! Lightning Field!"

Takumi stabbed the ground, and sent up a shock wave of electricity all around his immediate area. He avoided Orihime and the others, and only honed in on Tier who developed a small smirk on her lips, and swung out her blade, which released a yellow wave of energy, clashing with the electricity that Takumi had fired off.

"Good, that's good. Kinhime, huh. So that's the release of your Zanpakuto. It isn't bad, lightning. Heh, I guess that we'd compliment one another rather well."

Takumi drew a blank.

"Oh?"

"Yes, if I released my sword, then our battle would be rather interesting. Either way, I wont do that right now. Instead, have some of my energy."

Tier coated her hand with red energy this time, and thrusted it forward.

"Saku Taku! That's Bala! Avoid it!"

Nel warned, so Takumi heeded the advice, allowing lightning to run to his legs as he touched his leg with his sword, along with a syringe which he injected himself with, which stimulated his muscles, and allowed him to move at a much faster rate. His body sparked, while Tier looked slightly surprised by what was happening.

"_He's using his own sword on his body huh. Makes sense by how he's using electricity...no, he's probably also used some kind of drug to make it connect to only certain parts of his legs, rather than then as a whole, or it would be too dangerous. He's a clever one, that boy._"

Tier watched his movements, increasing more and more, so much that Rukia had lost him, but Tier was used to this and could see his movements though even she had to admit that she was finding it a little difficult.

"Hehe, this technique kinda hurts, need to perfect it."

Takumi murmured, appearing behind Tier, and swung his sword downwards, but without even looking, Tier blocked with her own sword, creating heavy sparks throughout the area, pushing Takumi backwards, and came at him with a serious of jabs meant to pierce his flesh.

"You're not bad, but still a little too green for me."

Tier flurry of stabs came sharp and heavy.

Takumi knew he wouldn't be able to avoid them all, so between the first, and second stabbing motion, at quickened speed, Takumi placed his finger out, and spoke "Hado 4: Byakurai!" and unleashed pale lightning up close, which Tier bent out of the way to avoid the blast, but that gave Takumi all he needed to, and aimed his sword like a gun.

"Raiju!"

The thunder beast came out, and charged for Tier. Tier could see that due to close range, she wouldn't be able to avoid it so easily. So rather than doing that, she used Hierro to strengthen her body with her energy so she wouldn't receive that bad of a wound.

The thunder beast caught Tier, and gave her an electrocution, sending the volts through her system, but because of her Hierro armour, she managed to avoid the worst case scenario, and came out of it mostly unscathed, however Takumi raised his sword to the sky, and gathered electricity in the air, and announced "Mjolnir!" bringing down the electricity that formed a hammer in the air, Tier's eyes widening when seeing that, and held out her sword, channelling her power beside her hand.

"Cero!"

As the hammer came down, she shot off her ultra powerful Cero which lit up the sky. Even despite it being day, the light off her Cero was as bright as the sun, and pierced right through the hammer of electricity, but Takumi used that chance to get close, and swing out his sword at a lightning fast pace.

Even Tier was surprised by how he switched up so easily, and went to pull away, when she felt her body being bound. She hadn't realized until that moment, that Hainawa was around her body, and had bound her so he could get off an attack.

"It was all a distraction..."

She realized it too late.

Takumi wasn't going for a strong attack with the hammer.

She found it suspicious that he wasn't putting more effort into the attack.

But she hadn't considered he'd bind her just to get off an attack.

No matter how slim the chance was that he'd be able to actually hit her.

But this was a desperate situation, and for him at least, he was fighting an opponent even Captains would struggle against, even seasoned Captains would have a very difficult time against Tier, so the fact that he was able to at least catch her off guard was highly impressive for Tier.

"Even then, I shall not be beaten by mere misdirection!"

Tier spun her sword, and caught Takumi's blade through the hole within her sword, since the blade itself didn't have a midsection, and only an outline of a blade, she spun her weapon so Takumi's sword was forced away from her, where she raised her hand to fire off a Bala, seeing Takumi already having his hand upwards towards her.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

At the same time Tier fired off her Bala, he fired off his Kido, clashing with one another, and creating a large explosion between them, Orihime gasped.

"T-Taku-chan!"

"Hehe, this is so fun!"

Nel swayed side to side, while Orihime gave her a worried look.

"But, Taku-chan's fighting, this isn't fun at all. He's in serious danger, and he could even be killed for something we aren't even aware of."

"But big sis Tier isn't trying to kill Saku Taku."

"How do you know…?"

Orihime was in doubt.

But Nel seemed convinced enough.

"Because big sis hasn't transformed yet!"

Rukia gave a curious look.

"What do you mean by transformed?"

"Released her power, that's what. Her Zanpakuto~"

"S-She can release her power? Zanpakuto? But she isn't a Shinigami, so how could she have a Zanpakuto? Unless...even then, she's not even fighting at full strength?"

Rukia seemed to realize something and if she was right, then she was worried for Takumi fighting this kind of opponent. She wished she could do more, though because she was only just able to go back into Shinigami form, she wasn't able to fully utlize her powers, and even if she was, she doubted she'd do much better than Takumi was doing right now.

"Nope. But it seems that she's having trouble with Saku Taku. That's impressive from Saku Taku who's only using Shikai! Saku Taku must be quite strong to pressure big sis, even if a little bit! Yay Saku Taku!"

Orihime still was worried about Takumi.

If Tier hadn't released her power, then that meant she could become a lot stronger than she was, and Orihime could see that Takumi was pulling out a few tricks already to fight her, if she grew in strength, she wasn't sure if Takumi could win against her.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Takumi came out of the smoke, and sent out an omni-directional wave of electricity, forcing Tier backwards, who showed a small grin under her hood, so it couldn't be seen, then she brought out her sword, and swung it around, releasing a blade shaped energy blast.

"You aren't that bad after all Shinigami. Though as you currently are, you can't beat me. However, if you released Bankai, it would be an interesting match between us."

"Bankai huh. Sorry, not got that yet. Maybe come back when I do?"

"Depends if I feel like it, and if I feel like letting you leave here."

Takumi managed to dodge the attack from Tier, only to see Tier raising her hand and gathered the energy for a Cero.

Takumi growled, and dashed towards the right to avoid it, but Tier disappeared from view, appearing before the fast moving Takumi, and aimed her hand for him. He breathed hard, and raised his blade, but Tier shook her head.

"To fight me is a pretty big achievement. Not many Arrancars can say that they've fought me and survived, and to survive, you have to protect those you care for, and to stop the opponents by any means necessary, even if it means death. But that's the aspect of death I represent after all."

"Aspect of death?"

"Sacrifice."

Tier responded, and her energy came out…

When Nel jumped up, and opened her mouth.

"Nel-chan!"

Takumi worried about her being endangered.

But Tier gave a slight look of approval, as her Cero entered Nel's mouth.

"N-Nel-chan! You just fired that at Nel-chan! Is she gonna be okay?!"

"She'll be fine."

Tier responded, seeing Nel's stomach expand briefly, before opening her mouth, and seeing that not only Tier's Cero, but it had increased the speed of the firing, Takumi noticing that the eyes on her mask were glowing as she did it, and shot right back towards Tier, who raised her sword, taking the blast head on.

It forced Tier backwards across the school grounds, while Takumi grabbed Nel's falling body. He overlooked her, seeing that she looked exhausted from doing that. He didn't know exactly how she did that, but that didn't matter at that moment in time.

"Nel-chan, why did you do that?"

"Because I like Saku Taku. Big sis was being a bit mean, I wanted to protect Saku Taku."

Takumi gave a light smile, petting the small girls head.

"You're very kind Nel-chan. Thank you Nel-chan."

Nel gave a smile, and hugged Takumi tightly.

Tier redirected her sword upwards, blasting the energy up into the sky, where the Hollows there were caught up in the attack, and destroyed a good number of them. Tier bowed her head slowly, and moved back to Takumi.

"Hold on! Nel-chan protected me, so we should stop this fight now, right? Besides, we have friends that need helping out. I'm sorry, but can't we put this on hold? Even if you want to fight me right away, I've got to protect people from Hollows and a Quincy who hates me."

Tier paused in her actions, lowering her sword to the side.

"Friends. Would you sacrifice yourself for them?" Her eyes went towards Orihime who flinched. "For her, would you sacrifice yourself for a mere human?"

"First of all, Orihime-chan is no mere human, she is awesome." Orihime gained a light smile. "And to answer...if I had to die to protect those I love, then yes I would sacrifice myself. Preferably, I'd like to live with them, but to save those I love, I'd definitely give my life up."

Tier's eyes briefly lowered, only to be returned back to Takumi's face.

"I see, so you're..."

"Sorry, did you say something?"

Since she whispered it, Takumi wasn't sure, but Tier shook her head, and placed her sword away.

"No, it's nothing. Since it seems your sincere, along with Nel protecting you, I conclude you aren't a bad person. However, it seems that we have a situation between us here. With Hollows coming into the human world, and a tear within the fabric of dimensions."

"Because of the Hollows?"

"Not just them. But because of what lured them here in the first place. The clashing of energies in this town, along with all of the Hollows have caused a disruption within both worlds. We have to close it before anything happens. Before both of our dimensions suffer due to this tear."

Now that Tier has stopped with her energy output, Rukia and Orihime could move again, so they got up, and walked towards them.

"But, how do we stop it?"

Tier directed her hand upwards.

"That hole up there, is the main reason that this has happened. It's what Nel fell through, and it is how I found myself into this world. I do not wish for humans to lose any numbers this day. So, all I ask is that you lend me assistance."

Takumi nodded slowly.

"Of course, we want this to stop just as much as you do. So, got any ideas?"

"Actually, yes I do. It is relatively simple, we need to attack it from two different positions at the same time. From the human world, and one from Hueco Mundo. Since I can't be in two places at once, much less two worlds, it would be impossible for me to do it alone. However, if we work together, we should be able to close it so no other Hollows find themselves in this world today. However, I must inform you, no matter if we close it now or not, several Gillian's have appeared in this world already. They were attracted by the increase of power within this town."

"G-Gillian? Several?" Rukia seemed to be panicking while Tier nodded her head. "But if it is Gillian's...only very high ranking Shinigami are meant to deal with them. Even as strong as you and I have gotten Takumi, I'm not sure we can handle several of them. Plus with Bambietta still out there, how are we going to pull this off?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"I think it's time we call in a favour then. It's time for the lazy group to do something, or I'm not fixing their computers and internet anymore." Rukia drew a blank, as Takumi turned to Tier. "Alright, it's a sound plan, and it makes sense. Two colliding energies, would destabilize it, and close off the doorway connecting our worlds. I'll give that plan a chance, it's better than anything else we've got."

"I'm glad you're a reasonable person. I wasn't sure if I could trust you before, but I understand that you truly are him...that person that would do what it takes, even working with a Hollow such as myself."

"To save everyone, I can't see a reason for us to be enemies. I don't care if you're a Hollow, you're an understanding person, and rational enough to realize that this is bigger than any feud or differences that we could have as species overall."

"I concur. Then let us hurry."

Takumi nodded, turning to Rukia and Orihime.

"New plan. You guys head for Yuzu-chan and Nemu-san. I'll go and seal off this rift with Tier-chan here. Then we'll go and confront Bambietta-san after these Hollows have been dealt with."

"What about Karin?"

Rukia wondered…

But then she stopped, and felt something, probably the same something that Takumi had felt.

"Oh, so they're heading in that direction."

"Wait Taku-chan, I don't know how to use my powers."

Orihime explained swiftly, so Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, that's true...since you've only awakened them, it would be difficult...but, remember how you felt when protecting Tatsuki-chan. How you wanted to save her, and how you wanted to be strong. Those feelings allowing you to tap into your powers Orihime-chan, and they can do that again for you. I know you can do it, just remember what you felt when those fairy friends of yours were summoned."

Orihime gained a smile, and recalled how she had saved Tatsuki.

How she was able to rescue Tatsuki, but something else that Takumi wasn't aware of.

How Takumi was able to give her courage in the first place.

Saving her from her brother, allowing her the last chance with her brother.

That alone was something that Orihime truly appreciated.

Then she felt a wellspring bursting open inside of her being, and spread out through her body.

"Shun'o, Ayame!" Orihime called, and some of the hair pins glowed, shooting out of her pins, and went towards Takumi's bleeding cheek. "Soten Kisshun! I reject!"

Takumi watched as an oval barrier appeared around his cheek, and began healing his wound, while Tier focused her eyes on Orihime.

"See Orihime-chan? You put your mind to it, you can do anything!"

Orihime smiled brightly, feeling like she could do anything.

Rukia watched the interactions between the two of them, and then lowered her eyes slowly.

While she healed, Takumi took out his phone, and casually rang his Father.

"Hey Dad. Yeah, we're gonna need to ask the Shinji-kun's group for help here."

[Haha, you think they will?]

"Tell them that I wont ever fix their computers or internet ever again."

[Hmmm, I suppose it could work. Well, I'll do that soon enough, just need to finish off the Hollows here.]

"Alright, have fun~"

Takumi sang out, while Tier gave a curious look.

Once Orihime finished, Takumi walked towards Tier.

"Right, we'll be off, good luck you two."

"Wait for Nel!"

Nel jumped onto Takumi's back, while the dog barked.

Takumi's eyes went to the dog, and felt a sense of longing, but he didn't know what that was about at all.

"Finished?"

Tier demanded, Takumi nodded.

"Lets go."

Tier didn't quite understand, but she also understood that he seemed to be understanding the situation, so she followed along with him.

With a burst of speed, they disappeared into the sky, leaving Orihime and Rukia alone together.

Orihime glanced at Rukia who furrowed her eyes.

"Kuchiki-chan, can I ask you something?"

"Yes Inoue?"

"Did it seem like Tier-chan had an ulterior motive when she attacked Taku-chan then?"

"Hmmmm, now that you mention it, it did seem like that..."

Rukia and Orihime contemplated it for a few moments before heading out together.

* * *

Karin came face to face with her enemy before her. With the enemy known as Dondochakka coming after her, she had to act quickly, so she pulled out her sword, while he pulled out a club with dulled spikes coming out of it, it seemed. Though it didn't look like a Zanpakuto, she remembered from Takumi, that Zanpakuto's could change shape when released.

"So, what is your Zanpakuto? Are you a Shinigami too? Though you have a Hollows mask on. Are you a Hollow? I haven't seen a Hollow like you before. That's quite weird."

Karin's words seemed to anger Dondochakka, and he charged while yelling "Give Nel back!" swinging his club for Karin who jumped backwards, the club smashing down into the ground and cracked the earth.

Karin readied her blade, pointing it at the Hollow.

"I don't know what's going on with you, but if I have to face you, then I will!"

Karin charged forward at a fast pace, speeding along with speeds that could outpace most normal Hollows. But for Dondochakka, he could see her movements, and rushed towards her. His speed wasn't that impressive for most, though for Karin who recently became a Shinigami, it was still noticeably quite fast.

"Now you will give Nel back to me!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't even know who the hell Nel is! Now stop this nonsense!"

Karin yelled, but he didn't listen, thrusting a palm towards her. She crossed her sword, in the hopes to block the strike. But when she did, the strength behind it wasn't a joke. It felt like Karin was pushing against a truck, that forced her off of her feet, and shot through the air.

Karin cursed "Shit!" and pierced the ground with her Zanpakuto, stopping her momentum, while Dondochakka came running in with a wild expression on his face, his hand tightening, and fired off small red energy spheres towards her.

Withdrawing her sword from the ground, she swung her sword left and right, catching the energy bullets, and cleaved them in half with her sword. However, that seemed to be a distraction as he came close, and raised his large club into the air, in an attempting to bring it down and crush her.

However Karin was ready for that.

"Have this!"

Karin used the butt of her sword, slamming it into the eyehole of the Hollow, and he released a cry.

"Y-YOU HIT ME IN THE EYE?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!? ARE YOU INSANE!? OR CRAZY?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me! There's something wrong with you! Also, don't call me insane or crazy!"

Karin turned her blade, swinging it at the Hollow, who managed to parry her sword with his club, but her surprising strength managed to push him backwards slightly, which allowed her to have an opening, and thrusted her blade forward, the sword grazed the Hollows cheek, cutting it slightly, leaving it in the mask, while Karin leaped backwards, Dondochakka unleashing a Bala energy blast, which was fast at close range, hitting Karin square on, making her cry out, and skid across the pavement with smoke rising upwards from the impact site.

Karin took advantage of that, dashing through the smoke, and came down hard and heavy with her blade.

Dondochakka went to parry with his club, when Karin changed tactics, twisting her blade to the left hand side, and sliced against his arm, her blade was tough, but so was his skin. Despite with intent to cut deeply, the sword only managed to leave a small gash in his arm that bled a little, which annoyed her more than she thought.

"You cut me. That's isn't nice Shinigami! Did you do that to Nel?!"

"Ugggggggggh! I'm getting more annoyed! What part of "I don't know who Nel is." do you not understand?! I've never met anyone named Nel! And because of you, I hope I never do meet anyone called Nel! You've put me off Nel for life!"

Dondochakka looked on with a surprised face.

But he also seemed a little pissed off at the same time.

Karin held her blade in front of her, ready to defend herself.

"How could you say that?! Nel is a wonderful girl! How could you say you couldn't be with Nel anymore!? What's wrong with you?!"

Karin gave a sly smile.

"I think between us, you've got the problem dude."

"I've not got a problem! You've got the probl-"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Suddenly, Kon, wearing a gigai it seemed for the time being, managed to kick Dondochakka right in the face, forcing his body backwards away from Karin, who had enough knowledge to know that she'd use this chance, jumping for Dondochakka, and attempted to pin him down to the ground with her sword, but he tightened his hand, and fired off a red energy bullet for her, she reacted, and pulled away, only for it to graze her shoulder, making her wince ever so slightly.

"My, hello Karin-chan. What are you doing with your new boyfriend?"

Karin's murderous eyes shot for Kon who winced.

"What did you just say?"

"O-Oh! I said that are you okay!?"

Kon panicked, his tone dripped in fear.

Karin stared at him for a few moments, before letting out a sigh.

"I'm fine, what are you doing here?"

"Well, finding out about this situation, I was asked to come and kick some Hollow ass. But it seems you've found yourself a Hollow to fight against. Want a hand?"

Karin glanced at the Hollow, who was standing up, then Kon.

"Can you?"

Kon showed a thumbs up, Karin murmuring to herself "Lame." while Kon got into a foot fighting position.

"Of course! Once my body is completed, I'll be as strong as any Shinigami! For now, I can fight this loser!"

"Don't underestimate him Kon, this guys above the average Hollow. His spiritual pressure feels like it is around the level of...well, kind of like the Quincy girls I guess, maybe a little weaker than that...either way, it isn't weak, so lets work together."

"You got it sister~"

"Don't call me sister."

Karin blandly stated, as she ran forward.

She crossed the distance, and came swinging at Dondochakka, who raised his club, and came at Karin harshly, only for her to duck, avoiding the club, and Kon came in from behind her, swinging his foot, forcing Dondochakka to block with his arm, but the force of the kick made Dondochakka be pushed back ever so slightly, allowing Karin the chance to spin around, like a propeller, and swung right for Dondochakka, receiving a cut right on his body as he pulled backwards, Kon bounced off the ground, and went to Karin's side, wrapping a leg around her.

"Get him!"

Karin was rather impressed that Kon was actually being useful, so she took any opportunity that she could, and was launched right at the moving backwards Dondochakka, Karin readied her Zanpakuto in the stabbing motion, but he used his club to block her stab towards him, sparks going off between their weapons.

"Are you ready to stop fighting now? And we can talk about this Nel?"

"Not until you tell me what happened to Nel!"

Karin tightened her hands on her sword, feeling her anger growing more and more.

He opened his mouth, revealing a Cero being formed.

Having seen that before, Karin knew what she had to do.

She rushed forward at a fast pace, and swung her Zanpakuto towards him, only for him to parry the attack with his club, forcing her sword to the left, and then the beam came out of his mouth, heading right for Karin…

Or it would have.

She at the last moment, managed to kick the Hollow in the chin, bringing up his head just enough for the beam to shoot into the sky, the Hollows in its path being destroyed by the energy, while Karin clutched her foot.

"Geez, is your head made out of steel?!"

"My Hierro, is pretty strong and sturdy! No mere Shinigami can defeat me with a kick!"

"How about a punch?!"

Karin punched him right in the face, but her fist shook around rapidly, her fingers felt like they had broke for a few seconds. But she saw that they were just turning red, her eyes produced a few tears while Dondochakka let out a cry.

"Ow! That hurt you harpy!"

Karin's eyebrows twitched.

"Did you just call me a harpy?!"

"That's right harpy! You taking Nel, then punching me! When I was only asking you questions!"

"You were attacking me! You're still attacking me! Don't sit there, and say that you're the good one! You're the evil one around here pal! I didn't take anyone called Nel! I don't even know who the hell Nel is! So, either leave me alone, or I will use my Zanpakuto to slay you!"

Karin yelled at Dondochakka who panted at seeing Karin's wild facial expressions.

Kon watched from the side, muttering "Anger issues." but that seemed to be pissing off the young woman even more.

"You say something!?"

"N-No..."

"Good, now Hollow I will-"

""AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!""

Suddenly, from the right hand side, two girls came running up. Giselle, and Hiyori, swatting away Hollows like they were going out of business. Hiyori and Giselle's weapons sailed through the air, crushing and killing many Hollows.

"Hahahahaha! That's 783 Zombie chick!"

"795 enemies for me little girl!"

Hiyori flew into a rage, and donned her Hollow mask, gathering a Cero by her mouth, and unleashed her power into the sky, killing off twenty Hollows all at once, and wore pride on her at her accomplishment, and also hoped that Giselle would feel inadequate now that she was ahead of the Zombie girl.

Hiyori unequipped her Hollow mask, and showed a dirty smirk towards Giselle.

"How about that? 803 now Giselle. What are you going to do baldy? Hahaha, I'm going to win and then Takumi's all mine! Hahahahaha!"

Giselle scowled with dark intentions, while Dondochakka gave a confused face.

But then he became angered, and rushed them.

"Excuse me! Did you take Nel away from us too!? If so then I'll-"

""SHUT UP!""

BANG! BANG!

With their combined kicks, Dondochakka went flying through the air, smashing into a nearby building, and because of the force of their kicks, he was knocked out completely, Karin sweat dropped from her forehead, feeling worry increasing around her all by the second.

"W-Well, that took care of it..."

"I take back anger issues for you Karin-chan, and put it onto them."

Karin slowly nodded, seeing Giselle, and Hiyori continuing to take down Hollows.

"Y-Yeah, girls! Oi!" Karin got their attention, but it didn't stop them from murdering Hollows with a single flick of their weapons. "That guy you just kicked happened to be looking for someone called Nel, you haven't seen anyone called Nel, right?"

"How would I know baldy? Take him to Takumi or something, we've got Hollows to slay."

Hiyori continued swatting away Hollows for her own leisure, while Giselle glanced at the Hollow they had kicked.

"Definitely, take him to Takumi-kun. We've got the Hollows around here. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Karin sweat dropped, and walked over to Dondochakka. Seeing that he was passed out, she glanced around the area, and saw a washing line. Though it wasn't ideal, she grabbed it, and tied up the Hollow with the line, then threw him at Kon.

"H-Hey! What are you doing!?"

"Carry him, we're going after Yuzu, then we'll go and find the idiot. I've got to make sure my sisters safe first."

"Since when did I become your servant?" Karin shot him a dark look, making him submit. "I-I mean! Right away mistress!"

Karin nodded slowly, and took off in the area that she felt Yuzu's spiritual pressure, having been taught the basics by Takumi and Rukia beforehand which now she was glad that she paid attention to so she could help out her sister.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Yuzu herself, she and Nemu were facing down the Hollow known as Pesche, and he pointed his reishi sword right at Yuzu.

"So Shinigami!" Yuzu glanced at Nemu with confusion who remained stoic. "You will tell me what you did with Nel! I wont allow you to be evil to Nel anymore!"

"Erm...I'm not a Shinigami."

"Lies! Secrets and lies with you!"

Yuzu didn't quite know how to deal with someone like Pesche.

He was a very odd individual indeed.

"It's not a secret, I'm a Quincy, and I'm not lying either, I'm not a Shinigami. This woman before me, is a Shinigami. But me, I'm just a Quincy. So, could you perhaps tell me who this Nel-san actually is? Because I'm quite confused right now..."

Genuinely, Yuzu didn't know what was going on.

It seemed like he was speaking crazy talk.

But Pesche simply wagged his finger at Yuzu.

"Naaah, she's just an ordinary girl with..." Pesche's face turned a little more perverted when looking at Nemu's assets, forcing Yuzu's face into one that held annoyance. "...very large assets..."

Yuzu's face fell more into a frown than before.

"So, you're one of those types of people then."

Yuzu's comment forced Pesche's head back to her.

"What kind of people?"

He asked rather innocently, but Yuzu knew better than what she was showcasing.

"That focuses on, the form rather than the person. Makes sense."

Pesche points at Yuzu accusingly.

"Hey you young boy!" Yuzu felt triggered from that. "Just because you can't appreciate the female form, it doesn't mean you can suddenly call me out on it either. She is clearly beautiful, and you young man, don't need to become involved."

"I-I'm not even a man! I'm a girl! Look at my outfit, and my hair, and my body type! I'm a woman!"

Pesche leaned closer, and rubbed his chin, while Nemu just wrote down [Note to self, don't call Yuzu Kurosaki a male, or she might enter aggressive mode, and the Hollow before us, is what is known as a pervert, threat level moderate, perverted level, high.] Nemu placed her book away in her pocket, seeing Yuzu breathing hard.

"Yuzu-san, are you feeling better by getting out your rage?"

Yuzu's eyebrows twitched, wishing that it was less obvious than she had done that she was annoyed.

"Y-Yes, I suppose so, though I'm not thrilled about the enemy before us either..."

"I understand, do not be concerned. I shall fight beside you."

Yuzu looked relieved seeing that Pesche was wasting no time, and was charging forward. Going quite fast, Yuzu was blind sided, fortunately Nemu wasn't, and leapt forward, and turned upside down, and spun around like a propeller for Pesche.

"Geez what are you doing!?"

"I'm executing an attack."

"I didn't mean it like that! Since when are you so fast!?"

"If I had my limiter removed, I would be quite faster."

Nemu responded, attempting to land a kick, only for Pesche to release a fluid out of his nose, which dripped all over Nemu, coating her in the substance. Her face remained the same, but Yuzu felt sick to her stomach at seeing what happened.

"N-Nemu-san, are you okay?"

Nemu looked down at her body, feeling the slick all over her.

"Yes, my operations have not been impaired in anyway. Though I do feel, the word is, grossed out by this substance."

"I can see that."

Yuzu let out a small noise, while Pesche places his hands on his hips, showcasing a triumphant smile on his face.

"Hahaha! Taste my infinite slick!"

"Your infinite slick? So you can make that endlessly?"

Yuzu called out, while the Hollow just stared at her.

"It sounds much cooler than finite slick!"

"So, you can't make it endlessly! Haha!"

Pesche glared hard at Yuzu.

"Be quiet little boy! I wont tolerate it anymore!"

The Hollow swung his sword for Nemu who went to move, but because of the slick on her body, it made moving a little more difficult, therefore the sword got close to slashing her, when Yuzu fired off two arrows from her side of the field, forcing Pesche to block the arrows with his sword, allowing Nemu the chance to deliver a direct assault on his body with her knee, embedding it deeply into his torso, and he coughed up bile as a response, flinging him backwards.

"Together, we can do this!"

Nemu nods slowly, and aims her body towards Pesche. Her body took advantage of the slick on her body, and used it to slide across the ground, Pesche pulled back with a rather surprised expression on his face.

"W-Wait a second! H-How are you doing that!?"

Pesche freaked out, while Nemu slid closer, and attempted to strike Pesche when he swung his sword outwards, and red energy was released. Because Nemu's powers were held back due to her being a Lieutenant, she couldn't react as fast, so when the energy came out, she attempted to dodge, but she couldn't, and was about to receive a blast, when Yuzu fired off an arrow, and cancelled out the blast all together.

"Thank you for the assistance. However, it seems our enemy might be more formidable than we once thought. Perhaps, we could gain the advantage somehow."

Yuzu furrowed her eyes, as he spewed out the slick from his nose once more. However, this time Nemu spun around, and created a Kido spell within her hands.

Usually, Nemu didn't use Kido, but for this instance she thought it would be best to use it.

"Bakudo 39: Enkosen."

Using the shield skill, she raised a barrier, where the slick spewed all over, protecting her body from the slimy substance, and allowed Yuzu from behind to fire off many arrows, dancing around Nemu's body and pierced through the barrier.

Because Pesche couldn't see them due to the slick covering the shield, so was surprised when a myriad of arrows came through, coated with the slick, and all headed for Pesche himself.

"Ooh my God! That's not supposed to happen!"

While panicking, he dodged left and right in a comedic manner. Yuzu found it slightly funny that he was dancing around like a headless chicken, but she didn't loose sight of what she was supposed to do, so rather than mess around, she made three arrows, and lined up her target with Pesche.

Though she wasn't as skilled as Giselle, having learned enough from her, she thought she'd be able to take Pesche off guard, just enough for Nemu to subdue the Hollow, and they'd be able to finally get to understand what was going on.

Nemu skated towards Pesche once more. He took his blade, and attempted to swing it for Nemu, when leaped into the air at high speeds, where Yuzu fired an arrow, which Nemu grasped with a flick of her wrist, threw it down at Pesche's hand, piercing said hand, making him scream out, but Nemu wasn't done.

"Executing technique, Nemu barrage."

Yuzu wondered why she decided to call the technique something like that.

But it seemed like she had her own reasons for doing what she was doing.

Nemu got close, and a flurry of kicks landed against Pesche's face, chest, legs, and arms. Each kick created a dent within the body that she was kicking. Even if he used Hierro. It still was getting through, showcasing how strong Nemu truly was with her kicks, even when she was being suppressed.

Pesche's eyes rolled around in his head from the deliver of attacks that he received from Nemu, and was flung away when Nemu delivered a final punch and flung him away from the area, smashing his body through the concrete of the ground, while Yuzu exhaled a breath she was keeping for a good chunk of the battle.

"Is it over? Has the Hollow been beaten?"

Nemu went to answer, when a groaning sound came from Pesche's location.

"Ow...I was only looking for Nel, then you attacked me!"

"W-We attacked you?!" Yuzu put emphasis on the 'we' and 'you' parts while Pesche nodded again and again. "I think it's the other way around! You attacked us, about this Nel-san, who we don't even know!"

"But, for sure, you must know who she is!"

"I-Is she famous?"

"She's my and Dondochakka's kid sister, that's all that matters!"

Yuzu still didn't quite understand what was going on.

Nemu was surprised that Pesche still was conscious.

It was true that she was limited in her abilities, but she thought for sure that she had delivered sufficient force to knock out the Hollow at least. It just went to show that he had more durability than she had countered for.

However, as Pesche was going to move, Rukia's voice could be heard.

"Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!"

A wave of ice erupted from the left hand side, washing over the entirety of Pesche's body, encasing him in said ice, and froze him to a nearby wall. Rukia didn't use the giant version of the technique, but she didn't hold back on the strength level either, and managed to trap the Hollow.

"H-Hey you guys! Are you okay?"

A slightly tired looking Orihime came running over, and gave an excited look.

Yuzu and Nemu glanced at her, and then at Rukia who moved forward.

They didn't even bother asking about why Rukia was a Shinigami right now, having deduced that she either got her powers back, or Takumi had helped her somehow.

"Hey Orihime-chan, we're fine! We were attacked by this Hollow guy though. Looking for someone called Nel-san."

"Yes, we know who she is."

Pesche's ears perked.

"You know Nel Tu?!"

"Nel Tu...that must be her last name. Uumm, yes, that's right. We know her, she's safe. So please stop attacking our friends."

Pesche glanced at Orihime's chest, and her single eye widened in lust.

Only for Yuzu to lightly tap his head, which made him cry a little bit.

"Either way, I'm glad you're alright."

"What is the situation Kuchiki-san."

Nemu asked Rukia, who bowed her head.

"Short version is Bambietta lost it, summoned a bunch of Hollows, taking over the town. Though we've made friends with a woman named Tier, who's helping Takumi close the giant hole in the sky, so more Hollows cannot get through."

"Understood. Our mission?"

"We have to take care of the Hollows. We'll leave Bambietta to Takumi for the moment, and join him when we can. Our first priority is to make sure this town is safe. Uraraha and his group, along with Candice, and Meninas it seems are working on slaying the Hollows on the south side of the side, so we should concentrate our efforts here."

"I understand. And this Hollow humanoid here?"

Rukia looked at Pesche who struggled with the ice, but couldn't get free.

"These are unusual circumstances. But they were looking for the young girl Nel. Even if they attacked us unjustly. We'll keep them in our sights for now, and reunite them with Nel later on. Right now, we have to deal with the Hollows."

"Yes, I understand-"

"Yuzu! Yuzu!" Karin called, running towards her, with Kon behind her. "Hey Yuzu! Are you okay?!"

"Karin! I'm alright! Are you?!"

Karin came close, overlooked Yuzu, who seemed to be in good condition.

"I'm so relieved you're okay. We just fought this guy..." Her eyes went to Pesche. "...it seems like you also managed to win."

Pesche glances at the incoming Dondochakka, or rather, his unconscious form carried by a heavy breathing Kon.

"Y-You people are monsters! You beat Dondochakka as well?!"

"Actually, it was Hiyori and Giselle who beat him, after we wore him down of course."

Karin said with a little pride.

Rukia looked over the situation, then looked to Nemu.

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, could you watch over these two with Kon, while we deal with the Hollow threat?"

"Understood."

Rukia looked thankful, turning to Kon who was attempting to leer at Nemu, only for Rukia to jab her blade towards him.

"No being a pervert either."

"I-I wasn't!"

"I mean it Kon."

Kon let out a cry, bending down to the ground, and sighed deeply.

"R-Right, I've got it, don't need to tell me twice."

Rukia nods her head, and turns to the others.

"Lets go everyone."

"But, Inoue doesn't..."

Karin was worried, seeing that Orihime was standing with them, and seemed to be ready to fight.

Rukia however gave a soft expression.

"Do not worry about her, she can handle herself."

Karin drew a blank.

But then they all charged forward to take care of the Hollows that were around the area.

* * *

Meanwhile, Liltotto and Bambietta began their battle. Facing off against one another was difficult, but Bambietta was determined, as was Liltotto to stop her.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Pulling her arrows backwards, she shot them off in three sets at a time. Liltotto matched that, and fired off her own arrows, blocking them shot for shot, while BG5 came in from the left, and aimed its gun right for Liltotto's upper body, and went to fire, when Liltotto extended her mouth, and used her mouth to bite right through the metal minigun that was on BG5's arm.

"Error, error."

BG5 pulled back its broken minigun, while Liltotto leaps up into the air, and activates Blut Arterie, and fires off a denser than normal arrow for Bambietta. However, Bambietta just smirked, and activated Blut Vene, to decreased the damage that she would naturally receive from Liltotto's arrow.

"It seems you've gotten better Lil."

Bambietta complimented, while dodging the arrow, but Liltotto cocked her hand, and the arrow changed direction mid flight, surprising Bambietta all the more, but Bambietta brought out her sword, and swung it downwards, using her own version of Blut Arterie to combat Liltotto's arrow, and as soon as they met, a shock wave of power erupted outwards, cracking the very ground with their powers colliding.

"You're not so bad yourself."

"Yeah, but I've got allies, and you don't."

Liltotto growled, and went to turn, when BG5 appeared beside her, and his arm had changed into that of a bladed weapon, shocking Liltotto. She went to evade, when Bambietta fired an attack at BG5 surprisingly, who caught the attack with her energy, and swung it at Liltotto, ejecting the blade from its arm, and forced it against Liltotto, as it exploded.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Liltotto cried as she was sent plummeting towards the ground.

Thankfully, she used Blut Vene to protect herself but it still did some damage.

"Yeah, BG5 has had a few upgrades since the last time you've seen him. He's able to detach body parts like he did, and he's got a few other capabilities that you're unaware of as well. Sorry Lil, but it seems you've underestimated me and my ability to plan ahead."

Liltotto didn't show an angered face, or even a worried face.

Instead, she showed a confident one.

"Clearly, you're underestimating me."

Before landing on the ground, Liltotto extended her mouth to become giant sized, and aimed that right for the young woman herself, Bambietta scowled, and opened her palm, firing off an explosive energy blast right for her mouth.

But Liltotto fired off an arrow to catch the energy, exploding it away from her mouth, as her mouth opened up, ready to bite down on Bambietta. Bambietta however snickered, snapped her fingers, and allowed BG5 to appear before her, together aiming a minigun and bow right at the mouth of Liltotto.

"Sorry Lil, nothing personal."

Bambietta, and BG5 went to unleash their attacks…

When they saw within Liltotto's mouth, there was a device that seemed like it came from Takumi.

The exploding spheres.

"H-How did you get them?!"

Bambietta demanded, but with a flick of her oversized mouth, she dropped the explosive devices right onto the pair. Bambietta quickly grabbed BG5, and used him as a robotic shield, and took all the explosives right in the upper body.

As that happened, Liltotto kicked off the ground, and used Quincy Flash Step to appear behind Bambietta, arrow drawn, and ready to fire with Blut Arterie infused arrow, Bambietta turned towards Liltotto who gained a smirk on her face.

"Did you think I'd come unprepared?"

"You loli…"

Liltotto didn't seem to care, and fired off her strong arrow right for Bambietta's body in order to stop her.

However, Bambietta raised her hands to the sky, and infused her energy behind her, creating a one way explosion right for Liltotto and her arrow. Rather than destroying the area itself, she focused it onto Liltotto's area, and all of the energy was sent in that direction.

Liltotto scowled at the sight, using her speed to pull away, only for BG5 to appear beside her, and withdrew a blade, swung it for Liltotto, who grimaced, bending her neck downwards, avoiding the slicing all together, only to receive a gut punch from a newly appeared Bambietta.

"Time to say goodbye."

Bambietta charged up her energy, and unleashed it against Liltotto, creating a massive explosion right within her stomach.

Liltotto cried out from the impact, smashing deeply into the ground.

Bambietta held some regret within her eyes, but she reaffirmed her mission within her mind, allowing her to continue on.

Liltotto however wouldn't give up.

She had some wounds on her from the explosion, but she seemed relatively alright, which absolutely surprised Bambietta.

"You're still able to fight? I didn't even hold back either, damn."

"Well, what can I say? I've been training a good while to fight against you. Besides, I'm not out of tricks yet." Liltotto took out a few silver wires, and attached them to her arrows. "Now bind!"

She fired off a few arrows, which Bambietta attempted to intercept with her explosive powers, but Liltotto's arrows changed directions, heading for BG5.

"Activating missiles."

The robot opened its body, and produced a number of missiles, firing them off for Liltotto, but the young blonde haired girl anticipated this as well.

"As if I didn't see this coming." She manipulated her arrows, to loosely wrap around the missiles, and then moved her finger in a flipping position, turning the arrows around with what seemed to be spiritual energy leaking off of the wires, so the missiles didn't explode, and headed right for the pair. "Now have that!"

"D-Damn Lil, you're serious!"

Bambietta scowled out, but she didn't back down either.

She allowed her energy to swirl around her, into a vortex looking energy. Then she sent that outwards, slipping between the missiles, and detonated within the centre, creating a spiraling shock wave which sent the missiles in different directions, but Liltotto used that as a distraction, appearing right before BG5, pulling back an arrow to unleash, but the robot slammed its head downwards, as the arrow was fired, taking the arrow to the face, and left a deep gash, but changed the direction of the arrow, smashing it downwards into the ground, at the same time firing off a few bullets in her direction.

Liltotto didn't have a choice but to jump backwards, while Bambietta got beside Bambietta, infusing her energy into her fists, and thrusted it right for Liltotto, only for Liltotto to bend her body backwards, avoiding the fist, and aimed an arrow at close range.

"You need to stop Bambi!"

Liltotto went to unleash an arrow when BG5 unleashed a hail of bullets for Liltotto's form.

"I wont stop until they're gone."

Liltotto was forced backwards, while BG5 followed her with its bullets, tearing apart the ground ruthlessly. Liltotto gritted her teeth, knowing that it would be difficult for her to destroy all of them, so she had to go for BG5 himself.

"Mistress, let us combine our attacks."

Liltotto didn't quite understand what that meant.

But it became clear when Bambietta flowed her energy into the bullets that were being released while Liltotto dodged them. Each bullet that hit the ground created an explosion, so the more BG5 fired, the more that were ripping through the area, and more and more shock waves forcing Liltotto's balance off, and in the end, it stopped her just enough for Bambietta to get close, and swing her weapon for Liltotto who had no choice but to dodge, only for the sword to slice her midriff along with adding an explosion to her sword, forcing Liltotto backwards, making her wince in pain.

But thanks to Blut Vene, she wasn't bleeding profusely.

Even then, the wound did hurt, along with the other wounds that appeared on her body.

But she could see that Bambietta also received a few wounds, which was glad about.

It meant at least, she'd be able to do this much in the fight against Bambietta.

* * *

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Takumi and Tier flew up to the hole in the sky, slashing Hollows as they go along. Nel clung to Takumi's back tightly, while Takumi himself couldn't help but notice something odd.

"If you don't mind me asking, you're slaying Hollows the same as I am, yet you're also a Hollow. So, why are you okay with slaying your own kind?"

Tier was caught by surprise with that question.

But she also understood why someone would ask that.

"I suppose it might be strange for a Shinigami to witness Hollows slaying each other like this. However, the simple fact is that these Hollows have no intentions of ever cooperating with myself, or are mindless beasts focused on destruction. Those kinds of Hollows should be purified. I myself am an evolved Hollow you could say. I don't have any qualms with humans, nor do I desire the need to feast on them either."

"But, isn't that what Hollows do to grow in power? To feast on the humans souls?"

"Usually, but there are other ways to do so."

Takumi cocked his head.

"Wow, if nothing else, I'm learning a lot about different species this time around. Hehe, you're a very nice Hollow indeed Tier-chan~"

"My species is technically called an Arrancar, I am a Hollow that also has been mixed with Shinigami abilities. Much like Nel on your back there."

Takumi glanced at his shoulder, seeing Nel sticking out her tongue, so he smiled lightly.

"I see, and how did you accomplish that anyway?"

Tier briefly paused, and glanced over Takumi's body.

Cocking his head, he went to speak when Tier let out a small breath.

"It can happen naturally, or artificially, that's all there is to it."

"And you? Natural, or not?"

"I'm a unique case."

Takumi had more questions than before.

"How unique?"

"I was made an Arrancar by special methods, after I met someone. That person also helped me meet Nel here."

Takumi looked at Nel who drew a blank.

"I don't know who that is Saku Taku, I lost my memories~"

"Ooh, I hadn't realized. So you have amnesia huh." Takumi glanced at the crack in her skull. "It could be caused by that. Perhaps there's a way to fix that crack in your mask Nel-chan, then you can perhaps have a better handle on your powers. From what I've witnessed, it seems to be quite difficult for you to hold onto your powers for long, or use them that much, yet I sense a deep wellspring of power within you."

Tier furrowed her eyebrows.

"You know how to fix that crack? Not even our best healers could..."

"Well, I'd have to study it first. But with time, maybe I could come up with something. If not fix the crack itself, then circumvent the leakage of power so instead of leaking out of her mask, it simply would remain within her body. As for the amnesia, I don't know how you'd cure that beyond the usual stuff you do for amnesia. Then again, she is a Hollow...Arrancar, being, perhaps her anatomy is different to normal humans, so perhaps there could be away to unlock those memories inside of her...I'd have to study her more thoroughly though..."

"So, you're that kind of person, are you?"

Takumi drew a blank.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just, you don't even know Nel, and I had attacked you before, yet you're trying to help out Nel already even when not knowing if we could turn on you."

"You're not going to turn on me."

He assured Tier who raised a brow.

"And why is that exactly?"

She didn't quite understand why he was so in the belief that she wasn't going to turn on him, and slice him apart, or anything of that nature.

Takumi gave a reassuring smile towards Tier who was caught by surprise.

"Because if you wanted to, you could have already killed me. But you haven't. So, the chances of you killing me seem to be low. You could bring up that you'd use me to help fix Nel-chan, but you seemed surprised when I said that I could attempt to try. So in my deductions, I believe that you wont. Though I could be wrong."

Tier gave a slightly bemused look, without breaking her tougher outer personality.

"I see, that's quite the deduction. Perhaps with others you might be wrong, but for me personally, I wont be doing anything with you."

Takumi gave a smile, as they closed in on the hole in the sky.

"By the way, may I ask about your dog?"

"What do you want to know about Kukkapuro?"

"Well...it's just, that name...I feel a sense of nostalgia when hearing that name, and staring at him...it's like he knows me." Takumi glanced at the dog, who barked towards him happily. "...but, I don't recall when I actually ever met that dog. Perhaps, if you told me how you met this Kukkapuro here, then maybe..."

"It's actually...it's a long story. I don't have time to tell you right now."

"Oh I see...well maybe after this is done."

"What makes you so sure we'll be seeing one another, much less be allies the next time we happen to come across one another."

Takumi showed a wicked smile on his face that caught Tier off guard.

"Because how else are Shinigami and Arrancars ever gonna get along?"

"...Perhaps you have a point. Perhaps if you manage to either impress me enough in combat, or outright beat me, I'll tell you about the meeting between me and Kukkapuro. How does that sound? A goal to aspire too."

"Why does it sound like you want to test me?"

"Because you're a rather weird Shinigami. You look at me, not with disdain, but the eyes of curiosity. You, upon learning I was a Hollow, still gave me those same curiosity filled eyes, and never with the eyes of disdain, or hatred filled. It's something I haven't come across before, and it intrigues me greatly."

"Yeah, I don't see any reason to believe that you're bad or anything. I only slay Hollows because they attack others, and eat their souls or kill people. If they didn't, then I'd have no problems, as seen with you. And you already explained you don't harm humans as a rule, so, I can't see a reason to turn on you. So, lets strive to become friends Tier-chan!"

Once more, Tier was caught by surprise by his lack of hatred for Hollows.

Usually, every Shinigami she had met had a hatred for Hollows, or an intolerance.

But Takumi was different.

He didn't hold any negative feelings for Hollows, that's how certain she felt anyway.

She could see no discouraging looks when he glanced at her, or Nel.

Instead, forever having those curiosity filled eyes.

It was very intriguing for her.

Tier took out her blade, so Takumi followed suit.

"I'll go through to Hueco Mundo, and fire off an energy blast. Time it right with me, and we'll be able to make our colliding powers collapse the hole between our dimensions. How does that sound?"

Takumi nodded without a reason to not go along with that.

"Sure, I'll be ready."

"Right, then I'll fire off a warning shot through the hole, to alert you that five seconds after that, I'll be shooting off my attack into the centre of the hole. You should also do the same thing." Takumi inclined his neck, so she turned to Nel. "Nel, it's time to-"

"I wanna stay with Saku Taku! We have to find Pesche and Dondochakka!"

Tier released a small breath.

"Fine, then I'll be back after collapsing this dimensional hole."

Tier didn't miss a beat, and shot through the hole, while Takumi waited, shooting off some lightning around the area, and blasted a number of Hollows away. Though he tried to conserve his strength as much as he could so he had enough for Bambietta when they were going to fight.

"Saku Taku, Nel really likes being here~ The human world is fun~"

"Heeeh, you haven't seen much of the fun things yet Nel-chan."

Nel pulled Takumi's head back with her small hands, and gazed into his eyes.

"You mean there's more?!"

"Much more."

"Can Nel see?!"

Takumi gave a light chuckle.

"Yeah, you could see if it is alright with big sister. Say, Nel-chan. What is the first thing you remember anyway? If I'm gonna help you out, it would be good if I knew what you know."

"Okay Saku Taku! So what I first remember...erm….eh...ooh! Nel remembers! I remember Kukkapuro-chan licking my face~ I was sleeping in the dust, then the doggy came along, and licked my face. He was with big sister, who said something like "Don't worry, I'll take care of you." in the super serious way that she does~ Then I met with my big brothers! Then we play in the sand and dirt all of the time! Though big sister is usually busy with her duties~"

"Her duties huh. Is she the Queen of Hueco Mundo? Though it would make sense with the power she has..."

"No silly, she's not the Queen, big sister might not want to be the Queen. She likes people being happy, and safe~"

Takumi gave a light chuckle.

"That's wonderful..." He saw an energy blast shooting out, so he became serious. "Time to close the hole then." Takumi raised his Zanpakuto and charged it with electricity, waited for the right time, then announced his attack. "Now, Raigeki!"

Shooting off a highly concentrated bolt of lightning, it ripped through the hole, as Tier also unleashed her own energy attack right in the centre of the hole, and the powers collided with one another, creating a massive shock wave that almost knocked off Nel from Takumi's shoulder.

"Whooooooooooooooooooa! That's strong Saku Taku!"

"Hold on Nel-chan!"

Takumi's words allowed Nel to continue holding on, while the air blasted around them. The Hollows in the vicinity were caught in the shock wave, and some were destroyed by the intense power released. Takumi also felt the power that Tier released, and it definitely wasn't something to be messed with either.

With the air brushing around their faces, and bodies, Takumi saw the change that they had hoped for.

Because of the colliding powers, and how it was emanating outwards, the hole in the sky began collapsing in on itself. The power was too much for the hole to withstand, the combined energies of Tier and Takumi seemed to be working.

* * *

Kisuke glanced up at the hole as he simply slashed apart a Hollow with his Zanpakuto.

"Well alright, it seems that Takumi's managed to pull it off."

"I sensed a strong presence with him Kisuke. Are you worried about that?"

Kisuke revealed a cool smile to Yoruichi who gave a questioning look in return.

"I don't think we have to worry about that."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? How do you know?"

Kisuke revealed a smirk on his face, something that Yoruichi was unsure about.

"Father's instincts, that's all~"

Yoruichi wondered about that, and hoped that Kisuke actually did know what was going on.

"Oi! You lazy idiots!" Candice yelled, as she came close with Meninas. "What are you doing just standing around?!"

"Don't worry about that, we've just seen that the holes been closed up. The Hollows wont be multiplying anymore."

"So, that means we're nearly done?"

Meninas wondered with a cute head tilt.

Kisuke went to nod…

When he felt darkened presence filling the air.

"This power...more than one..."

"I feel it too. This is insane, those baits brought Gillian's here?"

Kisuke to Yoruichi's question, shook her head.

"No, not just those baits. But it was something more...it was our power probably. Because of the Hollows, our powers clashing, the energy within this town attracted them here. More than one, it seems that a good number have appeared here...and if that's the case...then we'll have to become even more involved, and as Takumi had said, we'll need to get Shinji-san and the others to lend assistance."

Kisuke finished off, while Candice raised a brow.

"Who the hell is Shinji?"

"Heh, he's someone that's pretty laid back."

"That doesn't really answer the question."

Meninas muttered, but Kisuke just continued to smile the same way that he usually did.

* * *

Takumi watched in the sky as the hole had been completely sealed.

He breathed a relaxed breath, glad that they managed to close the hole, and that the Shinigami, along with Quincy's, and in Orihime's case, humans, were able to manage to hold back the Hollows, and deal finishing blows.

But then he felt a decreasing of the spiritual energy, and turned towards the area.

"Damn it..."

"Is something wrong Saku Taku?"

Nel asked adorably, which made Takumi narrow his brow at the area.

"Yeah, we need to go quickly. Want to come with me Nel-chan?"

Nel held out her fist in a triumphant way.

"Yup, I want to go too!"

"Then hang on!"

Takumi shot for the ground while Nel hung onto Takumi's back.

* * *

Liltotto and Bambietta were well underway with their battle, Bambietta summoned her explosive energy and fired it off in a myriad of explosive waves. Liltotto also noticed that Bambietta also had managed to use her arrows in conjunction of firing off her energy, and allowing them to bond together, but they didn't detonate right away.

Liltotto however also felt her body going through the ringer.

Because of the assaults from Bambietta, and BG5, it was quite difficult fighting both. If it was just Bambietta, she was confident she'd be able to fight her to a standstill.

But because she had BG5, it was overpowering.

"Impressive, you've learned to delay the explosions. You couldn't do that before."

"Now I can be quite unpredictable, huh."

Bambietta smirked out, while Liltotto held onto her own body.

"Yes you are." As she spoke, they heard an explosion in the sky, seeing that the hole had closed up. "It seems that the Shinigami have stopped the Hollows coming here."

"So what? By the time he gets here, he'll be drained of stamina."

Liltotto guessed that's what she was trying to achieve with this.

"I thought that was the case."

"Yes, pretty smart, isn't it? Even if he might be stronger, he wont be able to beat me now. Especially with what I've got planned for with BG5."

Liltotto narrowed her eyes.

"What does that mean?"

Bambietta's smirk grew.

"You think that I'd simply come here without a plan? I'm a one woman army it seems. So, I had to make sure I could receive a boost too."

"A boost? And how does BG5 fit into that?"

Bambietta didn't reveal it, and merely gave a dirty smile on her face.

"That's for me to know, and for you to never find out. Because you'll be unconscious by the time I'm finished with you."

Liltotto thought that was a distinct possibility.

However, she wanted to also mess with Bambietta just enough so she'd be thrown off her game.

"But even then, haven't you realized that during this time that we've been fighting, I've been giving you injuries? Even if you beat me, you're not going to win this fight. There's more of them than you. Even with your trump card. As I stated the first time, there's still Kisuke Urahara here, there's still that Yoruichi woman. You wont be able to win this fight, can't you see?"

Bambietta adopted a grin on her face.

"That's where you're wrong Liltotto. BG5, I was saving them all for that Shinigami, but bring out one of the devices."

Liltotto didn't quite understand.

But then it became clear when BG5 ejected what seemed to be a bomb out of its body. It however felt like it had some incredible powers, and Bambietta infused her energy into it. Liltotto went to move backwards, when wires from the ground wrapped around her.

"N-No! Let me go!"

"Sorry Lil, I really am."

Liltotto struggled with the binds but she couldn't get free.

She watched the energy filling the bomb, while Bambietta moved backwards.

"Bambi, you don't have to do this...don't."

Bambietta just stared at her with unmoving eyes…

But a moments hesitation came over her.

However, she then launched the explosive right for Liltotto who gasped…

But then as it went off, she felt an arm wrap around her, along with the binds being cut off.

The explosion went off in front of her, but it didn't hurt her.

She didn't feel any effects from the explosion…

However, when she looked to who saved her, it was Takumi, who used his Zanpakuto to divert the blast as much as he could.

She noticed that his arm was bleeding though, and his robes, at least from his arm, had been blown off, blood dripping down onto the floor.

She also saw Nel a good distance away within a barrier so she wasn't damaged either.

"T-Takumi...you protected me..."

"Of course I did~ It seems you've been banged up a bit. Sorry, I couldn't come sooner."

"It's fine...you're here now, that's all that matters."

Bambietta scowled at seeing Takumi.

"So, the Shinigami has come."

Takumi's eyes shot for Bambietta.

"That's right." Bambietta laughed a little. "You think this is funny? Endangering the town and everyone that lives here? You have a beef with me, fine. That's fine. But you've endangered normal humans, you've endangered my friends. I can't go easy on you this time. This is our last battle Bambietta, and if you don't think I'm serious, try me out. Show me what you've got."

Bambietta adopted a smirk, stepping forward.

"Now that's what I want to see Shinigami. Show me your power, and I'll show you my increasing powers. The powers of BG5 and myself together, will overwhelm you, and I'll finally be rid of at least one Shinigami."

"All this just for one? There's plenty more than me out there. You can't take them all, this is pointless."

"No it isn't! If I can take care of you, then I'll be avenging...that doesn't matter. Now draw your sword, and let our blades clash for the last time!"

Takumi nodded slowly, flashing over to Nel, and placed Liltotto within the barrier.

"Stay here Liltotto-san. One way or another, this is going to end now."

"Takumi, you have to be careful, she's not going to hold back, and she's got new tricks up her sleeve."

"That's okay, I'm not holding back either, and I didn't just sit around and wait for her. I have some ideas on how to counter both her, and her robotic partner."

Liltotto adopted a light but uneasy smile.

"Maybe this is too much to ask, but Bambi is...I know what she's done is terrible, but if there's a way to save her..."

"I'm not out to kill her Liltotto-san, I'm out to stop her crusade, and stop her from hurting others. I sense pain within her, and while she has dark intentions, I also sense loneliness coming from her. Don't worry, I'll stop her, and I'll make sure your friend comes back. If she had no redeeming factors, then I'd have to finish this...but, I can sense guilt within her, I sense uneasiness, that's not what you feel when someone is completely evil."

Liltotto bequeathed happiness in her smile.

"Thank you, Takumi. I'm sorry for placing this burden onto you...I wish I could have done more against her..."

"Don't worry about it, you've done enough. You might have helped me win this battle by fighting her, as her at full power with the robot is a scary thought. But as she is, we're on about equal playing field, it's anyone's game now." His hand petted her head which made her cheeks turn slightly red from how comforting and strong his hand felt on her head. "Stay here, I've got this."

Liltotto adopted a soft smile, and then surprised him by kissing him on the cheek, making him blush slightly.

"Good luck Takumi."

"Don't do that to Saku Taku!"

Nel yelled at Liltotto who showed a peace sign.

"Sorry, but I don't care. Next time, it's the lips."

"Uggggggggh!" Nel yelled at her, but Liltotto just smirked back. "Saku Taku! Kick her butt!"

"You mean Bambietta?"

"No, blondie here!"

Takumi sweat dropped, giving Nel a light pat on the head.

Then he turned towards his enemies, leaving the barrier.

Takumi walked forward, as did Bambietta and BG5.

Meeting in the middle, Bambietta, and Takumi stared into the others eyes.

"Ready to finish this Shinigami?"

"Born ready Bambietta."

Bambietta smirked, as Takumi focused his power.

"Then lets go Shinigami!"

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So a few things happened this chapter! Takumi had a fight with Tier, and Tier seems impressed that he managed to even dodge and attempt to counterattack against her, Nel seems to be developing more of an attachment to Takumi, who's resolved to help her with her memory problems along with the crack in her skull mask. Karin fought against Dondochakka with Kon's assist, and did quite well, until Giselle and Hiyori, within their match, one shot him. Nemu (with limiter) and Yuzu fought Pesche together, and managed to do quite well, and subdued him enough for Rukia to come and freeze him. Working together, Tier and Takumi managed to seal the hole so more Hollows can't come through, but while doing that, Liltotto fought a difficult battle, and while ultimately losing, she managed to weaken Bambietta enough to put her on an equal level with Takumi who's been fighting for a good while now.**

**Well, we're nearing the end of this battle, and until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	13. Protect Karakura part three!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; Unohana, yeah perhaps she could be. And she probably is~**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, it's gonna be quite the fight alright~ There might be a scene like that here~ I can't reveal why or how, but there will be a scene like that in the Soul Society. Lets just say Nemu's gonna have a bigger part in that arc than she did in canon. Tier vs Takumi would be a pretty sweet fight huh~? Nemu vs Mayuri would be interesting to see.**

**oro03910; He's not gonna do that, but he'll help her see the errors of her ways. Yeah, she wouldn't if she did kill Takumi considering Kisuke's around. I can't spoil it, but any of those could be right~**

**Skull Flame; He did yeah~ She held back a good bit but Takumi managed to give her a few surprises. Maybe she does, I can't reveal yet~ He does yeah, we'll get some reveals about that in the future. Yup, he's tech support for them~ She doesn't, but Pesche was doing it to push her buttons, which worked. They did yeah, Bambietta's been through a lot. Yup, Liltotto doesn't hold back. It's gonna be hard yeah, but Takumi's been planning for her just as much as she's been for him, so he's got some plans up his sleeve.**

**Crenin; Well, you never know, Liltotto could join it. Yeah, his name can be annoying to spell if you aren't used to it, even now I have to look it up sometimes to make sure it's the right spelling. I'll think about her~**

**ShadowUzumaki55; She is yeah~ There is a reason why she's doing it~ She was testing him, but he managed to surprise her~ Yup, Orihime's gonna be shining her powers quite soon~ Nemu and Yuzu worked quite well together, along with Karin and Kon! They'll allow them to return with Nel. He has yeah, he'll help her with her memories. They are yeah~**

**Andrew123456; I would change a few things around, there's too many to list here, but some of the major ones are I'd make it so they wouldn't have a deus ex machina ending to main villains like Aizen and Yhwach, and have them have powerful abilities but not have such OP abilities that no one could ever beat them. Bleach's ending with the final villain was disappointing, but the ending itself where everyone was happy, and had kids and what not was fine for me, I liked that.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, she's quite stubborn due to her past and how guarded she is when it comes to others. Nel just doesn't waste time, and cuts to the chase~ Well, you never know, she might be acquainted with him. It seems that he might know the dog yeah~ Tier vs Takumi! While she held back a bit, he did manage to surprise her. Haha, he did yeah, he knows how to motivate them~ Yeah, they had some good fights it seems~ Bambi vs Liltotto was a fun fight to write with their powers. Yeah, he takes most things in his stride, it intrigues him, he's always curious about the world, and learning about Arrancar's didn't bring fear, it brought new things to explore for him. Well, he could have known of them, who knows~ He will in the future~ We'll see their fight happening this chapter~ Sure, he could do. That would be funny~ The Captains are way stronger than the Fullbringers in canon so yeah, by that time Takumi would be. I've got some ideas for the Fullbringers that might diverge from canon. Yeah, they're great ideas~ It's a simple Sacred Gear, simple isn't bad or anything. It's not been translated quite yet. Yeah, the illustrations are cool. Seems so. I don't mind either way if they're siblings or cousins or anything, it doesn't really change anything. No, it wouldn't change anything. Yup, it's his power, and it's pretty cool. Yeah, seems so. It's probably better since it's been stated that some members could flood a city. It wouldn't matter either way if they are or not. You're right about Zephyrdor. I don't know, it would depend on a few things. **

**A fan; I'd say Jugram, Sternritter B from the final arc, was underrated, he only got one true battle with Bazz B which was a good fight, and we barely saw the fight with Uryu when he had much potential to be quite a dynamic character since he was introduced as Yhwach's right hand man and he barely did anything, so I'd say him.**

**Guest 1; Yeah, that sounds like an awesome story idea to me! Being his son would bring some cool dynamics to the story. That's pretty cool, I like those ideas!**

**HolyKnightX; Thanks! Glad you like it! Yeah, I'm aware that's their names. Haha, yeah quite fun~**

**Guest 2; I don't know yet, maybe a rewrite. That would be an interesting route to take it, I like the sound of that~ Yeah, that would be a cool kind of power and it probably does exist, as we've seen others have God and Dragon equivalent.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Protect Karakura part three!**

Nemu stood beside Kon while they guarded the Hollows Dondochakka, and Pesche. Nemu was silent and didn't move an inch, while Kon gave her a slightly perverted gaze…

But then the images of Rukia coming after him frightened him.

He didn't want to be attacked by her or anyone else.

However Nemu's eyes drifted to Kon, holding no emotions there.

"You're a Mod Soul, correct?"

Kon jumped at her voice, reeling himself backwards ever so slightly.

"Y-Yeah, that's right. Why do you ask?"

"What is your opinion on Takumi Urahara-sama as a person?"

Kon was caught by surprise with that question, and looked troubled on how to respond.

"Erm...well, I guess he's cool. He said he's going to make me a body for myself to use whenever I want."

Nemu didn't even give a hint of change in her appearance, but she did feel a tinge of something within her behind.

"I see. Do you believe that Takumi Urahara-sama can change the thought processes of others?"

"Y-You mean mind control?!"

Nemu shook her head.

"No, by his actions."

"His actions huh...well, I suppose that's right. He's done that with me. I hated Shinigami before, and I hated anyone that treated life as if it was a mere game. That guy helped me out and helped me see that there was more to life than hatred consuming you. So I guess that he can change the way people think. Why are you asking? Do you think he's gonna change that Bambietta chick?"

"I currently don't have the information to determine if he could or couldn't. However, going off the information you just explained to me, it could be possible that he might be able to change her desires of slaying Shinigami, to the betterment of our different species as a whole. I also believe that he has helped me along within my own decision making."

Kon cocked an eyebrow up, intrigued.

"What do you mean?"

"He has allowed me to express myself, and I have begun experiencing individuality, when Mayuri-sama usually frowned upon me gaining interests outside of his own interests. I do not quite understand this change within me. Could it be an error?"

"Haha, no way is it an error!" Kon shouted, to the bewilderment of Nemu who kept on a straight face. "It means you're getting to know yourself better!"

"However, I must also understand about Takumi Urahara-sama. He is a very curious person. He also understands about the situation with Kuchiki-san, and what it might mean. Yet, he has decided to take care of her himself, and make sure that she wouldn't be punished. It wasn't in his duty to care for her."

"I don't think that matters."

Nemu tilted her head.

"Explain."

"W-Well, that's just being kind I guess. It doesn't matter if he's going to get into trouble or not...he did the same for me. He went out of his way to help me gain a new body, and the treatment of me by the Soul Society got him angry. I think that he's a rather weird person, but he's a genuinely nice person."

Nemu furrowed her eyebrows, understanding more and more about the enigma, at least to her, that was Takumi Urahara.

"The being known as Kon. Are you happy you have met Takumi Urahara-sama?"

"Haha, I guess. Are you?"

Nemu blinked a single time.

"Yes, and I do not wish for him to be punished."

Alarms went off inside of Kon's head.

"Punished for what? Helping out Rukia-chan?"

Nemu remained blank faced.

"Takumi-sama is not the person I had imagined that he would be."

"How?"

Kon was surprised, and wanted to know more.

"I am quite...the word is, pleased that he is a kind soul, and willing to help out anyone that asks, it is a quality I wish that others would share."

"So, that's good then?"

"It is. Also, I believe that I...I do not mind being within the human world. It feels as if my input matters."

"Why don't you say this to Takumi?"

"I will explain my thoughts before I have to leave to go back to the Soul Society. I wished for a none bias opinion on him. The one known as Orihime Inoue is in love with Takumi-sama, Yuzu Kurosaki also has romantic feelings for Takumi-sama. The one that is a Zombie also is acknowledged to possess some romantic feelings for Takumi-sama. The one designated as Baldy, denies she does, but she does. Karin Kurosaki is an unknown at the moment. And as for Rukia Kuchiki-san, her feelings are complex. I myself do not quite understand the relationships between two people, but I am assured that my assessment is quite accurate."

While they spoke, Zombie Chizuru skulked through the town, and happened upon them. Also, she saw Pesche, and Dondochakka, and released a growl, while the Hollows behind her, cried, fearing for their lives from the Zombie herself.

"Zombie Chizuru is pleased you are here." She moved forward, Kon shed a few tears while Nemu remained calm. "Zombie Chizuru is recruiting Hollows now." Her eyes went to Nemu, and snarled. "Beautiful..." Zombie Chizuru's hand went for Nemu, but she slapped it away. "Why?"

"No, that is wrong. Please go and find your nearest girlfriend to do so."

Zombie Chizuru snarled, and looked at Pesche, smacking her lips together, igniting fear within him.

"Zombie Chizuru will offer love if you join her army."

"N-No...I don't want your love..."

Pesche cried, Dondochakka saw that the Zombie was eyeing him up.

"No! We're here for Nel! Don't come any closer!"

Zombie Chizuru ran her tongue over her lips, and showed a dark smile.

"You will join..."

"No, they will not."

Nemu stated with a melancholic expression on her face.

"E-Excuse meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"

Zombie Chizuru snapped at Nemu who pointed a finger at the Zombie.

"No, you may return home now, and think about what you have done." Nemu scolded her, while Kon cried for dear life. "You have been a bad Zombie, return home, and stop building armies full of Hollows."

Zombie Chizuru wore surprise over her face…

But then she bowed her neck in acceptance, and walked off, surprising Kon.

"H-How did you do that?"

Nemu just stared at him, which made him shiver.

* * *

Coming face to face with Bambietta, she merely announced "Then lets go Shinigami!" and came towards his body with her sabre in hand, swinging it for Takumi's neck, who pulled away, but Bambietta allowed her power to spew off her sword, which he found rather surprising to see, heading right for his body.

Quickly thinking, he unleashed a spark from his sword, it collided with her energy attack, and blew up from impact of the spark, but the intense shock wave rang out, and swept across Takumi's form, only for Takumi to have used a makeshift barrier with his knowledge on Kido, Bambietta showing a dirty smile on her face.

"That's good Shinigami, it seems you've grown stronger. I wouldn't want this to end so quickly."

Takumi adjusted his stance with his blade, pointing it right at the young woman.

"You're right about that. Now you're going to see my powers displayed before you!"

"Bring it on!"

Takumi disappeared with a burst of speed, Bambietta focused her eyes, and directed a hand to BG5 who came in with two blades produced from his arms, appearing left of Bambietta, as Takumi appeared right, she bent down as the robot swung up above her, attempting to catch Takumi off guard, only for Takumi to disappear once more with a flash of speed.

"If that's what you want Bambi, then I wont hold back!" Takumi directed his sword outwards from behind the robot. "Raigeki!"

Unleashing a devastating bolt of electricity from the blade, he thought he would have succeeded in catching the robot off guard.

But what he saw next surprised him, and Liltotto.

The chest of BG5's opened up so there was a hole in his body, allowing the bolt of lightning to pass harmlessly through him, as Bambietta directed her hand towards the lightning above her, sending off her energy, pulling backwards.

The energy crept up the lightning, forcing Takumi to leap backwards, but the energy followed due to the lightning being connected to the blade, so Takumi stabbed his blade into the ground, allowing the energy to hit the ground and forced it to explode, rather than catch his own weapon and body up in the explosion.

But in that moment, BG5 appeared behind Takumi, with many missiles appearing across its body, with Bambietta stood beside it, with her energy circulating across all of the missiles, and all of them were aimed at Takumi.

"This is where it ends. Brief, but a memorable existence, huh. Well, at least to those who care about you. What was your name again?"

Takumi gave a nervous chuckle.

"So, that's it then Bambi?"

"That's how it is. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. In this case, you lose."

Takumi didn't even seem to care, all he did was raise his sword into the air, as the missiles were fired off against him.

The missiles went towards Takumi…

Until Takumi casually sent off a blast of lightning into the sky, and the missiles to Bambietta's and BG5's shock, the missiles changed course, and rather than go for Takumi, they went for the lightning bolt instead, that began taking the shape of a rod.

"Lightning Rod!"

The lightning rod within the air drew the missiles towards that location, and set off a cascade of explosions within the air, surprising everyone within the area, besides Nel who kept cheering "Yay Saku Taku!" which made Bambietta more angry than before, not seeing what Liltotto was seeing and that was Takumi having a barrier around.

"_Of course, those missiles would have been tuned into his spiritual signature. So, by using Kido to hide that signature, but not on the lightning, which came from his Zanpakuto, essentially himself, the missiles followed the only signature they could, and that was the lightning, thus diverting the missiles away from Takumi himself, saving his body from total destruction. Very clever Takumi, that's how you fight Bambietta. She has power, and you have your wits, and the more angry she becomes, the more prone she is to making mistakes._"

While Liltotto thought about it, Bambietta was becoming more and more angry from what had happened.

"B-But how?!"

Takumi didn't answer that, and instead appeared above Bambietta and BG5, charging up what seemed to be a very strong bolt of electricity, but it changed shape and bent towards the young woman and robot.

"Have this! Lightning Bomb!"

The dome of electricity concentrated deeply within the sword, forming the sphere, and shot it down with an intense burst. Bambietta's eyes barely saw it coming, it moved faster than her eyes could witness, and the electricity bomb came on top of them, sending a huge shock to their system.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Her skin began to get burned from the intensity of the electrical attack as was the metal that the robot was made out of, despite being enhanced to take electrical attacks, Bambietta screamed from the attack, while BG5 unleashed what seemed to be a device attacked to its waist, which opened up, and began sucking in the electricity surrounding the pair.

Takumi's eyes narrowed slightly, while placing his hand outwards, summoning some Kido energy.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

Sending off the pale blast of energy, it headed for Bambietta who felt her skin tingling from the attack, managed to aim her hand upwards, and announced "Explosive shock wave!" and rather than explode the Kido spell, since she didn't have time, she unleashed an explosion near her body, which sent off a powerful shock wave which connected with the Kido spell, creating an explosion within the air itself.

BG5 took advantage of the situation, and aimed its gun upwards. But rather than it be a minigun, this time it looked like a cannon, and all of its power was turned right onto Takumi, using its sensors to cut through the smoke, and see Takumi's body, charged by Takumi's electricity, it fired off good sized spheres of energy right for Takumi.

He didn't see it at first, due to how he was in the middle of reeling from the attack he used.

But then it became clear when it shot through the smoke, and headed right for Takumi himself.

"Dam-"

Before he had time to dodge, he was caught within an explosion, Bambietta had sent off her energy and collided it with the powerful cannon ball, the intensity of the shock wave broke through most of the area.

Liltotto and Nel were safe within the barrier, but the land around them was being destroyed by the intensity of the attack. Takumi himself was flung backwards with some blood dripping from his body, while Bambietta's burnt skin was causing her irritation.

"_Even with Blut Vene, he managed to damage my skin this much. If I didn't have that, could that attack have killed me? I need to be more careful, if I'm not, then I could end up as dead, rather than him before me._"

Bambietta thought that to herself, while BG5 continued firing off the energy cannon balls at Takumi.

He rebounded in the air, and used his incredible speeds to avoid the blasts of energy, and even though they were big, they weren't slow, and could keep up with Takumi quite well. Even then, Takumi had the advantage of speed.

"_I have to do something. That robot can absorb my electrical attacks it seems. But it isn't immune to it either. I'd have to output my strongest electrical attack in order to overload it. Though the attack I used against them before was one of my stronger ones. Damn it, I need to do something against them. If I could get the robot out of the way, then I could concentrate on Bambietta herself. But she made sure that the robot would be able to deal with my electricity, but she didn't count on other tricks in my arsenal._"

While he thought about it, Bambietta didn't waste anytime with her sword, coming in like a battering ram, and swung it right for Takumi. He went to evade the slash, only for BG5 to come in from behind him, and swung his own blade for Takumi.

Coming in from two different locations, Takumi knew he wouldn't be able to fight both off at the same time. However, he also knew how he was going to get out of this.

He placed his finger outwards towards Bambietta, who came in slashing, and yelled "Shibireyubi!" which released a white light before her eyes, and she felt her body become immediately numb, forcing her to drop her sword, while Takumi clashed backwards with BG5, charging his electricity through his sword.

"Lightning Blade!"

Takumi discharged electricity from his blade, and swung it outwards, forcing back BG5's blade, allowing him to slice through it with controlling electricity, and sharpening it to a point where it would cut through the Reishi of BG5's, and went for his body, when he absorbed the electricity from Takumi's sword, so by the time his sword reached BG5, it had lost electricity, but the blade itself still managed to slice right through BG5's metal plating, cutting deeply into its arm, forcing it to jump backwards, along with sending a Sokatsui at close range for the Quincy robot before him, while having a sad expression.

The reason he had a sad expression was because he truly didn't want to destroy a fine piece of technology like BG5, he wanted to study him even more than before.

But this is what he had to do.

As the energy came for the robot, Bambietta broke through her binding, and attempted to slice at Takumi, who bent his body, and took the slice with his own sword…

"Aaah!"

Only for the sword to explode when Takumi batted it away with his own blade, the shock wave forcing Takumi backwards with a small groaning sound. While he was exploded backwards, BG5 charged up his cannon attack, and fired it off at Takumi in a giant sized cannon ball.

Takumi didn't seem to care though, and watched as it came closer towards him, he flicked his blade before him, and channelled a thin piece of electricity before him. Expertly weaving it together, Takumi shot off a thin needle of electricity from his blade, piercing through the middle of the sphere, and then burst, sending electrical currents all through the sphere that came for him, and destroyed it with the intense burst of electrical powers.

Bambietta's eyes span around angrily, her anger growing by the second.

"How did you do that…? It shouldn't be possible..."

Takumi however remained calm, and focused.

"It's power was enhanced with my electrical energy, it mixed with BG5's own energy output. So, all I did was send my own electricity into it, and severed the bonds of electricity flowing through that sphere, therefore it lost its stability, and was forced to split into oblivion like you saw. I told you I'm not messing this time Bambietta, this is me being serious. If you want to stop, then I'm fine with that. But don't be mistaken, I wont hold back now."

Saying it with a strong disposition, Bambietta felt her anger growing even more.

"If that's how it has to be, then we have no choice. BG5, come here!" Takumi raised an eyebrow, while Liltotto focused her eyes. BG5 shot beside Bambietta, and showcased a bomb. "It's time to be blown out of the sky Takumi!"

Takumi narrowed his eyes while Bambietta infused her energy into the bomb, aiming it for Takumi himself.

He went to avoid it, only for BG5 to send out tendrils towards him, which seemed to also be pulling the electricity from Takumi's sword towards it, and absorbing it.

"Heh, so you've thought of everything, haven't you Bambietta?"

"Damn straight I have." Takumi disappeared, reappearing before her, only for Bambietta to snicker, while dodging a sword slash from her. "You think that's going to be enough to defeat me? Can't you see that I've planned for everything you can do? Your Kido, your sword, I've got it all planned out! You can't beat me!"

Takumi chuckled lightly, which ignited rage within Bambietta, her not noticing something within Takumi's clothing that gave off a faint glow.

"Perhaps so, but I wouldn't underestimate me."

Bambietta's face twisted, as BG5 unleashed another giant cannon ball of energy right for Takumi himself.

Since Takumi had to avoid that, he couldn't react to the bomb that she had thrown at the same time, nearing Takumi, then exploding on Bambietta's command, catching him up in the giant explosion.

* * *

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

Orihime unleashed her attacking ability, slicing through two Hollows at once, and released a small pant, while Rukia shot off a Sokatsui from beside her, slaying a good few Hollows with her powers, also releasing a pant.

"Don't push yourself Inoue, you only just awakened your powers. You might not be ready for this kind of assault yet. You've done more than enough for us, by fighting beside us, and destroying some Hollows, and protecting us with your barriers."

Orihime, to Rukia's surprise, simply shook her neck side to side.

"Taku-chan fought immediately when he got his own powers, against a very strong Hollow, according to what Karin-chan and Yuzu-chan told me, and keeps fighting even now, when he's still got a lot of people to fight. If I can't match that, then I can't walk beside Taku-chan."

Rukia understood that.

In the end, it made sense to what she was hearing from the girl with orange hair.

"Because you have feelings for him, yes?"

"W-Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!?"

Orihime panicked, while Rukia chuckled, seeing Karin and Yuzu slaying a few Hollows by standing back to back.

"It's obvious to anyone that sees it. Do not worry Inoue, I don't see a reason why you can't tell him after this battle is over with."

"But, what about you, Kuchiki-chan?"

Rukia cocks her neck sideways.

"Me? What about me?" Rukia didn't quite understand what Orihime was saying. But then she seemed to come to an understanding when seeing Orihime's face. "Inoue, Takumi needs you right now."

"W-What do you mean?"

"He needs someone to stand beside him, you know how he gets. He needs someone there to make sure he survives. He's an inventor, he needs inspiration, and he gets that from you."

"But, what about here? The Hollows..."

Rukia glanced upwards at the sky, seeing the hole having vanished.

"They've managed to close off the hole connecting our worlds. The Hollows numbers will decrease. We can take it from here. You just need to get yourself towards Takumi, and make sure he doesn't do anything reckless."

"Kuchiki-chan..." Rukia nodded, so Orihime did too. "Yes, I understand. But Kuchiki-chan, you can lie to Taku-chan and say you don't feel anything, but I can tell that you do really feel something for Taku-chan, don't you?"

Rukia's face tinged red while Orihime gave an understanding look.

"...If I did, or didn't, it wouldn't affect your relationship with him."

"I know, don't worry~ I can share Taku-chan~"

"Pft!" Rukia did a spit take while Orihime ran off down the street. "W-What in the heck..."

"What's wrong with you?"

Karin wondered, Yuzu also tilted her neck to the side.

"N-No! It's nothing! We should hurry and slay these Hollows!"

Karin gave suspicious eyes, while Yuzu wondered why Rukia was blushing a little bit.

But they did as she had said, and began dealing with the enemies around them.

* * *

As the explosion went off, Takumi's body was flung out of it, with light burns across his body. Bambietta truly wasn't messing around, but she also panted after using her powers so much, and felt her knees shaking.

"H-How about that Shinigami?"

Takumi landed on the ground, while drops of blood fell to the ground.

Even then, he still was going strong, which pissed off Bambietta.

"How can you still be standing!?"

"As I've said, I've studied your powers, I know how to counteract them a good chunk. Sorry Bambietta, but your explosions aren't going to work forever. It's draining your spiritual energy doing these things." His eyes went towards BG5, and grinned. "I also know your weakness robot." Takumi raised his sword into the air, and began gathering electricity. "You can absorb electricity alright, but you can't absorb two things at the same time into that belt you have, it's designed for electricity, not for anything else." Takumi placed one of his hands outwards, and began channelling his power. "Hado 58: Tenran!"

Combing the tornado Kido with his Zanpakuto, the winds and electricity mixed together, and blasted right into BG5, and because it was electrical based, the device activated automatically, and began absorbing the winds, and electricity that was all around it.

"N-No! BG5! Switch it off!"

Bambietta demanded, but BG5 couldn't do it.

He couldn't switch it off.

He didn't get why that was…

But then he saw a thin line of electricity going from the device, to Takumi's Zanpakuto.

"It's nifty, my sword huh. On top of controlling electricity, I can also activate, or deactivate things that need electricity to operated, like your device there, it's based on technology, and has a charge inside of it. All I had to do was hack it with my sword, and replace that charge, with my own change. It was simple enough, it happened when I swung for you. There's a little device on your belt, that's connected to my sword, and I can have it switch on or off as I please. Oh, if you try and get it off, then it will be quite difficult as it is magnetized to stay on your belt and you're made of metal, so it might magnetize your hand to your belt."

Bambietta looked on with shock, fear, and anxiety.

She thought that she had finally managed to get the upper hand.

But she wasn't in the end.

She couldn't do it...

"N-No! BG5! You can't!"

BG5 attempted to dodge out of the way, but he couldn't escape the violent winds, and electricity, which were being absorbed into the device. Then Takumi separated the electrical energy from the winds as soon as they entered, and the giant vortex of wind completely smashed through the device, ripping it asunder, and blew it off of BG5's body, sending its body crashing into the ground, Liltotto face growing with a smile.

"_I understand what he did now. It had the power to convert electricity into energy, but it couldn't handle the sudden increased tornado, localized into the device thanks to the electricity that was surrounding it, being absorbed, and with BG5 unable to switch it off thanks to Takumi taking control over it, there's no way that BG5 could avoid it once the attack began being absorbed. I knew he was intelligent, but damn Takumi. He managed to overcome a glaring weakness by his own ingenuity, and planning ahead. Already having fought BG5, he expected BG5 to be used against him somehow, so he turned that around and had their strength be a weakness. With this, he's changed the battle in his favour._"

Liltotto couldn't be more pleased with what she was seeing.

She was glad that Takumi managed to pull out a good victory against her, and the robot companion on Bambietta's, using his wit, and intelligence on his side.

Bambietta's eyes narrowed considerably.

"I see how it is. So I didn't think you'd be able to stop both of us together like this, and you've stopped BG5 from being able to assist me directly in battle. I guess I'll just have use it."

Takumi, Liltotto and Nel looked on with confusion.

"Use, what exactly?"

Bambietta began snickering as if she had just been found out.

"I'm about to show you a new trick between myself, and BG5 here. Something that's kinda like a Bankai actually."

"Like a Bankai?"

"Well, I suppose it is a little. Call it second evolution. Call it merging. Call it harmonization. Call it what you will. But this is what is going to change the tide of battle." Bambietta sticks out her arms, and allows her energy to soar. "BG5! Merge with me!"

Takumi was intrigued by what this merging entailed.

Then it happened before his eyes.

BG5's body began to shed some of its armoured plating, and they flew through the air.

"Not on my watch!"

Takumi went to attack to stop the merging as he thought that would be highly dangerous, but a giant burst of energy swept across the land, forcing Takumi backwards with a thudding sound, the young boy skidded across the ground, watching Bambietta and BG5's merging.

The ejected armour from BG5 attached themselves to Bambietta's legs, arms, and chest area. More than simple armour, it seemed to also send out tendrils, which pierced through her skin, which she cried out at, but it also began fuelling her powers ever more.

"Holy shit, she's actually gaining power from BG5..."

Liltotto gulped, feeling Bambietta's power grow higher and higher. It went past Lieutenant level, and it reached Captain level easily. Even a weaker Captain level, it was a scary level for the newly realized Shinigami Takumi, who felt the pressure, and sweated slightly.

But he also had a curiosity like no other, leaning forward, and inspected what had actually happened.

"Damn, so you merged on a different level than I had assumed. BG5 here is sharing its power directly with you. More than just sharing actually, he's become immobile, and given you all of his energy. So rather than fighting two separate ones, I'm fighting you both together..."

"That's not all. He constantly gathers in spirit energy for me, so I don't have to waste time doing that with my arrows, like this."

Bambietta flicked her hand, and not even a second passed before the arrow shot out of her hand, nearly piercing Takumi's shoulder who managed to react to it in time, but then felt Bambietta's hand grabbing his face.

"Shit-"

Before he could do anything, she unleashed a devastating explosion in his face. More than that, his head became the explosive, and a large gash appeared on his forehead, as he was flung backwards through the air.

Bambietta noticed however at the last second, he used a Kido barrier to transfer the explosive energy to that, rather than his head becoming the explosive all together, so he was saved himself from having his head be blown off his body.

The blood from the gash on his head rained down his face, coating his left eye, while Bambietta's smirk grew more and more.

"Would you look at that? A Shinigami bleeding. It seems that I've got the power now, and you don't anymore."

"I hate to admit it, but you're right. You are powerful Bambietta, your robot and you have surpassed me in power. However, there's an area you haven't surpassed me in."

Bambietta gained a question mark.

"And what's that?"

Takumi's smirk grew on his face.

"That's planning ahead."

Bambietta scoffed.

"As if! Are you delirious or something?! I have the power, you don't have the power anymore! I can slay you with my explosions! You can't escape me! I am powerful now! I could even take on your Father, and kill him!"

"I highly doubt that."

Bambietta raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And why's that exactly?"

"Because my Father is stronger than I am, and I can still keep up with you. If I can, then he definitely can. And as his son, I'm always thinking moves ahead. I admit that this transformation did catch me off guard, but I can already see a fatal weakness within your form."

"You can't have!"

Bambietta didn't want to believe it, and sent off many arrows. Because she didn't have to charge up the energy, she could fire them off without delay, and they came like bullets. Faster than bullets. It was like they were moving at hyper speed, and all of them were coated within her explosive energy.

Liltotto watched on with wondering eyes, not sure what Takumi had seen, while Nel just kept yelling "Get her Saku Taku!" but did feel a little nervousness within her, seeing that Takumi's speed wasn't going to save him from the onslaught of arrows from Bambietta.

"So, what's my fatal weakness then? Come on, show me!"

Bambietta demanded, firing off more arrows that Takumi was expertly dodging.

She didn't know how he was doing that, but he was avoiding her arrows expertly. He dodged as if he had done so before. Though she didn't know that he had trained with Yoruichi, who was a very fast woman, so her arrows seemed slower than Yoruichi who could blitz him within a second, he was able to dodge the arrows for that reason.

However, the explosions were a different story.

When he dodged, they exploded, and forced the explosion towards Takumi.

Slowly, he was becoming encumbered by the power of Bambietta, and she was reveling in it.

However, Liltotto noticed that as he dodged the explosions and kept getting caught up in them, small markings appeared across his skin. It wasn't wounds. It was something else entirely.

It was…

"_Oh God, it couldn't be..._"

Liltotto was stunned.

She understood something that no one else did on that battlefield, not even Takumi seemed to be aware of it either.

Why his body was taking punishment, and not giving out so easily.

It was because Takumi...

* * *

Meanwhile, Rukia and the others had just finished off the Hollows in question. They looked around the area, and then towards each other.

"Is this it?"

Karin wondered to Rukia who closed her eyes briefly.

She couldn't sense anything around her.

"I can't feel anymore Hollows in this area. I think it is safe to assume that we've got the Hollows taken care of. I'm sure that the others are also making good time with vanquishing the Hollows. If we keep this up-"

"Already done!"

Candice came flying in with Meninas.

"Seriously?"

Yuzu murmured, Meninas nodding.

"Yes, we've taken care of the Hollows together with that Kisuke-san and company who have gone to get reinforcements."

Rukia released a breath.

"So, all that's left is to find Takumi, and help him out."

"We can help with that!"

Giselle yelled, pulling on her cheeks, and showed a goofy smile on her face as she came with Hiyori, and both didn't look happy with the other.

"Oh, it's you girls. How did you get on?"

Rukia's question was followed with a frown from Hiyori.

"We drew, it sucks! We killed so many Hollows, and we still drew!"

"How many?"

Yuzu asked kindly, which made Hiyori narrow her eyes even more.

"1268 Hollows each."

"D-Damn..."

Karin was flabbergasted they had taken that many out, meaning they must have had been hard at work.

"E-Either way, we should go and find Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, and then make our way over to Takumi, to deliver those Hollows back to this Nel girl."

The others agreed, and set out to do what was necessary.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Bambietta, he had some more wounds on his body from Bambietta's attacks, while she was showing a very happy, and also terrifying expression that could be considered close to perfection in her eyes.

"So what happened to your great ideas Takumi?! Come on! Think moves ahead, it isn't going to save you!"

Seeing that he was just going to avoid, decided to take the fight to him, withdrawing her sword, and shot off at speeds that even Liltotto was unsure of, appearing before Takumi, and swung her sword, which also released an explosion at the same time, Takumi swinging his own weapon to bat her sword to the left hand side, forcing the explosion in that direction so he wasn't caught up in the wave of energy.

"You're right, this is quite a pickle, but I told you, I also understand about your power, and the major weakness of that form you've attained is that it is placing a heavy burden on your body." Bambietta went to refute it when Takumi spoke up. "You can deny it, but I can see the signs on you already. The power is too much for your body to handle, you've not trained to handle this power. As you are, you've not got the stamina to keep this power for long. Even now, you're burning out, it is only a matter of time."

Takumi's words rung true within Liltotto's ears.

She could see the same thing, but wondered who could outlast who.

Bambietta, or Takumi.

Bambietta's face contorted angrily, swinging her sword around.

"I'll admit that it is taking more of a toll on me than I had expected, but it is enough for me to handle it for as long as I need too. So, I'll take you out with a final explosion. It's better than leaving you to try and combat me. If this is going to drain me, then I'm going to unleash my most powerful explosion upon you Takumi! You wont survive it!" Bambietta gathered her energy around her, swirling and became a mass before her, while Takumi pulled backwards. "It doesn't matter what you do now, I'm going to end you with this giant explosion. Not even you can escape this fiery death!"

Takumi looked on with slight worry…

He didn't know if he would be able to combat this threat.

If he'd be able to fight it…

But then he sensed Orihime coming towards them.

"_Orihime-chan...she's in danger...everyone is. If I don't stop Bambietta now, then everyone I love could be in danger...I can't let this end yet. I have to do something, I have to summon all of my power to beat her...just give me the energy..._"

Takumi went into his robes from his top, fishing for something.

Confusion came over Bambietta, but she didn't care, and formed a giant arrow that was within the centre of Bambietta's explosive energy, making sure that she had finished off Takumi once and for all.

"Whatever you're doing, it isn't going to work with me! So try me, and I'll show you my resolve!"

Bambietta thrusted her hand forward, and the large arrow that was nearly the size of a three story house, shot for Takumi. The blast radius of that wouldn't allow him to run away from it, he was going to be caught whether he wanted to or not.

However Takumi had planned for that.

He revealed what appeared to be a sphere, that was filled to the brim with energy.

Bambietta couldn't cancel her attack, but she wondered what the hell Takumi was wielding.

"See this Bambietta? This has been filled with your constant bombardment of attacks since you begun this fight with me. Your energy has gone into this time and time again. I thought you'd be able to counteract some of my powers, so I made this to deal the finishing blow to you. I didn't just let you explode me for nothing Bambietta. This has stored your power, and put it in a suspended animation type situation, until I release it of course. I had to make this to your specific spiritual signature, which wasn't hard after all the attacks you've given me."

Takumi pressed a button on the side, and then launched the sphere forward.

Bambietta gulped, as Takumi raised his Zanpakuto, and charged it with his strongest attack that he could muster within Shikai form.

"Raijin Oni!"

From Takumi's blade, wisps of electricity circulated around Takumi's blade, then erupted outwards heavily. The air around Takumi became electrified, creating a dome of lightning around him, then that electricity was directed outwards.

The visage of a Demon appeared around Takumi yet it also looked like a God at the same time, a perfect mixture between the two of them, shocking Bambietta, and she watched as the power connected with the sphere that Takumi had thrown, and then it created a massive explosion that brought up Bambietta's arrow, releasing a massive explosion that decimated all of the trees around the area.

"N-No! Saku Taku! Don't be dead!"

Nel cried out, tears flowing down her face.

Liltotto had to admit that either Takumi or Bambietta caught in that swirling vortex of flames and electricity was going to suffer, no matter if Blut Vene was activated. It was a terrifying blastwave that could destroy weaker people, and even stronger people would be damaged a good deal.

Liltotto couldn't even try and go out of the barrier to see if Takumi was alright, or Bambietta.

It was simply too wild of an attack.

However, after a minute or so, she saw Takumi jumping through the fires, with the marks across his body, glowing, and he raised his sword up to the sky, using electricity to harness the power of the explosion.

"This is it Bambietta!"

Bambietta, who was fighting off the heat and explosion herself, saw Takumi coming towards her, so she activated the Quincy version of Flash Step, but it was already too late.

Takumi had swung his sword down, and released a massive vortex of fire, and electricity right for Bambietta, who screamed out loud, doing her best to use Blut Vene in an attempt to protect herself from the amazing and deadly power heading for her.

"Wait, wait! This can't be! I powered up!"

"You powered up, but you forgot the core of how to fight an enemy! You also forgot your enemy can prepare for you just as much as you can for them! While you prepared for my attacks, you didn't consider I would prepare for your own! Tactics is a major part of the fights I'm in! So have this!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Bambietta screamed, and thought that this was the end…

But she was surprised when she saw that rather than hit her, the attack targeted the robotic parts across her body, melting them off of her, and even though they were embedded into her skin, she was surprised that she didn't feel any pain from the melting process, not realizing Takumi was using Kido to keep her body safe, knowing that if he had continued with the assault, she would be dead.

Bambietta however was still caught in the violent winds, smashing her backwards, and her body ate the ground, wounds appearing across her body, but nothing life threatening, making her cry out in absolute pain.

Liltotto watched as the fires controlled by the electricity went into the sky with a single swing of Takumi's sword, destroying a good number of Hollows that were circulating the area above them all, destroying them in the fiery tornado.

Bambietta looked on with a broken spirit.

She had lost the fight.

It was as clear as day.

* * *

Orihime arrived soon afterwards, seeing the wasteland of the area, and saw Takumi covered in burns and wounds, and felt worry coming over her…

But then she saw Bambietta on the ground, defeated, and the robot, defeated.

Liltotto exhaled, and smiled "You kept your promise." seeing that Bambietta wasn't dead, when she could have easily been killed if Takumi had aimed all of the power right for her. Instead, she was merely unable to fight.

Nel gained a wide smile, and broke out of the barrier, rushing Takumi and yelled "Yay Saku Taku!" tackling Takumi to the ground, and he cried out.

"Ow, that hurt Nel-chan..."

"Saku Taku! You did it! That was amazing!"

Takumi lightly patted her head, seeing Orihime walk closer, and bend down to Takumi's level.

"Hey Orihime-chan, mission accomplished. I can't see her fighting for a while."

"Yes, you did amazing Taku-chan. I felt it all the way back there, and saw how you stopped Bambietta-san." Orihime hugged Takumi around his neck, embracing him tightly. "Well done Taku-chan, you saved us all."

"I don't know about that, but I'm glad that you're all safe."

Orihime continued to hug Takumi tightly, while she activated her Soten Kisshun ability, and began healing Takumi's wounds.

Since they were extensive, and Orihime had just recently found out how to use her powers, it was difficult for her to keep them going, but she would do to make sure that Takumi would be safe and sound.

"Are you sure you can heal me Orihime-chan? Don't push yourself."

Despite looking tired, Orihime still allowed a smile to appear on her face.

"Don't worry about that Taku-chan. You've pushed yourself further than anyone else. Allow me to help you now Taku-chan."

Takumi adopted a soft smile, and gave her a simple "Thank you." before resting his head on her shoulder, Orihime blushed slightly, but held his head gently as she healed his wounds the best that she could.

Liltotto walked over to Bambietta.

She looked up at Liltotto with confusion within her eyes.

"Go ahead, finish me off."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"But why?!" Bambietta demanded. "I have to know! Why don't you want me to die!?"

Liltotto exhaled deeply, glancing over to Takumi and the others who were laughing together.

"Because, he stopped you. Your life isn't in my hands, it is in his, and he's already decided to spare your life. He's not going to kill you, but you can't do this again Bambi, you need to stop before someone less merciful than Takumi becomes involved." Bambietta's face curled downwards, and began shedding a few tears. "Have you realized it? That Shinigami isn't out to kill you, nor is the Shinigami in this town. There's evil Shinigami, but that's also true for the Quincy's as well. You can't tell me you've never met an evil Quincy."

Bambietta ran a hand through her hair, and felt her regret coming over her.

She was realizing what she had done wrong.

Being lost in her anger, being lost in hate…

Now that she saw it with her eyes, how Takumi's attack could have destroyed her, but didn't.

How he hadn't tried to kill her the other times they fought.

She felt so stupid, so lost that she didn't know what she was going to do with her life.

"What have I done Lil?"

Her voice was cold, and lonely.

Like she had lost everything.

And how she had done it by her own hands, rather than anyone else's fault.

"You let your sadness and pain cloud your better judgement. These Shinigami aren't evil, they aren't out to hurt us. Hasn't Takumi just proved that? He had the chance to end you, but he didn't, and had chances in the past, but he didn't. Because he understands something. You aren't completely evil, you're misguided, and lashing out in the only way you know how, how His Majesty has informed you on how to deal with your pain."

Bambietta continued shedding tears, throwing her hand to the side, hitting the ground.

"I'm sorry Lil...I'm so sorry..."

Finally hearing those words, Liltotto knew that Bambietta was going to be okay.

She was acknowledging what she had done, and now wished to make amends for what had transpired.

"You don't have to apologize to me, apologize to Takumi. Then if he forgives you, consider myself already have forgiven you."

Bambietta swallowed her pride, and tried to stand up, but fell onto her knees.

Liltotto got close, and helped her friend up, while Candice, Meninas, Giselle, Hiyori, along with Rukia, Karin, Yuzu, Kon who brought Pesche and Dondochakka with him, and Nemu had appeared. Upon seeing Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka cried out happy tears, yelling "NEL!" at the top of their lungs.

"Saku Taku! Look! It's Nel's big brothers!"

"Haha, it seems that they're safe Nel-chan. How about going over to them?"

"Yes!"

Nel rushed Pesche and Dondochakka, and hugged them tightly while they said stuff like "I'm so glad you're okay!" and "We were so worried!" among other things, while Karin adopted surprising tears in her eyes. Yuzu noticed it, and prodded her sister.

"Tears Karin?"

"I-It's just a beautiful scene, that's all!"

Karin defended as they watched Bambietta moving closer, and closer to Takumi. Giselle released a breath.

"It seems to be over."

"About time is all I can say."

Candice breathed out happily, while Meninas played with a lock of her hair.

"I don't know, what happened to those Gillian's that Kisuke-san was speaking about?"

Candice shrugged, while Rukia looked on with worry.

"Gillian's..."

Rukia hoped that they wouldn't make an appearance.

But it was getting more and more likely that they would.

Bambietta walked over to Takumi, and Orihime, getting before him, and stared into his eyes.

"Shinigami...no, Takumi Urahara." Bambietta released a small breath while everyone stared on. "You beat me in battle...I lost to you. I came at you with everything, and even then, I still lost against you. But more than that...I attacked you, because I couldn't see you as anything other than the Shinigami that murdered my family."

Orihime's eyes lowered sadly, while Takumi gave an understanding look.

"I didn't know...I'm so sorry that happened to you."

"...I don't deserve sympathy, especially after all of the problems I caused. I understand now...you're not like them. I've given you every reason to hate me, to kill me. But you didn't. It took me this to realize that...you actually aren't a bad person. And all I can say is, I'm so sorry for doing all of this. I never meant for it to get this far. But as my anger grew, my better judgement just went out of the window. I just...couldn't let it go, my parents faces as they were killed, how they felt so betrayed, I promised I'd never let anyone walk over me again, no one close to my heart...and then I met these girls, the Quincy's that looked at me, and we laughed together...but then I saw you Shinigami, laughing together, and I couldn't accept that. Why did Shinigami get to laugh when they had caused all these problems?"

"It's alright..."

He tried to speak, but Bambietta spoke over him.

"Just then...I realized that you could have killed me then, and I couldn't have done a single thing. Everyone here wouldn't of even blamed you for doing it either. After everything I've put you and your friends through, I've done what I promised I wouldn't do to myself, and that was betray my friends trust. Lil, Gigi, Minnie, and Candy, they all realized it as well. They realized this was a path of darkness I was going down...and I can't make it right, I know that I can't-"

Suddenly, she felt Takumi's arms wrap around her.

She tried to resist, but he wouldn't allow her.

"It's okay, I forgive you."

With that, Bambietta broke down and sobbed openly into his chest.

The others watched as she cried, Rukia turned to Giselle who nodded.

"She's not going to be a problem now. She closed off her heart a long time ago, and it took us a while to break through it. But now that she's understood the error of her ways, she wont attack again, I know that she wont."

Rukia looked relieved.

"That's great, we can finally return to peaceful times once more..."

But that's not how it could go.

Because they all suddenly felt an overwhelming spiritual pressure.

More than one, it was leading up into the twenties, the thirties and growing.

"Oh God, I've never felt so many..."

Karin glanced at Yuzu, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, we'll deal with this."

Yuzu wasn't so convinced, while Takumi held Orihime in his arms, seeing how she was getting overwhelmed.

"It's alright Orihime-chan, I've got you now."

"Taku-chan, those presences..."

"I know...it's those Gillian's, they have come..."

True to his word, Gillian's began to fill the area. Their giant feet, their giant bodies, dwarfed skyscrapers easily. Their long noses, and the way that their eyes went down towards them. Nel ran to Takumi, and hid behind his leg.

"Too many Saku Taku."

Takumi could understand that, seeing how they were all staring down. Takumi counted so many that he knew that they wouldn't be able to defeat them all. Pesche and Dondochakka were freaking out behind Takumi and the others, while Kon rushed behind a rock, and sat down in the fetal position, Karin sighed deeply.

"Great, so crushed to death by giant monsters. Lovely. I always assumed I'd be killed by something like this."

"We can't give up yet Karin-chan."

Takumi spoke to her, but Karin held her Zanpakuto nervously.

"You sensing what I am? Even if we teamed up, we can not take all of them."

Takumi could understand why she was being pessimistic about this, considering how many were showing up. Though he found it odd that Bambietta's bait alone drew that many's attention. It seemed something else was going on with this but he wasn't aware of what it was.

"This is my fault...I'm sorry everyone, I led them here with my bait..."

Bambietta apologized, Giselle lightly tapped her head.

"You're right, it is your fault." She shed a few tears, but then Giselle chuckled deeply. "But, you've repented so I guess we can't blame you."

"Well, I can!" Hiyori jabbed her finger at Bambietta. "Your fault this is! Next time you wanna rain down destruction, don't do it with Hollows! Especially the Gillian's! Even I couldn't take them all on! We're freaking screwed!"

Takumi and the others watched as one of the Gillian's raised its foot, and aimed it for Takumi and the others.

They felt the intense pressure of all of the Hollows around, along with the first one that was attacking.

They pulled backwards, expecting to be crushed…

* * *

But then a single crescent shaped energy blast which was red sliced right through the Gillian's leg, cutting it completely off, then that was followed by a slicing attack right onto the face of the Gillian, killing it off completely.

"Hello son, and friends." Kisuke appeared before them, with his signature smile on his face. "So, you've run into trouble-"

"It's about time Urahara!" Hiyori snapped, throwing her shoe at him, which he dodged expertly. "We could have used you, I don't know, sooner! I'm sure you love doing this for the suspense of the situation!"

Kisuke released a soft chuckle.

"I'm sorry, I was picking up some allies, along with making sure that normal people wouldn't become involved in this battle. Plus I had to round up all the Gillian's to come to this location, I've been a busy man~"

The others, besides Takumi raised an eyebrow.

But then it became clear when Shinji appeared on the battlefield, looking at Takumi with pleading eyes.

"Please don't say you'll stop fixing our computers, and internet! We need them!"

Takumi gave a sideways glance.

"Take care of the Gillian's, and we'll be fine."

"Ah, alright then, shouldn't be an issue!" Shinji, and the others with him donned their Hollow masks. "Come on everyone! Lets mess up some Gillian's!"

Shinji raised a hand to his mouth, and gathered energy for a Cero to be released. The red energy appeared as a sphere at first, before releasing into an arching beam, encompassing three Gillian's all at once, slaying them out of existence.

"Ooh yeah!" Mashiro rushed forward, leaping into the air, and delivered a kick towards one Gillian, breaking its mask apart. "Oh yeah, it's all in the kick! Mashiro Kick!"

Mashiro leaped between three different Gillian's, and began destroying their faces with her kicks.

Kensei then came in with his knife Zanpakuto, and stabbed one of them in the head, creating an explosion that took off the Gillian's head.

"Is there even a challenge here?"

"Be quiet, or we lose the internet. I'm not losing it Kensei, or you'll be the one receiving my complaints."

Lisa murmured, dashing forward, and delivered very thin slices towards a Hollow Gillian, up and down its entire body. She diced it up into very thin chunks, which all split apart, and dissolved into the air, while she spun around to stab another in the face.

"I know, we can't lose that, especially with everything we do..."

Love jumped up at one Gillian, punched it in the face, creating a large dent in the mask, allowing his fingers to slide into the hole, and then used his strength to rip the Hollow into two pieces, the others watched on while Meninas muttered "I could do that easily." referring to her Power ability, believing herself to be stronger than Love.

"Either way, these aren't so bad, we'll just have them die in a requiem."

Rose, with a super thin wire, wrapped it around tightly on one of the Gillian's. Constricting around it so tightly that it couldn't even move, and was getting sliced apart with the thin wire alone, and destroyed a good chunk of it, before it disappeared.

One of the Gillian's opened its mouth to fire off a Cero, only for Hachi to click his fingers numerous times, creating several barriers around the Hollow's heads, counting up to five and he brought his hands together. The Gillian's attacks didn't break through the barriers, instead their heads were snapped off of their bodies, decapitation, and dropped to the ground, harmlessly being destroyed.

"Ooh shit, this is hardcore."

Bambietta muttered, as a few Gillian's appeared beside them.

Takumi went to defend, when the Hollow, and several others, were sliced right through.

Appearing behind them, was Tier herself, who looked Takumi up and down, with Kukkapuro on her shoulder.

"Sorry for my tardiness, had some business to deal with."

"Nope, that's fine with me Tier-chan!"

"Yay! Big sister is becoming involved! She'll take them out no problem!"

Tier gave a hint of a smile, before continuing to destroy Gillian's left and right.

Takumi thought that since the others were becoming involved, he would too.

But then that's when he felt a hand grope him from behind.

"Y-Yoruichi-chan!"

Yoruichi gently licked his face, making his cheeks turn slightly red.

"Look at all these bad Gillian's. How about everyone I slay, I'll pleasure you in a different way?"

Takumi's cheeks continued to turn red while Giselle strolled forward.

"Screw off, he's mine."

Yoruichi gave a playful laugh, then disappeared.

A few seconds later, several Gillian's got pierced with Yoruichi's fists, and feet, smashing their entire bodies apart all together.

They all looked on with blank expressionless faces, while Yoruichi playfully thumbed her hair.

"All easily done."

Rukia felt sweat dropping off her forehead, then turned to Takumi.

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd call in allies."

"Yeah, pretty strong huh."

Hiyori, smirking at Giselle, stepped forward.

"I'm not done, not by a long shot!"

"Oi! Don't you dare!"

Giselle, despite being tired, jumped up with Hiyori, and did a combined arrow, plus sword slash to a Gillian, and completely destroyed it out of existence, while Liltotto murmured "Great, we've got a crazy meeting a nutter." while Karin nodded slowly.

"Couldn't agree more." Karin turned to Yuzu. "Come on Yuzu, we can't leave it to these idiots! Lets get in on the action!"

"Wait Karin, how can we!?"

Karin placed her sword onto Yuzu's body, and channelled her spiritual energy into Yuzu. Yuzu watched as her thin bow grew into a giant one, pulling back the string, creating an even larger arrow than normal.

"I've been told I've got great spirit energy, you can gather spirit energy. Use mine to fire off those deadly arrows of yours!"

Yuzu nodded, firing it off against one Gillian, and pierced it right through the head, then unleashed a good chunk more, all of them piercing the Hollow in different areas of its body, until it crumbled under the power of the two, Kisuke's eyes narrowing slightly, thinking "They took down a Gillian together, they definitely have untapped potential." before watching Candice grab her head in annoyance.

"Ugggggggggh! I'm not sitting out of this one! Come on Minnie, lets mess them up!"

"Yes! Lil, come too!"

"Ugh, I guess we could..."

Together, the Quincy trio all jumped into the air. One Gillian attempted to punch them, when Meninas raised her fist, announcing "I've got it!" and clashed with the Hollow.

Due to her Power ability, her strength toppled the giants own, forcing its fist backwards, allowing Liltotto to raise her arrow, and aim for the Hollow's head, putting her all into it, firing it off, and pierced the mask of the Hollow.

"Now Candy."

Candice adopted a smirk.

"Alright then!" Candice gathered her electricity, and aimed it for the hole that Liltotto had created. "Now, eat my Galvano Javelin!"

Releasing her electricity in the form of a javelin, the javelin went right into the Gillian's body, and shocked its body with all she had, and obliterated it out of existence.

Rukia couldn't understand what the heck was going on.

She was seeing Gillian's being destroyed by these people, when she had heard that special forces had to deal with them. Definitely, she felt very different to how she thought she'd feel at this moment in time.

Takumi placed a hand on Rukia's head, causing her face to meet his.

"Isn't it lovely what people can do with cooperation? Shinigami, Hollows, Quincy's. All of them together, fighting for a common goal. Maybe it is naive of me to think like this, but seeing this before my eyes gives me hope one day we can work together like this."

Rukia's face turned upwards.

"Maybe I'm being optimistic as well...but, I hope that also."

Takumi released a chortle, as Nemu came walking over.

"Kuchiki-san, allow us to fight together. You freeze, and I shatter them."

"W-Wait-"

Rukia was grabbed from behind, an arm around her waist, and disappeared into the sky. One Gillian attempted to fire off a shot of energy for the women, but Orihime announced "Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun, I reject!" and created a barrier between the attack and them.

Though the barrier held it back for a few seconds, it broke through, but that gave Nemu the time to navigate around that, and got close, so Rukia stabbed the Gillian in the head, and activated her Shikai's power, freezing it down so it became a block of ice, allowing Nemu to swing her leg out towards the Gillian's head, smashing it apart.

Takumi couldn't help but grin at the sight before him.

Everyone uniting together against a common enemy.

It was quite beautiful in his eyes.

"Hey Orihime-chan, look after Nel-chan for me, would you?"

"Hehe, are you going to fight too?"

Orihime showed a peppy side, glad to see that their allies were winning.

"I think it's time for me to become involved yeah~"

"I see, then I'll take care of Nel-chan, don't worry Taku-chan!"

"Yes Saku Taku! Give them hell!"

Takumi nodded slowly, and began walking forward.

While he did, his smile grew larger, and larger, seeing how everyone was cooperating, even people he didn't expect. Like Karin and Candice, or Yuzu and Tier, even Rukia was cooperating with Giselle, and Hiyori with Shinji.

He just thought it was very intriguing to see that happening, and also brought him happiness.

"Hey, what's with the grin weirdo?"

Bambietta asked as she pulled closer.

Takumi lightly laughed at Bambietta's words.

"Oh, nothing at all. Say, wanna get in on the action?"

Takumi offered his hand to Bambietta.

Before, she would have felt that would be insulting, but now it seemed different.

She took his hand with a sly smile on her face.

"Lets finish this."

Takumi stuck out his Zanpakuto, allowing his electricity to surge. However, rather than turn into a blast, Takumi combined it with Hainawa, and wrapped the energy rope around the Gillian's, five in total, and because of the electricity added, they were being shocked at the same time as being bound, causing them pain.

"Your turn Bambietta-san!"

Bambietta grabbed the ropes in Takumi's hand, and added her explosive energy to them.

They travelled up and wrapped around the Gillian's, setting off massive explosions, which decimated the Gillian's out of existence all together, Takumi and Bambietta glanced at the other, then smiled brightly, seemingly coming to an understanding.

Kisuke watched as the fight continued on for a good ten minutes, and added in his own power once in a while.

But for the most part, everyone was able to get in good shots against the Gillian's.

However, he also realized something else.

"_Definitely, this isn't normal. Even with the baits, and powers colliding here. This is an abnormal...it has to be him. It has to be. And if it is..._" His eyes drifted to Takumi who just finished doing a double slash with Karin. "_...then Takumi's in danger. What am I going to do...?_"

While he watched the slaying of the Gillian's, he knew that he'd have to do something.

* * *

Eventually, there was only one Gillian left, so Takumi walked towards it with his Zanpakuto, and Rukia followed him. But not just Rukia, Karin, Yuzu, Giselle, Nemu, Hiyori, Liltotto, Meninas, Candice, and finally, Bambietta, followed him, and took up a stance.

"It's time to finish this!"

[Yeah!]

Concentrating what little power they had left, they unleashed their strongest attacks against the Gillian itself. Because of the bombardment of attacks, the Gillian lost its body, being destroyed by the overwhelming attack, thus ending the Hollow invasion.

Takumi exhaled, falling down to the ground with the others soon following.

"I'm exhausted."

Takumi groaned, while Rukia chuckled lightly.

"I know what you mean, my body is sore from all of this."

"We should get a medal for this."

Karin brought up with a shocking smile on her face.

Yuzu grinned, hugging her sister.

"I'll make you one! We did it Karin, we protected Karakura!"

Giselle cracked her neck side to side.

"I'm glad, but also kinda pissed that we drew Hiyori-chan."

"Yeah...but, I'm too tired to care. Lets just call it a draw, and we both can have him."

"I'm fine with that."

Giselle was too exhausted to even fight with Hiyori, and she felt the same after the slaying of the Hollows.

The others just watched on happily as peace had been restored once more.

Finally, the peace had come over Karakura…

But, for how long?

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, the climatic battle happened between everyone!**

**Takumi fought off Bambietta, with BG5, even seeing BG5 combine with Bambietta to increase her powers. But eventually, after trading blows, Takumi who had studied Bambietta's powers, created something to unleash that kind of power right back at her, and defeated her. After that, Bambietta realized what she had done is wrong, and as Takumi had said to Liltotto, spared her life.**

**Then the Gillian's came, but fortunately, the Shinji and the others showed up! They dealt out large damage, even Tier got in on the action, and by working together with the Quincy's, Hollows, and Shinigami alike, they managed to defeat them all.**

**Next time we'll deal with the rap up, and the continuation of what's going to happen next, with Rukia, Takumi and the others. The Soul Society definitely would have been alerted to this presence.**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	14. Belonging!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, it's gonna be quite interesting to see their meeting. I can say that most of them will be on the team yeah. And those are some good suggestions. Yup, Karin's gonna be dealing with that when she taps into her Hollow side. Soi Fon vs Giselle would be quite a fun fight. We'll see Nemu having some fun scenes~ Yeah, they could do that~**

**Oblivious IJ; Yeah, Ichigo's not in the story. And thanks!**

**Skull Flame; It seems she can yeah~ They were very exhausted at that point. She could yeah, we might see that happening in the future~ Ooh yeah, give him enough time and knowledge on the enemy then he'll have plans upon plans. You can take that anyway you want~ And with Lisa, Love among others that do some, questionable things around, yeah they need their computers fixed a lot~ She has yeah! Not much longer now~**

**Crenin; Thanks, and yeah, you never know what might happen~**

**Arkraith; Cool I'm glad you're trying it, Bleach is a fun series.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Yeah, Bambi's gonna be an ally now. We'll have to wait and see for that, it's going to be rather interesting going into the next arc.**

**Guest 1; No worries~**

**Guest 2; Those sound awesome to me, Neo's a fun character, and Ruby's a character I quite like. And that sounds like good plot progression to me~ Yeah, becoming Cinders morality chain might be a good idea for Cinders~**

**Andrew123456; A goal would have been great, but Ichigo comes from a world where he was a normal high school student, barring seeing ghosts, before Rukia showed up so it kinda made sense that he didn't have a goal to aspire too while Luffy and Naruto come from worlds were it is normal to have the goals they had, becoming pirate king and hokage respectably, Ichigo's not interested in becoming a Captain or anything due to how he was raised, if he was raised in the Soul Society, maybe that could have been his goal to become Captain Commander or something. What I think made it fall, though I still enjoy the series as a whole, was Ichigo's lack of involvement with the Villains on a level beyond good and evil for the most part. He fought and defeated them sure, but Aizen always seemed more of the Soul Society's, more specifically Kisuke's, villain than Ichigo's due to what Aizen did to them, their rivaling intelligence among other things. Ywhach was set up to be a great Villain for Ichigo personally, since it was because of him his Mother died and for a short while had recruited Uryu, one of his friends, to be an enemy against him, but it didn't really go anywhere which is a shame since it could have gone to many different places, great character development for Ichigo along with others. I wont spoil it, but Takumi and Aizen are going to have a very interesting relationship between them and as for Ywhach, I've got ideas about him for when we get there.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Nemu's a treat indeed~ Yeah, we saw both pull out all the stops in that fight~ Orihime's all for it it seems~ And yeah, expect to see Orihime on the battlefields more. She's not going to become the strongest or anything, but she'll be more involved in some battles. He could have ended her yeah, but he decided to not too. Glad that you liked the interactions~ Indeed, they didn't want their tech support to cut them off. And Yoruichi promised something she'll deliver on in the future~ At that time, he was already exhausted fighting Bambietta, Tier, and Hollows around town, so he did what he could. Well you never know, we'll be exploring Takumi's backstory in the future. That would be a funny scene between them. Yeah, that would be pretty cool! Yeah, found that out a while ago haha. She is yeah, and yeah, I thought about doing a character like that. Yeah, maybe he did have an attitude like that. Sounds good to me~ That would be quite cool to see between Takumi and Hollow Karin. We'll have to wait and see if that's true or not~ I don't know the odds on that, anything is possible. Yeah he could have. Those sound like great choices!**

**A fan; Yeah, I'd have to second that, the Zero Squad had a lot of buildup, and we didn't find out most of their Shikai's, only one Bankai, or what they could do in a true fight. I wished they had come back for the fights with the Elite Guard of Ywhach's, and joined in their battles, to show off what they could do.**

**Guest 3; Sure, he would wear it like that, sounds great to me!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Belonging!**

A few hours after fighting with the Hollows, Takumi's eyes sprung open to see that Kukkapuro was sat within his bedroom, licking his face, making him smile softly.

His body was sore from the fight with Bambietta, and the Hollows. He had pushed himself quite far, as did the others. But he was still looking ready to go at anytime. That's just the kind of person Takumi was after all.

"Hey there little doggy, Kukkapuro." The dog barked as Takumi scratched behind his ear. "So little guy, wanna clue me in as to why you and I feel like we have a connection?" Kukkapuro wagged his tail, and swayed side to side, while looking at Takumi innocently. "I thought not."

"So, you're awake."

Tier said as she slid into the room.

"A-Ah, Tier-chan, I'm glad you're still here. I still need to thank you for helping us out during that crisis."

Tier waved her hand.

"No, do not thank me. I was merely doing my duty as an Arrancar and protecting my world as well as your own."

Takumi sat up in bed, only realizing that he was now shirtless.

He awkwardly tried to cover his chest with the bed sheet, but Tier just stared with no emotions.

"Are you feeling embarrassment by me seeing your naked torso?"

Her words were clear and cut dry.

"A-Ah, not embarrassed, it's just since I'm like this, and you're here, I thought I should cover up..."

"It does not concern me one way or another. You are merely a Shinigami, so seeing your body doesn't bother me." Tier watched as Takumi rubbed the dog behind his ear. "Oh, that girl, Bambietta left that robot here, saying something that you could have it."

"What, really!?" Takumi became excited, giving Tier a surprise. "Ooh awesome! I have wanted to see how BG5 ticks! Maybe I could modify it to become a guardian to Karakura or something! Ooh yeah, that sounds amazing!"

Tier gave a bemused expression on her face.

"I see, so that's how you're being. That's quite an expression you have on your face."

Takumi rubbed the back of his head gently.

"Haha, sorry about that. I tend to get excited when new things come upon me. A-Anyway, what are you going to do now? Are you returning to Hueco Mundo?"

"In a day or two. Nel wishes to spend a day within the human world. And that's all the time that I can stay here also."

Takumi wondered what Tier actually did as an Arrancar, it seemed that she had things she had to do, but it was his understanding that Hollows just lived as they liked.

"Tier-chan, can I ask you about Hueco Mundo?"

"It's a desert. Does that answer any question you'd have asked?"

Takumi actually liked that she was quite to the point of things.

"I guess that it does. But, I was going to ask, you seem busy and I was under the impression that Hollows did whatever they wanted, yet it seems like you have duties. So, I was wondering, feel free not to tell me, what it was you actually did."

"What I do, it isn't anything to complicated. For the moment, I search Hueco Mundo for Hollows such as myself, and protect Hollows that have similar mindsets to me, and that wish to live a peaceful existence."

Takumi could get that.

"I see, that's quite noble of you. Haha, Hollows surely are different to how I imagined...or rather, Arrancar's seem to be different to how I imagine anyway."

"I suppose that we could be considered different, but I also imagined Shinigami to be different. Yet, you're quite a curious person. I wish to study you even more, to see what makes you tick, so to speak."

Takumi realized what she was saying, and it made him question what it meant to be in the presence of Tier, and other Hollows. Having thought that they were beings that just sort to kill, it was strange that Tier seemed to be against that.

"You can study me, but I'm pretty unremarkable."

"I don't believe that's true."

Tier retorted, surprising Takumi.

"I-Is that so?"

"Yes, I believe you have a good deal of potential. I also wish to fight again when you achieve Bankai."

"If I achieve it you mean, it might take years to master it."

Tier, continuing to surprise Takumi, shook her head.

"I do not believe it will take you years. I saw promise during our fight, I expect you to master it then we can resume our battles."

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"So, you want me to master Bankai, so we can have a fight?"

"Exactly, I wish to see your potential as a fighter, and I wish to see what comes out on top, lightning, or my power." Takumi saw that she was careful not to reveal what power she had. "In either case, I shall take my leave, and make sure that Nel isn't doing anything she shouldn't be doing."

"Can I ask...before you go, about Nel-chan. And what reason you look out for her? Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you're doing this, I just wonder why you're doing it in the first place?"

Tier hummed as she thought about how to answer Takumi's question.

"That's simple, because I want to do so. It's the same reason you do things. Because you wish to do it, correct?"

Takumi inclined his neck, believing that to be the case.

"That's fair to say~ Sorry if it sounds like I'm grilling you for information, I'm just genuinely intrigued by you and the others lives as Arrancar's I mean~"

Tier showed a slight hint of a smile, before she walked away.

Takumi glanced at the dog that nestled against him, and wished to understand a few things about the dog, he didn't know how to begin though. Since the dog, as far as he could tell, couldn't talk his language, he was rather unsure of what to think about him.

* * *

"Haaaaaaaah..."

Bambietta collapsed onto her couch, hours after the fight with the Hollows, and Takumi. For a week or so, she had been alone.

But now, she was very pleased that Candice, Meninas, Liltotto, and Giselle had arrived back at their hideout, and each were laughing and joking again. It felt like old times, and to her, that felt more special than anything else.

"So, now that we've resolved everything here, what are we going to do?"

Meninas held apathy over her face, while Candice kicked up her feet, and relaxed them on a nearby table.

"That's a good question, I don't know what we're going to do. We aren't needed in Karakura, the Shinigami have it here."

Bambietta surprised everyone by how casual she was speaking about Shinigami and didn't hold animosity.

"It's weird hearing you speak as if Shinigami don't bother you."

Liltotto brought up, while Bambietta released a yawn.

"I still don't like the majority of Shinigami. But the ones in this town...yeah, they're cool. I realize it now, that I can't blame them all for what happened to my parents, and what could have happened to me. But, I don't know what we're going to do now."

Candice released some electricity from her fingers which danced in the air.

"Maybe we should go to a place where there aren't any Shinigami or anything to protect it from Hollows. I mean, that's why we came here in the first place, isn't it?"

Giselle furrowed her eyebrows.

"If that's what you're going to do...then I have to say that I wont be going with you."

Liltotto slowly moved her head.

"Because of Masaki-san and her daughters, right?"

"I said I'd train Yuzu-chan...besides, we need Quincy representation within this town~ So many Shinigami's, can't leave Yuzu-chan on her own as lone Quincy of this town~"

Bambietta released a chortle.

"It's fine, you can stay here if you want. It doesn't mean we aren't friends."

Giselle gave a goofy smile, and pulled at her cheeks.

"Exactly~ I'm glad you're no longer bitches be crazy~ That wasn't fun~"

Bambietta gained a slightly sombre expression on her face.

"Yeah, about that...I'm sorry for what happened. With the Shinigami, and the Hollow summoning. I saw an ugly side of me that I didn't like. I don't want to be like that again...so, I think that going to a town that's not protected would be the best."

"Something close by though so we can visit often."

Liltotto added her own opinions, Bambietta slyly smiled.

"Seems like someone likes the Shinigami~"

Liltotto didn't reveal while Giselle gave a dark glare.

"She better not."

Candice chortled, running a hand through her long hair.

"Either way, I'm glad everything's back to normal, and now we can get stronger, the right way this time."

The girls had some time together. While they learned from their experiences, they had fun with one another again, they finally could get back to normalcy within their group, and move on from their past pain.

* * *

"Y-You have to leave already?"

Takumi was surprised when Nemu had come up and said that. He had only been awake for an hour, and now that Nemu was saying that she had to go, he was rather sad.

Compared to him though, Nemu looked relaxed while sitting within his bedroom, alone. He felt slightly odd that she kept staring at his naked torso, and when he had tried to cover his chest, she simply wouldn't let him.

"Yes, that is correct. The Soul Society have ordered my return, having felt the intense power from all of the Hollows, and wish for my report right away."

Takumi ran a hand through his hair, thinking about what he was going to do. He knew that it would be rapid response, but a few hours. He hoped for a day at least. But he didn't have that time anymore and he knew that if they found out, which they were going to, then Rukia was going to be in danger.

"I see...Nemu-san, there's no escaping the Soul Society now. They're going to find out about Rukia-chan one way or another. But, can I ask one more favour, please? I'm not going to ask you to do anything huge, as I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Yes? What is the request?"

Takumi exhaled slowly, wondering how this was going to go.

"Could you, stall their arrival here? I know it might be difficult for you to do that, but the Soul Society doesn't have to know right away, right?"

"The bringing together of the Captains usually takes a day or so, since Soul Society is vast, and other Captains have duties outside of the Seireitei, so it will take a day at least. Then Central 46 have to debate on the best course of action. In my experience, that usually takes about a day or two. So, the most time that you would have is three days."

Takumi rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Three days huh...I have three days...alright, I can come up with something in three days."

Nemu cocked her neck.

"You are intending to take on the Soul Society?"

To her wonder, his head shook side to side.

"No, not if I can help it at least. I intend to try and stop the Soul Society in doing this action against Rukia-chan. Since she is technically going to be charged anyway, maybe I could do something to help her out."

"And what would that something be?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about that very same thing.

"That's a good question, and I don't have an answer yet. I'll have to think about it. I need to make sure that Rukia-chan isn't done for this, and I don't know, executed as you've said might be a punishment on the extreme side, or locked up for a long time on the not extreme side."

Nemu slowly moved her body backwards, and bent her neck around to Takumi's face.

"Takumi-sama, if you intend to stop this, then you have to know about your own current situation."

"My situation? Because Rukia-chan gave her powers to me?"

"More than that, it is simply something you cannot avoid-"

"That's enough, Nemu-san." Kisuke walked into the room, and looked between the two. "So, you have to go already~ That's a shame, I was hoping we could get to know one another even more~ Knowing Mayuri-san, he'd have made you to be quite extraordinary and we didn't even get the chance to converse."

Takumi watched as Kisuke laughed, but he knew that Kisuke did that quite expertly, as he cut off Nemu before she could reveal something, and he believed that something, was the thing that his Father had been hiding from him for years now.

"Yes, it is a shame. Though you are as Mayuri-sama described."

Kisuke didn't know if he should take that as an insult or a pleasurable thing.

"Well, thanks I think~ Either way, I am sorry that you have to leave~"

Nemu stood up from the seat she was sat on, and bowed her head.

"May the next time we speak, be in good fortune Takumi-sama. And thank you."

Takumi tilted his head.

"For what Nemu-san?"

"Thank you, for giving me the chance to explore more about individuality. I am not sure if I may be able to continue this. But, to experience it for as long as I did, I discovered things that I find enjoyable, and things that I do not. I hadn't expected to understand this much about myself, so it was pleasant being within your company for as long as I was."

Takumi's face curled upwards into a soft smile.

He was glad that Nemu was allowed to explore who she was as an individual and was able to be who she wanted to be.

But he also felt sad that she wasn't going to be able to continue that exploration of herself.

"Nemu-san, even if this master guy of yours forbids you from trying to be who you are, then perhaps try it in secret ways. He shouldn't dictate who you are, and stop you becoming whoever it is that you're going to become."

Nemu took his words to heart, and thought about what he had said.

Kisuke couldn't help but be proud of Takumi for what he had said to Nemu, wanting her to be free like she could be. However, Kisuke also felt a lump within his throat when he was thinking about what he was going to say to Takumi next.

Nemu soon departed from the human world, and went back to the Soul Society, while Kisuke stared at Takumi who stared back.

"So, Takumi. How about we go an adventure~ Just the two of us~"

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"Why say that now?"

"B...Because, we've not done anything just you and me since...well, a year I guess. With everything happening, it's been a busy time, and I thought that we could bond somewhere...perhaps France? I've always wanted to go there, how about you?"

Takumi's eyebrows knitted together, keeping them on the man before him.

"You know that we can't. Why are you suddenly acting weird?"

"I'm always weird~" Takumi sweat dropped, and mentally agreed. "But yeah, we should just up and go. Come on, what do you say? I'll let you invent more things~"

"You know I can't leave, especially with Rukia-chan now. With the Hollows, the Soul Society is going to try and take her. I can't just leave without even a goodbye."

Kisuke exhaled deeply.

"Listen, I know you like her...but, it would be much safer for you to come with me."

"Why is that?" Kisuke didn't answer the question. "Is it because of the thing you're hiding from me?"

Kisuke stiffened, he didn't want to answer that question.

"That's...something I can't comment on. But I do believe it would be best if we left, now."

"I can't. I'm not abandoning Rukia-chan."

Kisuke exhaled deeply, turning away from Takumi, hiding his crestfallen face from the young man.

"And I can't lose you, Takumi."

"You're not going to. Why would you?"

Kisuke couldn't face Takumi, and couldn't answer him.

It was difficult.

He felt pain erupting inside of him, desperate to leak out, but he couldn't give into his own emotions now.

Instead, he merely said "Goodnight." and turned, walking away from the blonde haired boy.

Takumi definitely knew something was off, something was going on, and he knew now that it had to do with the Soul Society. But he didn't have time to worry about that, he had to make sure that Rukia was going to be fine, and if not fine, then he would have to prepare for the Soul Society itself, and how he was going to fight against them if he needed to do that.

Though he couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Kisuke, and why he seemed so worried. He also remembered how Rukia was also hiding something from him. So, in his mind, he was sure that the Soul Society and he must have had some kind of connection.

But what that does mean for him, he didn't know. He had to concentrate on the here and now, rather than what would or could be.

* * *

Rukia laid within her closet, staring into the empty blackness of the closet. Because of the situation at hand, she knew it was only a matter of time, before the Soul Society was going to come and get her, having already known that Nemu had left, as she had told her beforehand.

"_Before they come, it's better if I leave. I can't ask Takumi anymore than I already have done._" Rukia tossed within her closet, looking at her phone for the time. "_Two in the morning, it seems like this would be a good time for me to leave. I wish I didn't have to go, but being here is just going to endanger Takumi. If I plead to the Head Captain, perhaps I will be able to plead for Takumi's life...so he doesn't have to get punished as well as myself._"

Rukia had decided within herself.

Though she didn't want to do this.

She was very aware that Takumi could also come under fire from the Soul Society...and she didn't want that to happen.

She remembered all of the times that they had spent together.

How he had been there for her.

How he had laughed with her, played with her, been there to give her advice, how she advised him.

All of it was flooding her mind, and usually, she wasn't one to show emotion…

But she felt a lone tear fall down her face.

"_In the end, I had promised myself I wouldn't become attached to the human world when I first came here. But this isn't my world. Takumi and I...we're different people. He belongs here, and I belong in the Soul Society...so, why does it hurt so much…?_"

Despite not wanting to, she couldn't control her emotions in the end.

She hated it.

She didn't want to cry.

She didn't want to outwardly express what was within her heart.

But she couldn't stop it.

She desperately tried to stay silent.

Small noises inevitably came out of her once in a while, which she tried desperately to mute.

However, because of those small noises, the door to her closet was opened, and revealed Takumi just staring at her. Not a bad stare, not a sad stare, not even a happy stare. It was just a calm and collected stare that went through Rukia's soul.

"Takumi, I..."

Wordlessly, he wrapped his arms around her, and embraced the young Shinigami.

No words were needed.

They both knew what this was about.

But neither wished to say anything.

Instead, Rukia and Takumi just embraced one another for what seemed like hours, but really was minutes, before they just sat in silence together. He sat within her closet with her, and she laid her head on his shoulder, waiting for the inevitable to come, but for the moment, wished to just bask in their unspoken affections for the other.

* * *

The next morning, Takumi was roused away when he felt something bouncing on his chest.

"Saku Taku! Wake up Saku Taku!"

Takumi coughed from the impact he received to his chest, his eyes meeting Nel's who smiled down towards him.

"Ugh...Nel-chan...what are you doing…?"

"I woke you up silly! See, you're awake because of Nel!" Takumi groaned, while sitting up. "Big sister says we have to go back today, but Nel wanted to spend as much time with Saku Taku as possible! Because, when will I see Saku Taku again?!"

Takumi's face turned into a gentle one, giving Nel's mask a pat.

"I still have to fix your mask Nel-chan, so we'll see one another again."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Takumi assured the young girl, who hugged Takumi tightly. "By the way Nel-chan, your dress is in tatters, don't you want something else?"

"Ooh, Nel can get clothes in the human world, can't she?!"

Takumi's face turned wider.

"Yeah, we can get you some clothes and other things."

Nel's face broke out into a wide grin, and jumped even more on Takumi's chest, flooring him, who coughed up a little bit from the constant impacts of her jumping.

"Yay! By the way Saku Taku, big brothers Pesche and Dondochakka have gone back to Hueco Mundo! Because big sister asked them to leave! I don't think she likes them very much~"

"Hehehe, I see, that's not really surprising~"

Takumi had to admit that did sound like Tier.

"Exactly! But big sis is still here with doggy!" Nel hopped off of Takumi's torso, and ran around the room at high speeds. "I can't wait to go out with Saku Taku now! We can go to all sorts of places together! Can't we Saku Taku?!"

"Of course we can~"

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! I'll tell big sister right noooooooooooooooooooooow!"

Nel shot out of the room, while Takumi gave a light smile on his face, glad that Nel seemed to be happy enough. His eyes cast to the closet that Rukia was in, and sensed her spiritual energy, knowing that she was still there, but he knew that could change within an instant.

* * *

Takumi, and Rukia arrived at school, where Orihime, Yuzu, Karin and Giselle already were. Takumi announced "Good morning!" to which everyone replied with the same, even Karin did without having to be pressured too.

They sat down on some seats, and talked amongst themselves.

"Hey, the festival is on pretty soon~" Orihime sang out, looking the others up and down. "We should all go together!"

Takumi smiled brightly while Rukia gave a sombre smile.

"That would be awesome, we could have so much fun~"

"Ooh, we could wear yukata and everything~"

Yuzu sang out, while Karin noticed that no one was mentioning what happened with the Gillian's, and the likes. It seemed that they had forgotten, or they just didn't see the point to bring it up, but she had to admit that she did want to speak about it.

"Isn't it weird that we're just attending class? What about what happened just yesterday?"

Yuzu bequeathed a smile for her sister.

"I know what you mean Karin, it's like it never happened."

"But it did." Giselle spoke. "Even if they never know it, we were on the brink of having this town overcome by Hollows. But, we managed to overcome that adversity together~ Besides, I got to fight that damn Hiyori, and almost beat her too~"

Takumi chuckled as Giselle snickered.

"I guess it doesn't matter if we get recognition or not, we saved everyone in this class yesterday and by extension, the town as well. If we didn't, then this town would have been destroyed."

"Too true~" Orihime sang out, sitting beside Takumi. "Everything's different now Taku-chan. Is it because of my powers?"

"Define different."

Orihime placed a finger to her chin, and got into a deep thought.

"Erm...well, it's just, everything seems brighter to me. Like everything is humming, and when I walk past things, it's like they're connecting to me. Even the chairs and the walls, and everything seems like it is bursting with life. I can't explain it that well. Even now, as we speak, we're going through quite a lot..."

Takumi couldn't help but be intrigued by what Orihime was feeling.

"Perhaps you're feeling the souls within the objects."

"Ooh come on." Karin scoffed at the very idea of what Takumi was suggesting. "Objects don't have souls."

"Well, of course they do."

Takumi retorted with a grin, Karin showing an unbelieving look.

"How's that then?"

Rukia spoke up, seeing Karin's unsure face.

"Everything in this world has a soul, even things like objects." She brought out a horrid drawing of a chair, with a soul escaping it, in the shape of rabbits. "Though I can't say that chairs have an afterlife or anything, everything in this world does have a soul, and some people can use their powers to manipulate the souls within the objects themselves."

"For instance?"

Yuzu wondered, so Takumi continued.

"Though it isn't a power Shinigami and Quincy can do so easily. Though maybe under special circumstances...either way, the group I told you about Orihime-chan, I heard that they had the power to manipulate the souls of objects. Even things like water. I'm not sure exactly how it is accomplished, but I believe it has something to do with either pulling the soul or connecting with the soul. So say, if you wanted to walk across water, you'd be able to do that if you pulled the soul, or connected with it to allow you to manipulate its shape, and density and what not. You'd be able to walk in the air by accomplishing the very same thing."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing."

Giselle added while pulling her cheeks.

Takumi agreed with a bob of his head.

"I think it is. I wish I could meet these people, now in the case for Orihime-chan so she could learn more about how to use her powers."

"You mean, she's one of these people? And they aren't Quincy or Shinigami or anything?"

Takumi nodded at Karin who seemed to be quite intrigued, and baffled all in one.

"Although I can't be one hundred percent, I'm very confident that she is one of these beings. It isn't bad to be these beings or anything, it just means that she has spiritual powers that are different from us. But it is all still spiritual powers so she'd be able to use high speed movement in her own way once learning more about it."

Rukia looked astonished.

"Even I wasn't aware of these beings. What is the name of these beings? Like we're called Shinigami and then there's Quincy, and Hollows. They must have a name, right?"

Takumi shrugged, genuinely unsure.

"I don't know that honestly~ If they do have a name, I haven't come across it, and if they don't, I wonder if they would mind if I named them...? Either way, I've only ever received second hand information, and inconsistent reports about them. But they do exist, that's for sure, and Orihime-chan is one of these people." His eyes went to Orihime who smiled brightly. "Hey, maybe they might try and contact you Orihime-chan. Since your powers are….damn your powers are awesome, I'm kinda jealous~"

Orihime's face turned slightly red at his admission.

"J-Jealous of me Taku-chan?"

"Ooh yeah, your powers, if I'm right which I'm confident I am, are able to do some crazy things. But, it seems to drain you of spirit energy. But, training in spirit energy is something I can actually help you with Orihime-chan, that's the same for all spiritually aware beings."

"That would be great Taku-chan! I-Incidentally Taku-chan...m-maybe we could...erm, after this...after school, I thought that..." Orihime looked on shyly, while the others understood what she was going to ask, the likes of Yuzu seemed to be slightly upset that Orihime was going to ask it. "...m-maybe we could...erm...maybe we could talk in private this afternoon..."

"Talk? About what?"

Orihime's cheeks flushed, Rukia understanding what Orihime actually wanted, and decided to speak about it instead.

"She wants to go out with you."

Rukia sped up the process, showing a sly grin on her face, causing Takumi and Orihime to do a spit take.

"Geez! Don't just come out with it!"

Rukia gained a defensive look.

"What? Humans, I don't understand why you don't just admit that you've got affections for one another, and just go on a date. As I said to you once Takumi, if I was doing it, I would have simply just ask the person out."

Takumi didn't know if he should say anything, or leave it alone since Rukia seemed to be showing a normal side to her.

"Well, I am taking Nel-chan to get some clothes, you could come with me Orihime-chan."

"Ooh yes, that would be fun~ We could go together, and pick out some clothes for Nel-chan~"

Takumi gave a peace sign as Zombie Chizuru entered the room. The room fell deadly silent, the air felt cold, and they all felt as if their worlds were going to end. Rukia in particular saw how the Zombie was staring at her.

"Oh God no..."

Rukia murmured, clutching her hands together.

Zombie Chizuru glided towards them, her hand gently placed itself on Rukia's shoulder.

"Rukiaaaaaaaaaa..."

Rukia sobbed slightly.

"W-What do you want?"

Takumi could feel the fear within Rukia's voice.

Rukia hardly feared anything…

But this Zombie, she definitely did.

"I was wondering...if we could go oooooooout?"

Rukia stiffened her resolve, shaking her neck.

"No, I'm busy, for the rest of my life."

"That's harsh. She only wants to date you, you should give it a chance."

Karin chuckled, obtaining a glare for Rukia.

"I would treat you like Princess…."

Zombie Chizuru tried to persuade, but Rukia continued shaking her head.

"No, that's fine. Please leave me alone."

Zombie Chizuru bowed her neck, and sulked off, while Giselle placed a hand over her heart.

"That's horrible Rukia-chan, she's only a Zombie wanting to fit into her new world, and she obviously likes you. So, why not give her a chance?"

"Because, I don't want to!"

Rukia snapped at Giselle who tittered away happily.

Takumi gave them strange looks, while Orihime just smiled softly, glad that everything had returned to normal.

However, she could see within Takumi's eyes that there was something off about all of this.

Something was troubling him, and while he was smiling, it seemed like something was deeper inside of him, and causing him some pain.

* * *

Nemu, having returned to the Soul Society, yet was waiting for the Captains meeting, went to a restaurant type place within the Seireitei.

Sitting within the restaurant itself was a young girl with beautiful white hair, that flowed down to her mid back but was spiked at the front with a single lock falling between her eyes, her sparkling turquoise eyes, and was rather petite, her Shinigami robes hung off of her, as did her Captains clothing.

She was drinking some hot chocolate.

Nemu walked to the bar area, and looked at the drinks.

Usually, she would just order a water…

But ever since she was in the human world, she had decided to try new things, glancing at the white haired girl, and saw her drink, so she spoke "I would like one hot chocolate please." which the bar staff seemed surprised at, but got right away.

After paying for it, Nemu walked over to the table that the girl was sat at, and glanced at her.

Noticing, the girl rose her head.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Nemu just stared at her with a blank expression.

The girl felt slightly unnerved by Nemu doing that, then saw Nemu moving away and sat down on a table in front of her...yet, Nemu didn't take her eyes off of the young Shinigami girl.

The girl slowly rose a hand to her mouth, while Nemu's head rose up.

"_O-Okay, she's definitely staring at me...why is she just staring at me? This is a bit weird...but, she isn't hurting me or anything, so I'll let it go..._"

The girl didn't quite understand what was going on.

For about five minutes, Nemu continued to watch her like a hawk. Every movement she made, Nemu was on that and kept her gaze forever on her. Because she was robotic like in her actions, the girl thought that she never blinked even a single time.

Then a friend of the girls came into the room, and saw the Captain.

"Oh, Shiro-chan. There you are~"

"What did I say about calling me Shiro-chan? Call me Toshiro or Captain to you Hinamori."

Momo, the girl with her hair tied into buns, raised an eyebrow.

"You're more irritable than usual. What's wrong?"

Toshiro's eyes went to Nemu who continued staring at her.

"S-She's just staring at me, I don't know what's going on...it's a little unnerving."

Momo glanced at Nemu, then to Toshiro.

"I'll go and ask!"

"W-Wait, Hinamori!"

Momo skated off towards Nemu, and put her hands behind her back shyly.

"Say, Nemu-san, what are you doing?"

"I do not understand the question. I am merely drinking my hot chocolate, however my senses indicate that's not what you are inquiring about. So, could you please elaborate on what it is you wish to be answered?"

Momo looked like a dear caught in headlights.

She didn't know what she was supposed to do in these situations.

"Yeah..." Momo chuckled awkwardly. "...I was just wondering, why you were staring at Shiro-chan? She's kinda self conscious about...well many things." Toshiro glared at her for that comment. "So, could you tell me please?"

"I am currently studying Toshiro Hitsugaya, and am interested in her as a person."

Momo wasn't sure how Nemu was 'interested' within Toshiro.

"O-Oh?"

She didn't quite understand.

What was it about Toshiro that she was interested in?

Nemu with her usual expression, answered in a direct manner.

"Yes, while I was in the human world, I have been experiencing different sensations and different thought patterns to how I am usually accustomed to thinking. I also thought about if she would be compatible with the person I am thinking of."

"Ooh~ So you want Shiro-chan to get a boyfriend~ That's so sweet~ So, who is it? It isn't Captain Kuchiki, is it? Because, those two together would be weird~"

Nemu shook her head.

"No, it isn't Captain Kuchiki, it is another individual. I was thinking, due to how Kuchiki-san also has a small chest-" Toshiro's eyes blazed, knowing where this was going. "-since Captain Hitsugaya has an even smaller chest, I thought that he would be fine with her chest and would love her as well."

"S-Stop mentioning my chest! It doesn't even matter if it is small or not!"

Toshiro snapped, but Nemu raised her finger.

"He also would compliment you rather well. You would get along like lightning and ice, conducting one another...perhaps that analogy is not for this intended use." Toshiro's fist clenched tightly. "However, I do believe you'd be compatible partners. If not only for personalities clashing. Serious meeting someone who is more relaxed. As I have read in my books, it is essential, for partners to get along with one another, and opposites do tend to attract."

Momo was taken aback by how weird Nemu was being…

No, not weird.

More human that she was being.

She still was Nemu with her ways, but she was also seemingly interacting with others when before, she wouldn't have done that, so she was quite happy that Nemu could speak to them on terms like she was now.

"W-Well, you're not wrong, but still, I'm surprised you're interested in this kind of thing to begin with. Whatever happened in the human world, it seems to have begun changing you."

"I have changed? Am I unrecognizable from when I left?"

Momo waved her hands innocently.

"N-No! Of course not! It's just, before you wouldn't of really answered me, but now we're having conversations! I think whatever happened to you, was really good for you personally! I always did worry. I'd like to meet this person who begun this change within you."

"Perhaps, in the near future, your request shall be fulfilled Hinamori-san."

Momo wasn't sure what she meant.

Toshiro however continued to keep her eyes on Nemu who went back to staring at her.

"I also have one more request."

"W-What?"

Toshiro showed agitation as Nemu pulled out her book.

Toshiro glanced at the book, but couldn't tell what kind of book it was.

"I would like to interview you. The young man who I met, also said that I am good at retrieving information, and I would like to gain some more from you. About your current status, your hobbies, desires in life, sexual behavior's-" Toshiro did a spit take as did Momo but Nemu continued as if she didn't get what was wrong with what she said. "-and what you find ideal within a partner. I would like to do this in the future with other Shinigami females. And since you are before me, I would like to request an interview of yourself at your earliest convenience."

"E-Eh...t-that's...w-well, w-what would the data be used for…?"

Toshiro didn't want it to be used in any weird way, or for it to be spread around either. Though she couldn't see Nemu spreading it around as that's just not who Nemu was, she usually only spoke when spoken to, and was sworn to secrecy by Mayuri, so her going around and gossiping seemed highly unlikely, even for this new Nemu.

"Compatibility."

"W-With who?"

Nemu raised an eyebrow.

"With the person I met within the human world. He interests me with his views, and ideals, and I would like to know what compatibility you would be compared to others I shall interview. So far, I have gathered enough data on this individual to collect reasonable results. So, may I interview you at your earliest convenience? It would help my research, and you would be compensated for your time."

Toshiro was flabbergasted.

She didn't know what to say.

Nemu was very strange.

But now she was interviewing people...she didn't seem surprised that Nemu would do this as Mayuri also collected information, but in a very different way than how Nemu did it.

"I-It really means that much to you?"

"Yes."

Nemu answered with a straight face.

"T-Then, I guess...just don't mention my chest."

Nemu nodded, writing down in her book [Toshiro Hitsugaya has a big complex about her small breasts.] and then placed the book on her lap, giving Toshiro a blank stare who gave curious eyes back.

"Understood, then I shall take my leave. Contact me when you're ready."

Nemu left the area, once finishing her drink, leaving behind a baffled Momo and Toshiro.

"Well, that was weird wasn't it Shiro-chan?"

"Yeah..." It clicked in her mind what she had just said. "Hey! Stop calling me Shiro-chan!"

"Silly Shiro-chan...wait, why wasn't I asked to be interviewed?"

Momo curiously thought about it, while Toshiro turned her neck away from Momo.

* * *

After school, Takumi swung by the house, grabbed Nel, and set off with Orihime to go and get some clothes for Nel so she could take them back to Hueco Mundo. Nel rid on Takumi's shoulders, while Orihime walked beside him.

Nel was within a gigai that Takumi had quickly made for her. It was a normal one that he had made so Nel could interact with the human world, finding the process similar to how Shinigami's use gigai's for Arrancar's.

Orihime felt nervous, and recalled the many things that Tatsuki had said about just professing her feelings.

But she didn't even know how she was going to begin that.

Especially with Nel being around.

But she was determined to at least do something, anything.

"So Nel-chan, what kind of outfits do you want?"

Takumi's question directed up at Nel who patted Takumi's head.

"Nel wants all the clothes!"

Takumi gave an awkward laugh.

"I don't know if I can do that, but I can buy you a few things."

"Yay!"

Takumi had to admire her spirit at least, she was quite energetic.

So, they went shopping for clothes. Since Takumi didn't really get what girl clothes were good, so he left it to Orihime to choose the clothes for Nel who was quite good at playing with the young girl happily.

"Ooh look at this Nel-chan, you'd love this for summer~"

Orihime produced a summer like dress with a floral pattern on the side, causing Nel to smile brightly.

"Nel wants that! She also needs bras!"

""Pft!""

Both Takumi and Orihime did a spit take, while Nel swayed side to side.

"Nel's boobs will grow to bigger than Boobies there~" She pointed at Orihime who flushed brightly. "So, Nel will have to get them too!"

"Hahahahaha, pe-perhaps when y-you're older Nel-chan..."

Orihime giggled out with nervous sweat pooling off of her.

"Baaah...I understand, you want to get some to seduce Saku Taku, don't you?"

Nel gave Orihime a dry expression who's face flooded with redness on her cheeks.

"N-Nel-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! D-Don't say that!" Orihime cupped her hands together shyly while Takumi released a chortle. "T-Taku-chan, don't listen to her, she's just playing games! T-That's all!"

"Ahaha, I see~ She's quite funny huh~?"

Orihime's bottom lip quivered while Takumi gave her a comforting smile on his face.

They continued buying dresses, Takumi noticing that his wallet was getting lighter on money by the minute. Nel didn't hold back, and Takumi didn't have the heart to tell her that she couldn't have them after all.

"Ooh Saku Taku, you get one too!"

"They only sell girl clothes here Nel-chan, there isn't any clothes here for me."

Takumi explained, Nel simply said "That's too bad." and continued looking at different dresses while Orihime saw a beautiful looking dress that she thought she might like to have. A beautiful white dress with the design of flowers, reminiscent of the hair pins she had at that moment in time.

But she didn't have the kind of money for that dress.

Takumi saw her eyeing the dress up, so he walked over, and peered over her shoulder.

"It's quite nice, are you going to get it?"

"I-I don't have enough Taku-chan."

She expressed sadly, not expecting anything to happen.

So she was surprised when Takumi lifted the dress up, and held it to Orihime.

"It looks good on you, don't you think?"

"I think so anyway~ Maybe I'll come back when I have enough."

"But, it might be sold out by then."

Orihime didn't even consider that.

"Oh...maybe you're right..."

"Then I'll just get it for you!"

His peppy voice surprised Orihime greatly.

"I-I couldn't ask you to do that Taku-chan!"

"It doesn't matter, I don't mind getting you the dress Orihime-chan. Consider it a thanks for what you did for me during the fight for Karakura."

Orihime blushed slightly as Takumi casually bought the dress for her. It made her feel happy that he'd do that just for her, and she noticed that the dress cost a good amount of money, meaning it wasn't cheap either.

Once he had gotten it for her, he moved back towards her with a grin.

"So, what should we do after this? Nel-chan wants to see the human world after all."

"Ooh, maybe we could introduce her to ultimate robot fighting!"

Orihime became giddy while Takumi gave her an odd stare.

"There's only one you in this world Orihime-chan and I am so glad that's the case~ You're amazing~"

Orihime gave a happy expression on her face.

After getting some clothes, they walked around the mall together, looking at various things, then saw the arcade.

"Saku Taku, that! All the lights and music!"

Takumi shrugged and walked in with the two girls.

Seeing various games, Nel foamed at the mouth, grabbed some money from Takumi, and dashed off while Takumi yelled "Stay where I can see you!" but Nel didn't seem to care, and just ran around rapidly.

"Heeeeeeh, it seems like she's quite uncontrollable when she's in the zone huh."

Takumi didn't know whether to laugh, or to cry honestly.

"Yes, I think you might be right Taku-chan." Orihime's face went towards Takumi's own as they watched Nel play games. "Taku-chan, this is really wonderful, I'm glad we could go out together like this."

"Yeah, you also mentioned about wanting to talk about something? Wanna talk now?"

She did recall that she had said that previously, and now that she had to confront those feelings, she felt worried about saying them. Not because she was ashamed of her feelings, but because of how she was actually going to word them.

"M-Maybe when w-we're in a more p-private area..."

"Is it something important?"

Orihime's cheeks reddened even more, knowing that she'd have to say it sooner or later.

"Yes…I think it's quite important...b-but we should talk later~"

She dodged the bullet for the moment, while Takumi gave her an unsure look.

But it seemed that she'd rather not say, so he didn't press the issue, and just enjoyed the time with Nel, and Orihime.

After the arcade, they looked around the mall together, buying different things, and checking out different shops. Nel had a blast while holding onto Takumi's hand, and Orihime's with the other. Though some people looked and found it cute that they were taking out their 'child' together.

* * *

By the end of it, they ended up getting an ice cream each and sat down on a bench that overlooked a park which they had decided to go to, with all of the flowers blooming, looking quite beautiful, with Nel sat on Takumi's lap, looking exhausted.

"Nel's tired now..."

"You did do a lot of stuff Nel-chan, so it's alright if you're tired."

Nel let out a loud yawn from her mouth, making Orihime giggle slightly.

"Nel-chan, how about you go to sleep if you're tired? Taku-chan and I can carry you when we have to leave."

Nel yawned some more, and her head fell against Takumi's chest.

Her eyes became heavy and soon, she fell asleep while Takumi chuckled lightly.

"What's funny Taku-chan?"

"It's nothing really, it's just nice being here, don't you think?"

Orihime agreed with a firm nod.

"Yes, this is quite enjoyable Taku-chan~"

"So, now that we're alone, and Nel-chan is asleep, what did you want to talk about?"

Orihime felt her nerves overcome her once more.

"O-Oh yeah, I did didn't I?"

"You certainly did. So, what's going on?"

"Well, you see Taku-chan..." Orihime began, chuckling slightly. "...now that I have powers, and you have powers, our lives...are going to be different huh..."

"Eh, it depends on how you define different. I've been able to see Hollows for years, so it doesn't really change things for me. But for you, I can see why it would be jarring. Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Haha, no not really. I just feel nervous~ Silly, isn't it~?"

Takumi gained an understanding face, lightly cupping her hand with his own.

"You don't have to feel nervous around me~ Just be like you usually are~"

Orihime laughed while Takumi did also.

"I'm being silly Taku-chan, don't worry about me~"

"Okay~ So, what is it you want to tell me Orihime-chan? It's me, you can speak to me~"

"Y-Yes...Taku-chan, have you ever had a secret that you've just wanted to let explode, but everytime you try, you feel as if you're going to drown? It feels so hard to try and speak, and in the end, you end up being broken down by your own inner doubts?"

"Yeah, I've had that feeling."

Orihime looked on with surprise.

"O-Oh, I didn't know Taku-chan."

"It was actually to do with your brother, Sora-san."

"Sora?"

Orihime let out her surprise, while Takumi nodded slowly.

"I wanted to tell you many times that I could see him, speak to him. But when I thought about it, I thought it might be painful for you to accept that I could see ghosts. I also saw that you were trying to let Sora go in your own way, and I didn't want to bring you more pain. At the same time though, I thought that you both speaking again would be wonderful, so that's why I developed those glasses, and hearing aids. It took me a while but I finally finished them."

"I didn't know you had such a dilemma."

"Now thinking about it, in hindsight, it worked itself out in the end, so I worried for nothing~ Maybe whatever it is that you want to tell me would work out by itself in the end as well?"

Takumi wanted to relax her as much as he could.

And to his credit, Orihime actually appreciated very much what Takumi was doing for her, and thanked him with a smile.

"That makes me feel more relaxed. Maybe I am just making it a big deal Taku-chan when it is something beautiful!"

"Ooh beautiful huh~?"

He playfully laughed, igniting a flame within Orihime's soul.

"Yes, that's why, I really like you Taku-chan!"

Takumi gave her a curious look, and then smiled.

"I really like you too~"

Orihime grinned brightly.

"Really Taku-chan?!"

"Yeah..." He seemed a little unsure as to why she thought that was major news. "We've been friends for years, it would be weird if I didn't like you and we still hung out, wouldn't it?"

"Hehehe...n-no, not like that Taku-chan...ooh, I'm unsure of how to say it so..." Orihime, surprising even herself, took Takumi's hand within her own, and pulled closer. "Taku-chan, perhaps I should show you what I mean."

"Okay..."

He watched as she came closer, and closer with her lips.

Takumi held confusion before, but now it became clear as to what she was intending to do.

He also pulled closer, allowing the swelling of emotions to fill the pair of them.

Closer, and closer, their lips came to meeting one another.

Orihime felt warmth building inside of her.

She felt her body twitching with excitement and new feelings that she hadn't even thought about before.

Takumi also felt the same way, wanting to finally kiss the girl he had feelings for, for a long time…

However it didn't come to pass when Nel shot up, and smacked Takumi right in the chin, making his head bend backwards, and hit the bench, knocking him nearly unconscious.

"N-Nel-chan! Look what you did!"

Orihime chastised, but Nel pointed a finger at Orihime seriously.

"Ughhh...it seems like you were going to seduce Saku Taku weren't you?"

"N-No! I wasn't seducing Taku-chan at all!"

Orihime complained, but Nel kept her glare upon the orange haired beauty, who looked rather sad that she didn't get to kiss Takumi in the end.

Watching on, was Rukia, who saw Takumi, Orihime, and Nel laughing together, and gave a soft smile on her face.

"_Yeah...you belong here Takumi, I wont let you suffer because of me._"

Rukia turned around, walking away, knowing what she had to do.

* * *

Later on during the night, Takumi returned home with Nel in his arms, disappointed that he didn't get to kiss Orihime, but he also understood now that if she was going to kiss him, that meant she shared his feelings of affection, of love, which made him rather happy, more happy than he could express so easily.

Tier sat on the porch, and looked up to the sky.

"The human world can have beauty. The stars in this world, are a delight to watch."

"Of course, there's beauty anywhere if you look."

Takumi replied, sitting down beside her.

Nel cuddled up on Takumi's lap, while Kukkapuro landed on Takumi's shoulder, and keenly licked his face.

"It seems that they both have taken a shine to you."

"Seems so~ I'm glad that we've met Tier-chan, and you Nel-chan and I couldn't forget Kukkapuro-kun, you've given me much to think about when it comes to Hollows and Arrancars." Takumi quickly went inside of the shop, coming out a few moments later with a phone. "Here, you can have this."

"A communications device?"

"So we can stay in contact, it works in any dimension, tried it out myself not long ago. Don't worry about charging it, I've used a similar skill to how Quincy's gather Reishi, and converted that to electrical power by studying my Zanpakuto, so the phone always holds power. Isn't that cool?"

Tier gave it a curious look, before turning back to Takumi.

"Takumi Urahara, you do realize that I could be considered the enemy? Why are you so trusting?"

"I'm not trusting blindly, I've seen you interact with Nel-chan, I can tell you're a good person. Besides, I still have to help with Nel-chan's mask and it would be difficult to do that without staying in contact, wouldn't it?"

Tier almost released a laugh, but stopped herself, and settled on a simple small smile that was hardly noticeable.

"Perhaps you're right. You're very odd, but I'm happy you are. I've never met a Shinigami like you Takumi Urahara, so keep being odd."

"Sure, I'm very odd~" Takumi chuckled, realizing the look on her face. "You're going now, aren't you?"

Tier nodded without pause.

"I am." Tier pulled out some notes, and handed them off to Takumi. "Here, a gift."

"Just for me?"

Tier nodded, as Takumi looked inside of it.

It seemed to be some notes jotted down.

"But this is..."

"You were interested in Arrancars, so I thought some details about Hollows, and their abilities would be appropriate."

Takumi's face lit up like a thousand suns, jumping up and down like a kid that had just received a Christmas present, Nel also joined in, becoming more hyper.

"Ooh my God! This is amazing! B-But, are you sure you want to reveal these secrets to me? Since this is considered Hollow..."

"It's fine, I also have come to understand a few things about you, and Nel has become very attached to you. Whatever it is that you intend to do, I hope this might help carve out that path of yours, of having Hollows, Shinigami and Quincy uniting. I also wish to see this so-called world you've thought of."

Takumi released a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm sure that it would. Thank you Tier-chan, I'll repay this kindness."

Tier waved her hand.

"No, it is acceptable enough for you to become stronger, and attain Bankai, then we can control our duel."

Takumi gave a cheery smile.

"You've got it. I get Bankai, and we're having a fight again."

Tier nodded slowly, as Nel leaned up, and showed a pout.

"Saku Taku, I've also got you a present."

"You didn't have to get me anything-"

"But Nel did!" Nel leaned up, and kissed Takumi's cheek, surprising him greatly. "See, Nel's is much better! Shows affection!"

Takumi laughed as did Nel, even Tier held a small smile on her face, which was rare for her.

"Hahaha, you're very adorable Nel-chan. We'll see one another again soon!"

"Yup, we will!"

Takumi enjoyed sometime with Nel, Kukkapuro, and Tier before they had to leave, bonding with Arrancars might seem strange, but to Takumi, it was amazing.

* * *

A few days later, with the sun setting in the sky, Takumi was met with Bambietta, Candice, Meninas, and Liltotto outside of the Urahara shop. Takumi could see that Bambietta still had remorse on her face, but also something else, akin to hope for the future, that's what he thought anyway.

"So, what's going on anyway?"

Takumi was unaware of what they had planned.

All he knew was that they wanted to meet him for some reason.

"So, that's us Shinigami."

Candice spoke up, Meninas nodding.

"Yes, we're going to be leaving Karakura for a while, to get our heads around many things."

Takumi was surprised that they were leaving town.

He didn't expect that.

"We will also keep an eye on Bambietta-chan here."

Liltotto spoke with a monotone while glancing up at the Quincy girl.

Bambietta wore an uncomfortable expression.

"S-Shut up! Making me sound like some kind of headcase!" Liltotto went to speak when Bambi shook her head. "Either way, it doesn't matter." Bambietta showcased a smile on her face. "So yeah, we're going to be going to Naruki City, I've heard that there's no Shinigami officially stationed there, yet Hollows show up. So we'll be setting up shop over there, and dealing with the Hollows. That's the original reason we came here in the first place. But now that you're here, and that Karin is also here and a Shinigami, you even have a Quincy with Giselle and even Yuzu as well. We don't have a place here."

"So, Giselle-san's staying then?"

Takumi's question was met with a bobbing head from Liltotto.

"She said that this was her home, and wished to stay. But this isn't the end for us or anything Takumi, we'll eventually be back."

"Heh, never thought I'd say that to a Shinigami."

Bambietta added with a laugh.

Takumi was glad that it seemed Bambietta had turned over a new leaf now, she was much more cheerful, even if a little quick to anger, but in a more playful way, he could see now why the others thought she was a good friend.

"I see, then I wish you luck everyone. Come back whenever you can~"

"Oh we will be Takumi, we definitely will be." Bambietta moved closer, poking his chest. "Next time, I wont allow you to beat me."

"Heh, I welcome the challenge Bambietta-san."

Bambietta released a chortle as did the other girls, while Takumi simply laughed to himself.

But then he remembered something and raised his finger.

"Wait, I have something to give you all."

"Hmm?"

Liltotto hummed, as Takumi produced four clips that seemed to be made of bendable steel. However, they each seemed to be different in design. One looked like a bomb, one looked like a lightning bolt, one looked like a hamburger, and the last one looked like a love heart, which Takumi thought suited the girls since that's what he knew about them and what they liked along with their powers.

"Giselle-san asked me to make these a while ago, and I managed to finish them. She said that she wished to purify Hollows like Shinigami do with their Zanpakuto's. Don't worry, it doesn't change your Quincy powers into Shinigami's or anything, it will just allow you to fire off purifying arrows with your own powers, if you clip it to your person."

Bambietta, and the others looked on with surprise.

But Liltotto grabbed one, and held it in her hands.

"It's a nice thought, thank you Takumi."

"Yeah, I like the lightning bolt design!"

Candice cheered, taking her own.

"Awww, it's a love heart. I love it already~"

Meninas grinned, clipping hers to her jacket.

Bambietta glanced at the bomb clip, rubbing her finger across it, then held it within her fingers.

The others were glad that she managed to do that, showcasing that she truly was growing as a person.

"This would be useful, thanks for the gift. You can keep BG5 by the way, call it an apology gift for all the stuff that we did...what I did personally. I don't know if that Hollow woman told you or not, she was trolling me for damn sure...an-anyway, I guess that I was wrong after all." It took a lot for Bambietta to admit that, and Takumi appreciated her honesty. "I thought all Shinigami were just as cruel as the ones who killed my parents...but, you're the exception it seems. You and that Karin Kurosaki, even that Rukia Kuchiki, she seems to be alright. But, I can't help but wonder what it is that you're going to do now about her."

"I've been asking myself that very same question. And I don't have the answer right now. All I can do is my best."

Bambietta exhaled slowly.

"The Captains of the Gotei aren't to be laughed at. They each have powerful abilities. If you're thinking of taking them on for her, then you better be prepared. The one you have to watch out for more than anyone else though in my opinion at least is Kenpachi Zaraki."

"Kenpachi..."

Takumi murmured, as if he had heard that name in the past before.

"Yeah, he's a wild crazed Shinigami that's bloodthirsty. Well, it's him, and another one named Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

"Kurotsuchi..."

"Yes, that girl Nemu, I'm sure you're aware of their relation." Takumi slowly nodded, remembering Nemu having mentioned it. "He is highly intelligent, from what I remember, he's also cruel and sadistic. I don't know what you have planned. But if you're planning to fight him, take all of the gadgets, and gizmo's that you can. This guy definitely is nuts, and he isn't afraid to use others as his human shields, he'll do anything to win a fight. Those two are the most dangerous in terms of how they fight. The Captain Commander is probably the strongest, but he's an old guy who at least has honour, from what I know. Kenpachi I'm not sure if he does have honour, but I know for certain that Mayuri has no sense of honour. You'd have to be careful."

Takumi didn't know how she knew all of this, though he was glad for the information either way, allowing him to take some extra caution in what he was planning to do when it came to Rukia and the Soul Society itself.

"Right...thanks for letting me know, I'll do my best."

Bambietta nodded slowly, then bowed her head.

"I think it's crazy if you're intending to do it...but, I am sure you'll think of something. You usually do, that's how I have seen you anyway."

Takumi's lips curled upwards.

"I'm gonna try my best to help Rukia-chan."

Bambietta could understand that.

"Just don't be reckless, and get yourself killed. Trust me, suicide missions aren't fun. I did that when I was trying to fight you and the others. It just leads to a lonely walk of life."

Takumi understood what she was talking about.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry Bambietta-san, I have no intentions to die by the Shinigami's hands."

Bambietta admired that spirit, and tendency to not give up. It was the thing that ended up saving her, that he didn't give up trying to convince her, even when she thought she had gone down a darker path than anyone else.

"Also, I just want to say...again, I am sorry for what I did to you, and your friends. And because of me, the Shinigami were alerted, so..."

"Nah, they would have come sooner or later anyway, this isn't your fault. It's alright, leave this to me. And you go to protect Naruki City. It seems that it is going to need powerful people there if no Shinigami is there, and I can't think of anyone more qualified than you ladies."

Bambietta released a chortle.

"Right, then we're off."

"Goodbye Bambietta-san. If you ever need anything fixed, or made, come and find me."

"Yeah...and if you ever need help, call me up, I'll come running. I'll be training, so don't be surprised if the next time we meet, I'll be stronger than you."

"Haha, I'll be training also, so I can't wait for our rematch."

Bambietta showed a hint of a smirk, but a playful one rather than an aggressive one.

"Sounds good to me Shinigami, can hardly wait."

Bambietta waved, and walked away, while Candice smacked her lips together.

"By the way, I saw you using lightning. That's my thing you know?"

Candice showed a ticked off expression while Takumi grinned.

"Hey be nice, we can share electricity."

"I'm sure there's some sparks between us too~"

Candice winked sultry, walking off with a wiggle of her hips.

Takumi blushed lightly at the sight of that, while Meninas showed the peace sign.

"Goodbye Shinigami-kun!"

Takumi smiled, and waved as she walked off with the others.

"Don't worry about them, I'll keep my eyes on them, and make sure they don't get into trouble."

"Haha, I'm sure you'll do great Liltotto-san."

Liltotto looked up to Takumi's face as he smiled down at her.

"By the way, the next time we meet, perhaps we could do something together."

"Something?"

Takumi seemed clueless as to what her true intentions were.

Liltotto gave a sly expression, as her hand lightly patted Takumi from behind, surprising him at her forwardness.

"It isn't everyday that a Shinigami impresses me enough, so I'd take it if I was you. Besides, I think you're quite hot."

She admitted at the end while wearing what appeared to be a cute expression mixed with a slightly sultry one.

Takumi again was caught by surprise with her expressive attitude.

"I-I see, I am surprised you think I'm...hot."

"Well, it can't be helped. Perhaps I just have a thing for blondes, who knows." Liltotto grabbed Takumi's hand, pulled him down and kissed him on the cheek once more, then gave a slightly embarrassed face. "Wait for me Takumi, next time we meet, we'll definitely do something very interesting together."

"E-Eh?"

Liltotto winked, and walked off to meet her friends, leaving a baffled Takumi behind.

"It seems that they're gone huh~?" Giselle frightened Takumi as she appeared beside him. "So, what are you gonna do now~?"

"I should be asking you Giselle-san. Don't you want to go with them?"

Giselle shook her head.

"Nah, I'm needed here to help Yuzu-chan anyway. Besides, they're only a city away, I can see them anytime that I want~"

Despite her upbeat demeanour, Takumi sensed that she was hiding something.

"You're going to miss them, aren't you?"

Giselle's face turned downwards slightly.

"I guess that I will...we've been together for so long, it just feels weird if they aren't around."

"Don't worry, you can visit or phone them, or even video call them anytime you want~"

Giselle's face curled upwards.

"Yes, you're right about that~ Anyway, I heard what you said to Bambi and the others about Rukia-chan. What are your true intentions Takumi-kun?"

"To save her."

"Even if you have to face the entire Gotei 13?"

Takumi nodded without pause.

"Yes, I also have some suspicions about that in the first place, and about those Gillian's. Too many showed up, and Tier-chan even confirmed my suspicions for me."

"I see...whatever you plan to do, don't die, okay?"

Takumi gave a soft smile.

"I'm not ready to die yet."

As they talked to one another, Kisuke released a small breath while hiding out of view.

Yoruichi appeared beside him in cat form, her eyes going up to him.

"They're coming."

"I know...that's why we have to Yoruichi-san, for his protection."

Yoruichi exhaled with regret on her face.

"I know, but this feels..."

"It's the only way to make sure he's safe."

Kisuke told himself that, but he didn't know if he believed it or not.

In the end, he just felt unsure about many things.

* * *

Sitting down at the Captains meeting, Toshiro, and some other Captains, all having different expressions on their faces, as they watched the old man with a long beard sit down on his chair. He held up a parchment, and was slowly reading it to himself, while the others looked on, wondering what this was supposed to be about.

Though some had guesses, and some didn't seem to care.

"This is boring..."

Kenpachi, a large man with an eyepatch on complained, while Mayuri chuckled to himself.

"Simple minded fools get bored easily."

Kenpachi's eye shot for Mayuri who looked away innocently.

It wasn't revealed until the old man banged his cane on the ground.

"Orders have been confirmed. Central 46 wish for us to bring in the one known as Rukia Kuchiki, and also, the one known as Takumi Urahara."

Expressions ranged from confusion, delight, anger, and wondering from different people.

A young woman stuck up her hand.

"Let me go Captain Commander, I shall apprehend him straight away."

"Soi Fon, you may not go."

"But Sir-"

"Central 46 wish for him to be alive, so the Stealth Force is not necessary."

Kenpachi's face curled upwards into a sadistic expression.

"So, that Takumi Urahara, is he really the same guy I heard about...? If it is, I'll go and fight him!"

Kenpachi seemed...gleeful about something.

Mayuri looked rather annoyed, clicking his tongue.

"It doesn't matter who goes, he'll die anyway."

A Shinigami with a straw hat on glanced towards him with annoyance, resting hands on his sides.

Toshiro watched the expressions of the different Captains.

Even Captain Kuchiki seemed to look a little...off.

"No, this matter has to be handled carefully, so the ones who will be going are..."

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, a little cool down chapter after the battle focused chapters lately, and allowed the gang to relax. Though, it seems like the Quincy girls have decided to go to a new town, but that wont be the last we've seen of them, they'll come back in future arcs. Rukia's under a realization about her future now, with the Soul Society which Takumi also understands, and isn't going to take lying down. Tier and Takumi had also shared something between them, Tier even gave Takumi some information about Hollows, while Nel spent sometime with Takumi, and Orihime who also almost confessed. Nemu's making waves in the Soul Society, taking Takumi's words to heart, and has decided to do her own kind of 'research', starting with Toshiro who just happened to be the closest person she could think of.**

**And finally at the end, the Captains have an order to not only capture Rukia, but also capture Takumi as well! It seems that Kenpachi wants to fight him, and is hyped about that, Soi Fon seems to have...something going on, which we'll expand upon in the future, among others have some subtle reactions about it. Why he's being targeted...we'll see later down the line!**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	15. Goodbye

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; She surely does yeah~ She's quite cute huh~? Yup in time she'll become a serious contender. Like the Hollow, as that's the Shinigami powers and Hollow mixed together.**

**Clarent excalibur; Yup, we're going for the Rescue Rukia arc, with some twists coming up. Yeah, it's gonna be quite the arc. Hehe, it seems Nemu's personality is, shining through now after her experiences within the human world. Toshiro and Rangiku's back and forth's are gonna be quite funny~ She indeed is right, Kenpachi's a beast before knowing his Zanpakuto's name, when he learns it, he becomes very scary. Yeah, that sounds pretty cool to me!**

**BatCornMan; I'll think about Bambietta, she could be cool~**

**Andrew123456; I can't reveal that yet, it's apart of his backstory. I did hear about him. Rest in peace Michael Lindsay.**

**Skull Flame; You'd be surprised. She does yeah the storms in this chapter. Indeed it is. Yeah, she'll tell some Hollows about it, at least the friendly ones~ That's Nemu, she's become quite the investigator. They did yeah, we'll see them again in the future. Takumi's got new toys to play with~ Nemu's got competition it seems~**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He surely does yeah, he's gonna have to try his best. Kisuke's gonna try his best to keep him safe. Takumi and Tier have an interesting relationship between them yeah~ The Quincy girls now see Takumi as an ally, and vice versa. Yeah, they will kiss, I've got a good time for them to do so. Yeah, never do that or she'll come after them~ It does since she's been quite stoic with everyone before this happened.**

**Silver crow; Thanks! He brought it up with Kukkapuro, he just didn't get a reply hehe~ Glad that you liked their interactions. I guess that he could yeah~ The Quincy girls are now back to being best friends, and having laughs with one another. There is some emotional stuff coming up with Kisuke and Takumi, some being in this chapter. Maybe he does, maybe he's subconsciously remembering them and passing it off as hypothesis or something. Giselle's just left that alone for now~ Nemu's developing quite well, and had, some fun interactions with some other characters. Yeah, she probably did, Nemu's practical like that. Yeah she might be~ We almost did, but I've got another moment in mind for their first kiss, it isn't long away either. Maybe it was, we'll have to wait and see~ They'll be back, and yeah, he'll be using BG5 alright. Yeah, I can't explain it yet, but there is going to be some revelations in these coming chapters. Yeah, they're good ideas. I think that Dimension Lost could be a really cool Sacred Gear, but it's mainly used for its Balance Breaker to create dimensions, it could have some other cool features. Yeah, they could be. They have yeah, it seems interesting. Yup, they're dead already according to what I've read anyway. They will have a special power, I don't know what it is, but they will, it just makes sense that it seems like the author is focusing on them specifically. Yeah, he could have had relationships like that with those Captains. I have thought about writing a Zenith Tempest oc for some time, just don't know what story that would be. Sure, that could be quite cool~ It could happen after this coming arc yeah~ Yeah, I checked it out, seems pretty cool~ They would be cool followers~ Nope, he wouldn't know Zaraki. We'll see their interactions in the future. I always just thought it was acidic blood or something like that. What makes you think Aizen's gonna be alive by then? Sure, he could do something like that.**

**A fan; It's better than most of the live action based on manga/anime movies I've seen. I quite enjoyed it, the performances from the actors were quite good, as was the CGI in the movie, I don't have any major problems with the movie, it was good.  
**

**SomeDudeThatReads; Karin will have it.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Goodbye**

Walking into his bedroom after seeing off the Quincy girls, Takumi hummed, stretching his arm up into the air, casually going over to his chemistry area, and spun some liquid within the tubes, and smiled at the sight.

"It seems to be almost done."

He grinned, admiring what he was making.

He always was happy when he could see his own creations working out.

His eyes went around the room, unable to see Rukia or Kon.

"Rukia-chan, are you here? Kon, come out if you're hiding."

Rukia didn't reply.

Neither did Kon.

Though he did hear a faint sound that seemed to be fleeting.

Takumi found that rather strange.

His eyebrows twisted upwards, slowly walking to the closet.

"Hey Rukia-chan, want to go to the park or something? We can meet up with Orihime-chan, and the others."

He thought that normalcy would be for the best with Rukia right now.

She had seemed stressed recently, and he could understand why that is.

He knocked on her closet door, but received no answering, apart from a mumbling sound.

"Rukia-chan, are you alright?"

Once again, no reply.

Besides a simple mumbling sound.

Takumi felt worry now, since Rukia would at least say "I'm fine." or something akin to that.

"Rukia-chan, I'm gonna open the door, so you aren't naked or anything, right?" No response besides a mumble. "A-Alright then, here I come!" Takumi thrusted the door open, and saw a tied up, and crying Kon. "Geez, what did she do to you?"

He ripped off the tape that was gagging his mouth, and tossed it away.

"It's terrible! Rukia-chan is gone! She's left us! More importantly, me!"

Takumi went into alert mode, though rolled his eyes when hearing what Kon said about Rukia leaving him.

"G-Gone! What do you mean by that?!"

"Don't you get it!? She's left us!"

Takumi exhaled slowly, putting a hand to his mouth.

"What is she doing..." Takumi overlooked the closet, and saw a piece of paper. "A note?"

He wondered what that was about, so he picked up the paper, and overlooked it.

He saw in fact that it was a note, from Rukia.

[To Takumi. I was going to do this crazy decoding puzzle to try and fake you out, but I'm sure you'd probably just laugh about it anyway and finish it within a minute or so, it involved Chappy by the way, someone I'm sure you love.] Takumi released a chortle, a hollow one at that. [So, I'm going to save that for now, and just tell you this. Takumi, for everything you have done for me. For being there for me, for helping me navigate the human world, I could never repay your kindness. Forget about me, and if you can, keep yourself hidden for a few days. Though, I doubt you'd listen to me anyway because you're going to try and save me, that's the kind of guy you are after all, but if you are reading this, just know that whatever happens next, it isn't your fault. I had so much fun within the human world, with you, and you have saved me, in so many ways, so this time, it is my turn to save you. So thank you Takumi, and goodbye.]

Takumi was left dumbfounded by what he had just read.

She really had gone.

To protect him…

He didn't get why people wanted to do that.

Rukia, Yoruichi, Kisuke.

Them, and more kept secrets from him.

The only one who was going to tell him the truth was Nemu, but Kisuke had stopped her.

It seemed completely maddening.

"You see?! I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to me! And tied me up in here! You have to go and get her before she does something she'll regret!"

Takumi understood what he was saying, but he was lost in his own world for a few moments.

He knew that she ran off, she suspected that the Shinigami were going to be there.

Shaking his head, Takumi ejected out of his body, and grabbed a few things that he would need to use against enemies that could show up.

"Kon, stay here."

"Come back soon."

Takumi nodded, rushing out of the door.

* * *

With the setting sun, the sky being bathed in orange, Takumi went to sense for Rukia's Reiatsu, when Kisuke stepped forward, his hand resting on his Zanpakuto.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry Takumi, but I can't let you go."

Takumi tried to move left, but Kisuke flashed before him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Dad, why are you getting in the way? I need to go and find Rukia-chan."

"It's too late for that."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows...then came to the realization of what Kisuke was saying.

"S-So they're already here! If they are then I'll-"

"I can't let you Takumi." Kisuke withdrew his Zanpakuto unwillingly. "Even if I have to fight you, I can't let you go to her. She understands that this is the right decision, for both you and her. Kuchiki-san knows that this is for the best, so you have to come with me before they find you."

"Why are they after me Dad?"

Kisuke lowered his eyes.

"I can't answer-"

"Tell me why!"

Kisuke was surprised that Takumi had yelled at him.

It was rare for Takumi to get that emotional.

"It's complicated, and would take sometime to explain. All I can say though is, it isn't your fault."

"What isn't my fault?"

"What happened that night, it wasn't your fault. It was my fault. What happened to you."

Takumi now was becoming worried.

His Father's face was showcasing worry and unsureness.

"What happened to me? Is it why I don't remember Mom? Has it got to do with that light in my chest? What was that?"

"More than that...Takumi, you were never a normal human, you weren't just a human to see ghosts either. No, you are so much more than that, so I can't let you go now."

"What am I then Dad? Am I...was I a Shinigami before Rukia-chan gave me her powers? You always said that I didn't have the potential to become a Shinigami like you and if I tried then I'd be killed by trying, that's why I never bothered trying to unlock those powers...so that was a lie?"

"I tried to keep it from you, I tried so hard to protect you, and let you have a normal life. But even I couldn't contain your powers, which allows you to see ghosts, and Hollows. I tried to make sure you had a normal life, a life that you hadn't had before. But I couldn't in the end. I even tried to stop your meeting with Kuchiki-san, I didn't want you to become hurt, I didn't want you involved in this life as a Shinigami. All it does is cause you pain, all I have done is cause you pain."

"That's not true...I've enjoyed all the time we've had Dad...but, I was a Shinigami…? Was I good...or, was I bad…? Is that why they're after me...am I a criminal?"

"No, you're not a criminal, even if they say you are. As a Shinigami, you were great...greater than I had expected, and became so strong so young. You became...but that doesn't matter Takumi. They'll take you away to the Soul Society, a place I can't go, I can't save you, I can't protect you if you go to the Soul Society, if they take you from me. I nearly lost you once, I wont lose you again."

"...What am I to you?"

Kisuke smiled softly.

"You're my son, and I love you."

"I love you to." Takumi gripped his Zanpakuto, and withdrew it, Kisuke flashed to stop him, but he unleashed a swing, forcing Kisuke backwards. "That's why I have to go and protect Rukia-chan. You telling me that doesn't change who I am. Even if they see me as a criminal, I have to protect her, no matter what."

Kisuke exhaled slowly, raising his sword to the sky.

"Then I'll have to stop you the old fashioned way." His Zanpakuto began to glow as he recited the chant. "Awaken Benihime."

Takumi was surprised that he actually released his sword.

Seeing it change shape, it looked quite beautiful.

"So your Crimson Princess has woke up. It's time for my Golden Princess to come alive." Takumi took out his own blade, and lightly laid a kiss on it. "Ravage Kinhime." A lightning bolt shot down, and changed the blade into its Shikai state. "I love you Dad, but if you get in my way, then I'll have to fight you."

"Then I'll have to fight you Takumi. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to defeat you to protect you. I can't let you go to her. I don't want Kuchiki-san to be punished just as much as you do, but you're my priority. Trust me when I say that I'm only thinking of your safety."

Kisuke and Takumi stood face to face, ready to strike down at a moments notice.

* * *

Rukia thought it was better this way.

Taking off while Takumi was distracted with the Quincy girls.

In the end, she thought that this would be the best way to go about it. She didn't want to have Takumi involved in the Soul Society. She knew what that meant, so she'd throw off the Soul Society as much as she could.

She recalled various moments across the time she had spent in the human world, with Takumi and the others.

[_Give me your power, and I promise to slay that damn thing._]

Rukia recalled Takumi saying that to her.

At first, she thought it was insane…

But now she had time to reflect on it, and seeing what he had done that night for her…

It was the first time in a long time that she felt like she had met someone who just saw her as a girl, not a member of the Kuchiki family, or someone from the slums of the Soul Society.

[_Don't worry Rukia-chan, we can be friends. You can talk to me about anything you want. That's what friends do, right?_]

Rukia laughed at that memory, when they were going to Orihime's to send Sora to the Soul Society.

She recalled more and more…

Then she remembered the time when she had a fight with the Hollow that looked like the one that had killed Kaien. She remembered how she had nearly died, and then Takumi came in, with his shining sword Kinhime, and she knew from that moment, that everything was going to be alright.

[_You're silly, you can always come to me with any problem you have. You are one of those types of people that want to protect others. Did it never occur to you that you're one of the people that needs to be protected too? We're a team Rukia-chan, if one of us is sad, we're all sad, we fight these things together. I don't know how normal Shinigami's do it, but we're here for you, you don't have to face this alone._]

"Alone..."

Rukia murmured.

She truly wished that she didn't have to do it alone.

But in this instance, she had to do this to keep him safe.

Even then, it truly did feel as if knives had stabbed into her with the pain that she felt.

[_You're not alone anymore Rukia-chan, you don't have to take on the world alone. I'll always be here for you Rukia-chan. You can rely on me, you don't have to worry about me disappearing, okay? Don't do reckless things like this, we can deal with any problem together. Come to me, and I'll come to you if we need help. That's what it means to have friends, you know? So, how about it? Deal?_]

Rukia's eyes began to water.

She didn't want to remember these things.

She just wanted to leave it in the past.

Remembering hurt more than she thought possible.

She hated these feelings that were creeping up on her.

She hated the ideas of being like this...

But in the end, she couldn't help it.

[_But Kuchiki-chan, you can lie to Taku-chan and say you don't feel anything, but I can tell that you do really feel something for Taku-chan, don't you?_]

Recalling what Orihime had said, she couldn't hold back anymore, and mutter "Yes...I do." and for her to admit it, truly meant that she was going through a lot in her life.

But she shook her head, focusing on escaping the area.

"_When I first heard his name, I thought that I was going crazy._" Rukia thought to herself, running across a bridge out of town. "_Seeing his face, I didn't recognize him at first, he had grown...I could hardly believe it was him, but when I interacted with him, and seeing Kinhime, I definitely knew it was him. The stories about him, and what he had supposedly done was a lie. And now, I'm running away to protect the man that...hah, Takumi, you truly are a weird person. I keep being surprised by what you truly are, and what you've done for me...thank you Takumi. Do not worry about me, if I do my job right, I can protect you like you have done for me...it was ironic in the end, that I ended up teaching you how to be a Shinigami, when you were the one that I respected the most..._"

Rukia continued running through the streets, having made it over the bridge.

Moving swiftly through the ground, she knew that this was for the best.

It hurt her to do this.

But this was her doing her best.

This was her doing what she thought was necessary...

"Rukia!"

Rukia froze when she heard that voice.

She knew that voice all too well.

She thought that she had time.

She thought that she would have the energy to actually make it out of the situation, and put as much distance between them as possible.

Rukia turned her neck, and came face to face with a man with red hair.

Wearing the standard Shinigami robes, his eyes looked wicked, as did the tattoos on his body.

"Living in this world for too long has left you open to attacks Rukia."

Rukia pulled backwards.

"Renji...so they sent you here?"

"What do you mean "So they sent you here?" when it would be obvious they'd send me. Now Rukia, tell me, where is he?"

Rukia bit her lower lip, her hand shakily going to the Zanpakuto on her hip.

"I don't know what you mean. Who are you talking about?"

Renji's eyes flared, jumping down before her and swung his sword down. Reacting with quick speed, Rukia parried his blade, and sent him away from her, skidding across the ground, and leapt backwards…

Only to feel a chill down her spine.

Her breathing became shallow, while a hand placed itself on her shoulder.

She froze in time.

She couldn't move.

The pressure behind her, she knew it all too well…

She saw a flash of pink come from behind her, and she knew who this was.

"C-Captain Kyoraku..."

Shunsui adopted a large smile on his face, as he revealed himself, a young woman wearing glasses, and finally, her elder brother, Byakuya who seemed to be unamused with something. It was unusual for him to have that kind of expression on his face.

"So tell me Kuchiki-san, where is Takumi Urahara-kun?"

At that moment, Rukia didn't know what she was supposed to do, it felt like her body was being pushed down by the immense power within the area, coming from her elder brother, and from Shunsui himself.

However, there was a stark contrast between them.

Byakuya's expression was that of a cold man, and Shunsui's...she couldn't read.

He was smiling, but his eyes told a different story all together.

* * *

Kisuke and Takumi continued their stare off, neither even moved a muscle.

Knowing that they both wanted the other to go first, for them to enact some plan that they no doubt were coming up with, they both remained stationary.

Until Takumi blinked a single time, when Kisuke used that chance to flash beside him, and swing his Zanpakuto down, which held a net made of the energy from his Shikai attempting to wrap around Takumi's body, and it succeeded, binding him to the ground.

"That was to-"

"Easy!"

Takumi touched Kisuke's back, and came slashing from up above, so Kisuke turned and parried the attack, but Takumi pulled his hand backwards, seeing that a yellow rope was wrapping around Kisuke's upper body.

"Hainawa is it? Not quite Takumi."

Kisuke released a Shakkaho right in front of him, firing it from his blade, right for Takumi, who spun around, allowing the electricity to swim around his form, becoming what seemed to be a wall, but Kisuke noticed that the electricity was crawling across the rope that was around Kisuke's body, so he cut the line…

But then he was surprised when he saw something else happening.

"Fubishi! So you hid a Kido within the Hainawa rope! Damn, you've become quite good at Kido! But still not enough for me Takumi~!"

The spell erupted into a blast of fire that surrounded Kisuke, along with an electrical charge, destroying a good chunk of the ground. Takumi noticed that the area was coated in a barrier, he presumed Kisuke put it up just in case he tried to run away.

He then felt a hand touch his back, turning to see Kisuke, then looked at the area Kisuke was in before, seeing that it was a deflated rubbery version of Kisuke.

"Gigai, nice."

Takumi had to praise that.

Kisuke truly was a master of using tricks like that, it always made him smile when seeing his Father's abilities at play, even in situations like this.

"Indeed, now Rikujokoro." Six slabs of light surround Takumi, and pin him at his waist as Kisuke raised his hand. "Sajo Sabaku!" An energy chain came around Takumi, and further bound him, so he couldn't move. "You're finished Takumi. I'm sorry but that's how it had to go."

Kisuke expressed without joy in his voice.

He hated that he would have to do this.

"Oh is that right Dad?" Kisuke's eyes widened, turning to see Takumi pulling at his cheeks, sticking out his tongue and acted goofy, like Kisuke would if he had caught an enemy by surprise. "Like Father like son, right Dad?" Takumi pulled his Zanpakuto, which had Hainawa attached, and saw that it was on the Gigai of Takumi. "You're not the only one who can use Gigai's. Difference is though, mine explode."

Kisuke laughed nervously.

"D-Did you just say explode?"

Kisuke spoke with slight worry, seeing what Takumi was doing and what he had said.

"Yes, that's right, they explode. Might wanna put up a shield to defend against them."

"Oh shi-"

Kisuke's words were drowned out as the Takumi that was bound, exploded into a furious flash of energy, so Kisuke had to use his Zanpakuto's shielding ability to take the wave of energy, but he noticed that the shield was blocked from the intense power that he had released, but then he saw Takumi appearing behind him, and gathering electricity within his sword.

"Lightning strike!"

From his sword, a heavy duty bolt of lightning was released, and shot right down for Kisuke, who thrust his sword upwards, and released his own red energy attack, which clashed together, creating a decent sized explosion within the area they were in, which began burning the shop from the heat of their attacks.

Kisuke and Takumi cut through the smoke, to see the other lunging at them, so they raised their blades, and clashed together. Sparks went off between their blades, dousing the area in their sparks, and Kisuke raised his hand.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

Unleashing a Shakkaho right for Takumi at close range, Takumi ducked under the blast, it going over head. However, Kisuke waved his sword, shooting off what seemed to be some energy, which hit the Kido spell, and caused it to explode, thrusting Takumi forward, and Kisuke grabbed Takumi's body and sword, throwing him over his shoulder, and threw him down to the ground while tossing his Zanpakuto away so Takumi couldn't use it, where the net that Kisuke had made before, at the beginning of the fight, reactivated, and wrapped around Takumi's body, capturing him in the net of red energy.

Takumi let out a small groan as Kisuke stabbed into the net from a distance, and ran a binding spell across the net itself, attempting to bind Takumi to the ground so he couldn't continue forward…

But Kisuke watched as electricity ripped through the net of his Shikai's ability, and destroyed the net all together, and saw that Takumi's hand was glowing...and then saw that a box was at the end of the net which contained Takumi's Zanpakuto, behind Kisuke, and had pierced the ground, destroying the net, allowing Takumi to get close, and aim his hand forward.

"Sokatsui!"

Without even chanting, Kisuke was impressed with that, shot forward a pale blast of energy, so Kisuke jumped away, swinging out his blade, and unleashed several blasts of crimson energy. Takumi cupped his hands together, and summoned a barrier, which surrounded his body, and blocked the shots, but also ripped through the barriers.

Kisuke couldn't help but be very impressed with what he was witnessing.

To see his even surprise him, who could take on very high levelled opponents, he knew that he had been underestimating his son.

"So, you used Hako Okuri, to teleport your Zanpakuto, and remotely used your Zanpakuto to destroy the net before my binding spell reached you...hahaha, you are my son after all. I am genuinely impressed Takumi, most normal Shinigami would have fallen to my attacks by now, most Lieutenants would have fallen to that kind of combination. But not you my boy, which is wonderful, and also kind of terrifying."

"I don't know if I like being called wonderful and terrifying in the same sentence."

"It's a compliment."

Kisuke responded with kindness.

Takumi dashed for his sword, Kisuke knowing that he got it then it would be dangerous, so he flashed before him, and swung his sword out to disable Takumi's movements...but surprising him, Takumi flipped like Yoruichi would when she was fighting, and flicked his foot forward.

"Small blades hiding in your Shinigami robes, definitely a Yoruichi movement."

Kisuke raised his sword to block the swords, batting them away, only to see Takumi before him, his leg high up into the air, his other foot pressing Kisuke's hands downwards, using his toes to flick the blade out of Kisuke's hand, and kicked it away, so he couldn't use his blade to defend against his kick.

Kisuke's eyes widened ever so slightly, seeing that Takumi was pressing him further than he had expected, he didn't think Takumi would be able to move this good, but there was something that Takumi didn't know.

"You know Takumi, when I was a Shinigami, I should say in the Gotei 13, I used to work under Yoruichi-san, and I happened to be a master of hand to hand combat, so I guess you could say is that I can switch between sword play and hand to hand within a moments notice."

Kisuke twisted his hand, grabbing Takumi's foot, and went to bring it down, when Takumi sent his other foot for Kisuke's face. Kisuke went to lift his other hand to block, when he felt a chain wrapping around his wrist, pulling his hand downwards, so Kisuke twisted his body and brought up his own foot, blocking Takumi's intense kick, while pinning down Takumi's other foot to the ground, Takumi's face curling upwards.

"Amazing Dad, lets do this!"

Takumi flipped, and kicked at Kisuke, who pulled backwards, only for Takumi to sent a flurry of kicks and punches for Kisuke, who parried them all. But he had to admit, because of Yoruichi had been training him, his skills in hand to hand combat was rather great, and above average, but he knew he was still more skilled in hand to hand.

Kisuke whipped his hand around at one point, grappling Takumi's arms, and put them into a lock, throwing Takumi above his head, and behind him, and sent off a powerful kick towards his back in an attempt to stop him…

Only for Takumi's foot to connect with Kisuke's own, the impact alone created a shock wave which ripped through the shop, shattering various glass objects, and Kisuke received a small cut on his cheek which had a weird liquid going into his cheek though Kisuke didn't notice as Takumi received a deep gash on his body due to the heavy impact of the attack.

"Ooh damn it Takumi!"

"Hey you kicked at me! Not the other way around! What do I do? Let you kick me?!"

"No! But...ugh, I don't know, don't kick your Father, I forbid it."

"That could go for you too old man!" Takumi pushed from Kisuke's foot, so Takumi raised his hand as did Kisuke. "Have this!"

""Hado 32: Okasen!""

Like Father like son, they thought of the same Kido spell, and shot off a wide arc of yellow energy, which clashed with one another, creating a sizeable explosion, pushing the pair backwards, while having the same idea, grabbing their Zanpakuto's, and swung them outwards, unleashing their electricity, and red energy at the same time, however Kisuke's energy managed to break through Takumi's own, forcing Takumi to stab the ground and announce "Lightning Shield!" blocking off the energy attack all together.

Takumi released a pant, as Kisuke also felt his heart racing from the attacks that Takumi was giving him.

He was requiring to think harder than normal in a battle, but that was just a testament to Takumi's skills and adaptability.

"You weren't kidding. I knew I wouldn't be able to take you in hand to hand. After all, you've got experience over me, old man."

"Hey I'm still young thank you."

Kisuke huffed out, while Takumi chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe so, but you're underestimating me. If you had come with the intent to kill, I'd be finished by now."

Kisuke's face gained a grin.

"Perhaps you're right, but you're not someone I want to kill, but don't sell yourself short, you genuinely have surprised me in this fight. But as I said before, right now, you're not enough for me." Kisuke twirled his finger, and pulled Takumi's wrist with a chain, not unlike the one Takumi used on him, and yanked him forward. "Now it's time to be finished."

Takumi got close thanks to Kisuke, who touched Takumi's chest, and pulled away as Takumi swung out his blade, announcing "Electric Field!" which created a sizeable dome of electricity around his body, and Kisuke felt the electricity surround his form, and dug into his skin, shocking him and singed his skin, while getting out of the filed.

Kisuke landed on the ground, releasing a small breath out of his mouth.

"I'm sorry Takumi, I truly am."

"Hmmm?"

"I'm sorry for this."

Kisuke snapped his fingers, suddenly Takumi saw that several balls of black energy were surrounding him, binding him in place, as well as a final one which surrounded his chest area.

"D-Damn..."

"Yes, this is Kuyo Shibari. It's in the 70's of Kido spells, so isn't easy to pull off, or break out of either." Kisuke raised his sword, and pointed it at Takumi. "I'm truly sorry Takumi. You were a good match, many couldn't contend with me like that. And while you've got a long way to go, your ability to match higher level opponents with tricks, and skills, is amazing. Please know that I'm doing this to keep you safe, I'm trying to protect you Takumi. That's all I want to do in the end. Can't you see? I know it might be difficult, it might seem like I don't care about Kuchiki-san, but it's the opposite. I do care what happens to her, but as my son, I have to protect you no matter what. Even if I have to stop you like this."

Takumi could see that.

He understood what his Father was trying to say.

"Yes, I understand Dad, but you're asking me to abandon a friend. You taught me that abandoning people is the worse thing you could do. Leaving people to die, knowing that even if you die, you could help."

Kisuke recalled when he had said that to Takumi.

He understood his sons conflicting nature at this situation.

But he also had to protect his son no matter what.

"Yes, I can see your point of view Takumi. Leaving people to die is one of the worst things someone can do, especially if they know they could help. But, allowing your child to go off to their death is also one of the worst things a parent could go through. Besides, Yoruichi-san wouldn't forgive me, neither would Hiyori-san if I let you go off now, and most of all, I wouldn't forgive myself if you went off now, and died."

Takumi lowered his eyes, and held his Zanpakuto between his fingers, giving off a spark.

"So, that's it Kinhime?"

"Hmmmm?"

Kisuke cocked his head to the side.

Takumi shot his eyes for Kisuke's own, and twirled his fingers across Kinhime.

"What did you do?"

Kisuke didn't seem to feel anything different, or see anything that had changed.

However, when he tried to move his right foot…

It didn't respond.

Instead, his right shoulder responded, causing him to gasp.

"Takumi...you..."

"I'm sorry Dad, I truly am." Takumi unleashed his Zanpakuto's energy, and destroyed the Kido spell around him, though it took a bit out of him to do that. "Heeeeh, I knew I'd not be able to beat you in a physical fight, or even a Kido fight, but I had to do something to get past you, so I messed with your nervous system."

"M-My nervous system...when…?"

Kisuke hadn't recalled when he had done that, and fell down to his knees, unable to stand up due to what Takumi had done, his body wasn't responding to him in the way that it usually would do, and he was slowly figuring out which movement controlled which limb but even if he tried to fight, it would be very difficult until he could get rid of it.

Takumi however waved a hand through his hair, as he bound Kisuke with some Kido. Kisuke tried to move, but his feet didn't respond. Different parts of his body instead moved when he ordered his feet to move.

"I messed with the electrical signals your brain releases. It's a bacteria I invented that is able to coincide with my Zanpakuto, attaching to your nervous system, allowing me to run my electricity through it and scramble the signals. It doesn't last indefinitely, so don't worry about your signals being scrambled forever, and it causes no permanent damage. A random body part will move when your brain wants you to move a certain part. Say your right hand, any other part of your body could move, like your left foot, or your right knee, it's up to you to work out which is which, you're smart Dad so you can figure it out."

Takumi explained while praising Kisuke's mental abilities.

He thought his Father was more intelligent than him, but Takumi wasn't a slouch either, which Kisuke was seeing more and more.

"But, when?"

"When you ask. When you were within my electrical field of course. If you're asking when my bacteria entered your system, it was when you and I kicked one another. That cut on your cheek, it allowed me to spray in the bacteria without you noticing due to how focused you were on my body."

Kisuke understood now, he also knew why Takumi chose that moment.

"I see...I guess you were right after all, I did underestimate you Takumi. I didn't think you'd be able to come up with something like this. And for why you chose that moment, it was because you confirmed that it was actually me, and not a Gigai, didn't you?"

"As I said, you're too strong for the current me, your faster, stronger, and have everything above me, so I had to bring you down somehow in case you tried to stop me. I'm just lucky that you had taken it easy on me. If you had come at me with the intent to kill, then I'd have been stopped before I could do this. I had to make sure that it was the real you after all as you said, before I did anything, knowing how notorious you are for using Gigai's to replace yourself."

Takumi placed a barrier around Kisuke, Kisuke tried to move, but found that his legs still weren't responding.

Takumi then turned around and began moving away.

"W-Wait, Takumi! Don't go!"

"I have to try and save Rukia-chan, even if I can't succeed, knowing that I've tried is the best thing I can do right now Dad. I learned it from you, how to be courageous, how to use what knowledge and abilities I have to overcome adversity, how to be strong. Thanks for everything Dad. Don't worry about what you said, you were the best Father I could ask for."

Takumi launched himself forward, and broke through the barrier after several lightning strikes. Kisuke was left shouting "Takumi! Don't go!" but Takumi didn't pay any heed, and disappeared out of sight.

Kisuke looked around at the binds he was in, along with the barrier, then he looked back at his shop.

"T-Tessai-san? Jinta...Ururu...Yoruichi-san….I'll even take Zombie Chizuru right now...anyone here? Please say yes...hello?"

No replies came.

He was completely alone.

* * *

Back with Rukia, she was asked again "Kuchiki-san, where is he?" which made her blood run cold.

Her eyes felt like they were freezing over.

Her eyes flickered while Nanao, the young woman in glasses, stepped forward.

"Kuchiki-san, we have information and reports that Takumi Urahara-kun is within this town. If you tell us where he is, your own situation might become better than it is right now. So, reveal where Takumi-kun is."

Rukia breathed out of her nose, while trying to speak.

The pressure of two Captain's was hard to deal with, along with Renji and Nanao's own pressures that felt like she was dying.

"...I don't know what you're talking about."

"Rukia!" Renji snapped, pulling closer. "Just tell them where Takumi Urahara is! Why are you pretending to lie about it!?"

"I said I don't know what you're talking about Renji! Is he in this town?!"

Renji could hear the passion within her voice.

Byakuya was mildly surprised that Rukia was expressing so much, protecting Takumi.

"You're willing to protect a criminal of the Soul Society?" Byakuya spoke up, Rukia couldn't remember the last time that he had spoken to her. "May I ask, what is that supposed to accomplish for yourself?"

"Byakuya...that's..."

Rukia couldn't answer.

She couldn't do that to Takumi.

"Rukia, why do you have that stupid human expression on your face? Have you stayed in this world for too long?"

Rukia's eyes widened when Renji had said that.

Caught between them all, she wasn't supposed to know what to say.

Shunsui chuckled lightly, breaking the tension.

"Well now, everyone's acting a little crazy. Lets just calm down, and think rationally~ Hey Kuchiki-san, how about a drink?"

Rukia gave him a strange look.

"No thank you. If you're going to take me, then take me already."

"You're in a hurry little lady. Can I ask why that is?"

Rukia breathed out hard.

"I just want to leave immediately. As Renji said, I've been in the human world for too long."

"But, how about we have a drink first?"

"Captain, is now the time to act like this?"

Nanao stepped forward and asked this simple question.

Shunsui chuckled to himself.

"Of course. If Kuchiki-san is going to be difficult, then I suppose we could all get to know one another, and have drinks. So Kuchiki-san, what have you been doing in the human world?" Shunsui smiled brightly poking Rukia's cheek who looked annoyed. "Tell me, did anything significant happen when you came here? Did you become a real-"

THWACK!

"That's not very elegant to ask Captain." Nanao retracted her hand from Shunsui's throbbing head as he held tears within his eyes. "Either way, this is getting us nowhere. It is clear that Kuchiki-san isn't going to reveal anything about-"

"That's why we have to force it out of her!"

Renji charged in with a sword swing, Rukia reacted with speeds that Renji was shocked by, parrying his attack, and pulled closer, placing a hand to his chest, and yelled "Hado 1: Sho!" and unleashed a blast in his chest, forcing him backwards a few inches, allowing Rukia to hold her blade to Renji's neck in a surprising turn, even Byakuya held mild surprise within his eyes, but his stoic face remained the same.

"Don't Renji, don't."

Renji felt a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.

He couldn't recall Rukia being able to do anything like that, and attack in a weird way with Kido.

"S-Since when could you do that?"

Renji couldn't hide his astonishment.

Rukia cracked her neck.

"I've been here for a while, and learned more than you might think."

Shunsui watched with bemusement, while thinking "_It was a similar move to Takumi, so Kuchiki-san has been watching him after all, he always mixed in Kido with swordplay, clever little lady._" while Nanao raised her hand.

"Kuchiki-san, if you continue your actions, your punishment may be more severe."

Rukia knew that to be true.

But she simply couldn't allow Takumi to be caught either, so she had to do something, and that was her Zanpakuto, clutching it together, cold air began to surround the group of Shinigami.

"Dance! Sode no Shi-"

"Rukia." Byakuya spoke up, seeing the desperation on Rukia's face. "Releasing Zanpakuto here? Are you trying to get executed?"

"If I don't do this, then you wont take me seriously. I don't know what you've heard but..."

"There were a mass of Gillian's here." Nanao reported. "Lieutenant Kurotsuchi reported as such, saying that you had dealt with a good number of Gillian's. Can you deny or confirm these reports?"

"It is true that Gillian's attacked here, and I was able to handle the situation."

Rukia retorted, but Renji yelled.

"You're lying Rukia! You didn't handle them on your own! Why aren't you telling us where Takumi Urahara is? Is it because he used to-"

"Renji." Rukia spoke up. "Takumi Urahara, went away from the Soul Society a long time ago, I haven't seen him since. I don't know why you believe this. Did Lieutenant Kurotsuchi tell you that Takumi Urahara was around here?"

Renji pursed his lips, and went to speak, when Nanao did instead.

"She merely mentioned that a flash of light rang out through the Hollows, destroying them and that's all she saw. She explained that she wasn't sure what it was that she had saw, only that it was dazzling."

Rukia's expressions didn't change, but she was glad that Nemu had said that, it meant that she was truly an ally.

"I see, then that flash of light was-"

"Rukia, you are only making your own situation worse. Explain why you are trying to defend this individual. Have you not heard what happened back in the Soul Society regarding the person named Takumi Urahara?"

Rukia wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to Byakuya.

But all she could do was speak some truth.

"Of course I have. But the individual you are describing is not the same-"

"Working with a criminal, is a punishable crime." Byakuya explained. "Now tell us Rukia, where is he? Save yourself the strife..." Rukia's eyes darted left and right, Byakuya came to a realization. "...you have developed feelings for him, haven't you?"

Rukia was stunned Byakuya had picked that up.

How he did, she had no idea.

All she knew was that if Byakuya knew that secret, would he try and kill Takumi even more?

Would he care?

Would it enrage him?

She never could tell with the expressionless face that was Byakuya's.

Renji growled, and thrusted his sword at Rukia, who parried it away from her, only for Renji to whip it back around, so Rukia jumped backwards only to see her elder brother behind her body, raising his sword slowly.

"If you are going to have trouble with Rukia, Renji, then I shall step in."

"Captain Kuchiki, I was merely surprised by her increased abilities, but I can handle it from-"

"Here!"

BANG!

Renji received a big smash to the back of his head, the impact made his eyes pop out, falling face first to the ground, everyone's eyes widening, only for Rukia to feel her body going up into the air, and into a familiar embrace.

"_I didn't even sense his approach...he hid himself well._"

Byakuya caught sight of who it was who was carrying Rukia away in his arms.

"I'm here to save you Ruka-chan!"

Rukia blinked at the name as they began running. Byakuya, Shunsui and Nanao went to give chase, when they felt binds around their bodies, Hainawa binds that had electricity running through their binds, giving them electrical shocks.

"W-Who the hell is Ruka!?"

"Did I say Ruka? I meant Rukia-chan! I missed out the I in Rukia by mistake! Hey, if you ever have kids, name one of them Ruka as a special favour to me!"

"I'm not naming one of my children Ruka! Anyway, how do you miss out a letter in someone's name?!"

"Sorry, been one of those days, especially when someone runs off without even saying goodbye!"

"I'm protecting you!"

"Did I ask for your protection?!"

"No, I was taking a note out of your books, and just doing whatever I wanted!"

"Well I guess I'm doing the same then!"

"Uggggh! You truly do annoy me Takumi!"

"And you annoy me too!"

Takumi and Rukia argued while he carried her away.

But then they adopted smiles.

"I'm glad you're alright Rukia-chan."

"You shouldn't of come, they'll-"

"Take me away, or kill me, I know."

Rukia was surprised that he knew that, and could only guess that he either worked it out, or someone had told him some truths, probably Kisuke, or Yoruichi, that's what she thought anyway.

"Then you know..."

"I'm from the Soul Society, aren't I?"

Rukia slowly nodded.

"Yes, you're from the Soul Society originally, I'm sorry I didn't say anything..."

Shunsui was the first to get through the Kido spell, and dashed for Takumi, who saw him coming, so he stabbed the ground, and sent off a burst wave of electricity from the ground, so Shunsui leapt upwards, and avoided the wave all together, appearing behind Takumi, swinging a blade down, which Takumi parried with his own, pushing the young man backwards.

"Hey, nice swordsmanship Takumi."

"Thanks whoever you are~"

Takumi grinned, but Shunsui's face took a noticeable dip.

"You don't know who I am?"

"You're...I'm going to guess Captain by how you and the other one is dressed. Nice kimono by the way, very flattering."

Shunsui chuckles lightly.

"Haha, still like that then. I'm glad~"

"Enough chatter!" Renji snapped, bringing up his head and faced Takumi. "That really hurt Takumi Urahara!"

"Well, I did hit you so I wasn't trying to play a game."

Renji's eyebrows knitted together, while Byakuya slit his eyes at Takumi, Nanao composed herself, and pulled closer.

"Takumi-kun, it's time to come back to the Soul Society."

Takumi was surprised how she just casually used his name even though he was sure he hadn't met her.

"Eh, sorry but I'm not going back...erm...whoever you are~"

"Is this one your jokes that I just don't get?" Nanao brought up, but Takumi looked confused. "It's me, Nanao Ise." Takumi just stared at her as if she had two heads. "You should know me, I know it's been many years, but you haven't forgotten me, have you?"

"Holy crap, so we really know each other then? Tell me more Nanao-chan~"

Nanao seemed to be rather confused, as did Byakuya.

"Are you making this up?"

"No, I genuinely don't know who you are."

"Even then, haven't you been curious...anything? Your spiritual energy?"

"My spiritual energy? What about it?"

Nanao furrowed her eyebrows, as she glanced at her Captain.

"Captain, could this really be the case? Did he really forget us all?"

"It seems that he doesn't remember after all. You can't pretend to have the astonishment in your eyes as well as Takumi-kun here is unless it is real astonishment. He doesn't remember who we are, we might as well be speaking to a stranger."

"But, it undoubtedly is him though, isn't it? The spiritual pressure is the same. Even after all these years, I can tell when it is his power."

"Even then Nanao-chan, the boy before us might look similar, and have a similar personality, but he didn't experience those things within the Soul Society."

Nanao surprisingly gave a sad look towards Takumi who knitted his brows together.

"Please don't be sad."

"Ah...Takumi-kun, that's..."

Nanao didn't know what to say as a response to that.

"I don't really get it, but you probably were expecting to meet me with memories, right? So we could...talk about stuff...were you my girlfriend or something? I don't think sister...I guess friends would be also applicable here as well, but it seems that you have intense emotions, so…"

Nanao's cheeks began burning red while Shunsui burst out laughing.

"She wishes she was your girlfriend Takumi-kun~"

"W-What do you mean by that Captain?!" Nanao shrieked. "I never wished that at all! I merely respected his skills as a young member of the Gotei 13! That was all!"

"Yeah, whatever you say Nanao-chan."

Nanao's eyes darkened, so Shunsui backed away slowly from the scary young woman.

Renji pulled forward, gazing upon Takumi who remained smiling.

"He's really lost his memory? Then taking him in would be...if he doesn't remember what he did, then can he be punished for it…?"

"It's still our duty, whether he remembers or doesn't." Byakuya spoke up, his eyes going for Rukia's own. "I understand why you decided to stay around now. With him."

"Byakuya..."

"I also heard about him, being the inspiration that you had when beginning to become a Shinigami."

Takumi, bewildered, glanced down at Rukia.

"I was your inspiration to become a Shinigami?"

"...It's a little more complicated than that, but you were a driving force on why I decided to become a Shinigami. If we survive this, I'll tell you all about it."

Takumi nodded with a "Sounds reasonable." seemingly not caring that he was receiving life changing information. Takumi dealt with it differently than most people did. It allowed him to look at all possible angles, and the chance to explore the unknown was something Takumi enjoyed immensely, even this, which would be life altering news, was a new adventure for him, to discover more about himself.

But then Takumi blinked.

"Hey, isn't it odd that I was the reason you became a Shinigami, but you ended up teaching me how to be a Shinigami?"

"Yeah, it's weird how the world works like that, isn't it?"

Takumi chuckled with a goofy smile on his face.

Byakuya's eyes went to Renji who furrowed his eyebrows.

"In any case, Renji. Take him down, and we'll take him back to the Soul Society for his punishment, probable executions."

Rukia flew into a panic with those words.

"No brother! Please don't do this! If he doesn't even remember, how can he be punished for those crimes?! The Takumi I have grown to know wouldn't do anything like the stories I had heard! He's a kind and gentle person! He would never-"

"Hold your tongue." Rukia backed away slowly. "Saying anymore only implicates yourself as an accessory to this man here." Byakuya looked at Renji who slightly hesitated. "Renji, did you not here what I had said?"

"O-Of course Captain!" Renji held his sword up. "Roar! Zabimaru!"

Renji's blade turned into a sword with several sections that could extend akin to a whip, and whipped it around, above his head, though Takumi glanced at Shunsui who seemed to be unsure of what to say.

"Zabimaru, meet my Princess. She's called Kinhime, and she doesn't like me being threatened."

Takumi disappeared in a flash, catching the likes of Renji off guard, and a few seconds later, Takumi appeared on the other side of Renji, with a deep slice across Renji's shoulder, blood gushing out of his shoulder.

"S-Shit!"

Renji cursed, while Nanao narrowed her eyes.

"_It seems that he's still incredibly fast, Lieutenant Abarai isn't weak by any means... But he didn't even recognize me... what could have happened between the last time we spoke, and now for him to not remember myself? Even then, Abarai-san wont be able to match Takumi-kun in speed, especially with the limiter on him. We might have to call for a limiter release...no, we definitely will have to do that if this escalates any further._" Her eyes went towards Shunsui who surprisingly had a serious face on. "_What are you thinking about Captain? It was cruel for Central 46 to send you of all people to collect Takumi-kun. Considering your past together. Captain, what are you going to do? Can you really take in Takumi-kun? Even if it means his death?_"

Nanao wished that she could read minds, as Shunsui's face was unreadable at that moment.

Renji gripped his shoulder, and turned to see Takumi pointing his Zanpakuto at him.

"That was a warning. Next shot wont be so nice."

"I see, so you're as scary as ever. Shouldn't of expected anything different. But I've been training for so long! To match the likes of my Captain and you Takumi Urahara! Or should I say-"

"I wish to not fight you, but if you want to fight me, then I'll have to retaliate with strong force. I will keep Rukia-chan safe, no matter what."

Takumi said with a calm expression on his face.

Renji didn't look pleased and thrusted his sword out, which grew longer and longer like a whip. It shot fast, Rukia called out "Takumi, watch out! Renji's powerful!" while Takumi disappeared in a burst of speed, Byakuya could keep track of him, but Renji couldn't keep track of him at all.

"_Where did he go?_"

Renji mused to himself, reeling his sword back in, and rather than try and find him, he spun his sword around his body, almost becoming like a vortex of rotating blades.

Rukia watched with some worry within her, not sure what was going to happen next.

But then from up above, a bolt of lightning came shooting downwards, so Renji grit his teeth.

"Yeah right! A simple bolt of lightning wont do me!" Renji raised his hand, and summoned his spiritual energy into a red sphere. "Shakkaho!"

Unleashing a point blank Shakkaho, he sent it up to connect with the lightning, and caused it to explode…

But then he felt cold steel upon his body.

His eyes dared downwards, seeing Takumi's face nearing his own.

"Sh-Shit..."

Renji tried to move an inch, but Takumi's blade was pressed against his chest.

"Do you have a seal on right now?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right..."

"So, you're only about twenty percent of your power, right?"

"So?"

Takumi released a chuckle.

"Then you're not at your best right now. I wonder how the fight would go if you were at your best? I sense strong spiritual energy within you, but if it is being sealed like this, then this fight is only going to go one way."

Takumi went to release an attack, as Renji whipped his sword closer to Takumi's body.

Without looking, Takumi raised his blade, and blocked the shot causing the blades to twist around as Takumi sent a pulse of electricity through the blade, travelling up the blade, and reached Renji's hand, electrocuting his hand to the point that it became numb from the overloading electricity that Takumi was sending through.

Releasing his sword, Renji placed his hand forward for Takumi's face, and went to unleash a Shakkaho, when Takumi disappeared, reappearing on Renji's outstretched arm, his blade at Renji's neck, while Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed.

"_Definitely, that move of appearing on the opponents arm with a sword to the neck, that is something Yoruichi has been known to do, so even though he's lost his memories, she's still teaching him. But, it seems that something is amiss here._"

While Byakuya thought about it, Renji thrusted his arm upwards with an annoyed grunt, while cupping his hands together.

"Shakkaho!"

Unleashing the red energy, he sent it for Takumi, who whirled his blade around, and shot off a needle of electricity, which pierced inside of the Kido attack, and Takumi announced "Expand!" which allowed the electricity within the sphere, breaking through the entirety of the Kido spell, as Takumi dashed downwards, and sliced before Renji's body, leaving a trial of lightning as his blade cut through Renji's body, blood gushing out of him, Takumi's eyes lowering.

"I am sorry, but I also have to protect Rukia-chan. I can also see it within your eyes, you want to protect her also, but can't."

Renji's eyes went towards Takumi's own who closed his eyes briefly.

Renji then dropped to the ground, Rukia blinked in surprise.

"_He's improved, even if Renji's been held back by the limiter, he still managed to beat him. But there's my elder brother, Takumi can't take Byakuya..." _Rukia's eyes went to Takumi, who looked on calmly, placing what seemed to be some salve onto Renji's wounds, healing him. "Takumi, you're going to be killed if you stay here…I wanted to avoid this, I truly did...but you're so stubborn anyway, so no matter what I say, you're going to stay, aren't you?"

"Yes of course Rukia-chan, I said to you that I wouldn't abandon you."

"Fool."

"Takes one to know one."

Rukia released a small laugh, while Takumi gave her a peace sign.

Shunsui held back a smile on his face, while Nanao held a hand to her mouth.

But then that changed when Byakuya's movement came close to Takumi's body at a very high speed despite being limited.

However, despite Byakuya being incredibly fast, Takumi was used to seeing Yoruichi's movements, that he turned around and grabbed Byakuya's hand as the blade was going to slice into his body, Byakuya's face became slightly narrow with the annoyance that he felt.

"Having a seal was a mistake. Perhaps it is time to be released. What do you say Takumi Urahara?"

"What I say is, if you're her brother, why aren't you protecting Rukia-chan like me?"

At that moment, Byakuya was caught in surprise.

Though he didn't outwardly show it, Byakuya didn't expect Takumi to say something like that.

Takumi saw Byakuya raise his finger to Takumi's chest, and stared into his eyes.

"That is not your concern. What is that it is my duty to bring in both Rukia Kuchiki, and Takumi Urahara. If she is my sister, does not factor into my mission."

"Then that's pretty sad to hear."

Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed while Takumi clutched his sword tightly, wondering what powers Byakuya was going to show. He could sense that while Byakuya was suppressed in his power, he still was no laughing matter, and compared to Renji, Byakuya was superior in power.

* * *

Back with Kisuke, he was continuing to try and escape, while his body began responding to him again, but it was rather stiff.

Even he had to admit that Takumi's technique was difficult to fight through, and wondered if he had what it takes to take down a certain someone with using what he had used.

But he also understood that because he managed to take out Kisuke, the people from the Soul Society wont be as kind as he was. Even then, he knew that Takumi could handle himself, but for how long, he didn't know.

He attempted to stand up, but he ended up falling flat on his face, and he groaned out.

He thought that he would manage to get some movement back, and he was indeed getting that.

But it wasn't enough.

He knew he wouldn't be able to do serious battle in the situation that he was in at that moment.

It was too difficult.

"Ooh come on..."

Kisuke let out a frustrated sigh, only to see Yoruichi move closer in cat form.

Kisuke's eyes went for Yoruichi, and tears began to leak out of his eyes, catching Yoruichi off guard.

"Geez Kisuke, what happened?"

Kisuke's eyes continued shedding tears.

"H-He's gone Yoruichi-san and he's made it so I can't move correctly...y-you have to go after him..."

"He managed to get the better of you? How did he do that?"

Yoruichi was bewildered.

She knew Takumi was a talented young man.

But to see that he managed to even one up Kisuke, that was a surprise.

"Things happened...suffice to say, I had planned for most things, but he managed to surprise me, I had planned for his Zanpakuto, Kido spells, them together, and even his various equipment he might have...but, he always was good with medical type science, so using his knowledge on the human body and Zanpakuto together...and in the end, I did underestimate him because he isn't as strong or skilled as I am as he currently is, but he's very clever of using his mind to make up differences in battle, so I lost him. But that doesn't matter, you have to help him Yoruichi-san, don't let him get captured."

Yoruichi let out a breath, nodding her head, and turned around.

"I'll save him Kisuke. But, what are you going to do next?"

"I always have plans of course. Just bring him back here, then we'll go from there."

"Understood. But, aren't you worried, he'll want to go after Rukia Kuchiki."

"Yes, I know."

"Then I hope you're prepared for that."

Those were her final words, before she disappeared.

Kisuke released a breath, hoping that she'd make it in time.

* * *

Back with Byakuya and Takumi, the former just stared at Takumi who didn't back down in the slightest. Rukia watched with apprehension in her eyes, and her body twitched with worry for Takumi and what could happen to him.

"Byakuya...please don't do this. Takumi isn't a monster, he's a good person. He saved my life. I'll go with you, if you spare him."

"That's very noble Rukia, but this isn't a matter up for discussion. You both shall be coming back-"

"Excuse me, but I'm here also!" Takumi interrupted. "Don't I have a say on what happens to me?"

Takumi demanded from Byakuya who cocked his eyebrows up.

"Not really."

"Hmph, then you don't have a say in what I do then. Because while it sounds fascinating and all, I like my life in the human world, and I'm not about to give it up for crimes I don't even remember committing! If someone tells me what these crimes are, then can't I make an informed decision on what's actually going to happen to me!?"

"He does have a point."

Shunsui spoke up, with a playful smile on his face.

Byakuya shoots him a dry look.

"Do not agree with the criminal."

"I can't share my thoughts."

Shunsui huffs while Byakuya withdraws his blade.

"Now, Takumi Urahara, it's time to see my sword." Takumi raised an eyebrow. "Scatter." The sword began to glow while Takumi took out a wire from his pocket. "Senbonzaku-" Byakuya noticed that the wire had been wrapped around the blade, pulling it tightly, and stopped the sword from releasing. "...you boy, are quite the tricky individual."

Takumi smirked.

"You have no idea." Takumi held up his sword, and announced. "Lightning Stream!"

The attack let out a wide stream of electricity from the blade, Byakuya pulled backwards as fast as he could, Rukia being surprised that Takumi could actually do something like that, being able to catch the blade so it couldn't release.

As the lightning travelled across the ground, Shunsui flashed Nanao, Renji and Rukia away from the battle, Takumi's eyes glanced back to see Rukia and saw that she was relatively calm, so he knew she wasn't in immediate danger.

Byakuya got a good distance away, and went to ready his sword, when Takumi appeared before him, faster than Byakuya could move, Takumi swung his blade downwards, and cut into his skin, while Byakuya sliced upwards, so Takumi bent his sword around, blocking the shot from Byakuya's blade, Byakuya's eyes meeting Takumi's who let out a electrical attack at close range, forcing Byakuya's body to move backwards, and then flash behind Takumi's form.

"You are fast."

Byakuya complimented, surprising Rukia.

Takumi spun around, and announced "Hainawa!" releasing a rope for Byakuya who sliced through it with incredible speed, only for Byakuya to see that electricity was creeping up the blade, having been transmitted from Takumi's sword to the rope of Hainawa, and now to Byakuya's blade.

"Tricky."

Byakuya placed his hand outwards, and announced "Sokatsui." while dropping his blade briefly, so the electricity didn't travel up his hand to shock and numb his hand like he had down to Renji once more.

Takumi matched the blast with his own Sokatsui, creating a sizeable explosion between them.

Cutting through the smoke, Takumi unleashed several bolts of lightning for Byakuya's body, who raised his hand, and announced "Bakudo 39: Enkosen!" creating a round shield to block Takumi's first strike, and the second one he dodged out of the way, only to stab behind him, anticipating that Takumi would be there, and he was right, Takumi parried Byakuya's blade with his own, snapping his fingers, which released a bolt of electricity from up above.

"Time release Kido mixed with his Zanpakuto. So he's even capable of that." Byakuya released a small breath, and pointed his finger upwards. "Hado 4: Byakurai."

Unleashing a lightning Kido, Takumi was surprised when the lightning managed to clash with his own, a testament to the level of skill that Byakuya was a mastery of, but even then he didn't give up, and came swinging for Byakuya's body.

"That isn't enough for me."

What Rukia saw next, almost destroyed her.

She saw that within a flash, Byakuya's blade penetrated Takumi's body, running right through his chest.

"N-No! Takumi! N-Noooooooo!" Rukia tried to run forward, but Shunsui stopped her movements. "C-Captain! He just stabbed Takumi! I-I thought that you were supposed to take him in without him dying! So why did he..." Rukia heard a popping sound, so she turned back to see that Takumi's body deflated like a balloon. "W-What?"

Shunsui snickered "Yeah, that's Takumi for you." confusing Rukia.

But it became clear when he appeared behind Byakuya's form, and unleashed his slash towards Byakuya's flesh.

"No!"

Byakuya attempted to block, but due to the limiter on him, his movements weren't as fast, so he received Takumi's direct slash right for his body, cutting deeply into his flesh, and he unleashed his electricity, which charred the skin around the wound, sending it through Byakuya's system, who let out a panting sound, as his blood scattered across the ground.

Byakuya pulled backwards, clutching his wound while his body twitched from being exposed to lightning, narrowing his eyes at Takumi.

"I knew you'd be highly dangerous."

"Yes, because I'm willing to protect Rukia-chan."

Takumi replied, swinging out his sword.

Byakuya also understood that, but he wasn't pleased.

He looked down at his chest, and saw the mark on his skin disappear.

"That's why I had the limiter removed."

"Wait, he did?" Nanao wondered. "When did he do that?"

"It was when he first mentioned it to Takumi there."

Shunsui replied, while Rukia bit her lower lip.

"No, if he is then..."

Suddenly, Byakuya unleashed his spiritual pressure, which almost floored Rukia. Nanao also began feeling a little dizzy from the intense pressure that Byakuya was releasing. Renji, who was near unconscious before, had been knocked out by Byakuya's pressure mixed in with the wounds he received by Takumi.

Takumi on the other hand managed to stay on his feet, but had to admit that he was impressed by the power that Byakuya was releasing.

"So, you've gotten stronger."

Byakuya disappeared, and for Takumi, it was like night and day.

The speed before was grand, but this was insane.

He barely saw Byakuya coming until his blade was to touch his body.

"Electric Field!"

Before Byakuya's blade could touch him, Takumi unleashed his lightning around him, forcing Byakuya backwards, but Takumi felt a deep gash within his arm, unleashing blood onto the ground from how deep the cut was.

"I've also gotten faster. It seems that the current you cannot handle a Captain. Perhaps your story of being unable to recall the past is correct. Did Kisuke Urahara contain your Reiatsu? For it to be like this, that is what makes sense. Even then, I have learned to not underestimate you. Even weakened, you are a dangerous opponent, exactly like your Father."

Takumi glanced at his bleeding wound, but didn't even bother to try and stop it.

He instead pointed his blade at Byakuya.

"I-I wont give up just because you've become faster and stronger. I will protect Rukia-chan."

"May I ask, why are you protecting her?"

"Why would that matter to you?"

Takumi's question was met with Byakuya's raised eyebrow.

"Because I am interested in knowing the current Takumi Urahara. I want to know if you are similar to how you were in the past, or are you different?"

Takumi shrugged his shoulders, genuinely not knowing if he was or wasn't.

"I don't know what I was like if we had known one another in the past, but I can tell you right now that the reason why I'm protecting her is because I care about her! She's my friend! Getting imprisoned for wanting to live, and to protect other people doesn't make sense to me! I don't know what your qualm is with me, but Rukia-chan has not done anything wrong! And I will protect her from the Soul Society! Even if it is you!"

Byakuya closed his eyes briefly at the answer.

As if he was mulling over something within his mind.

But then his eyes opened with clarity.

"If that's the case, then watch this Takumi Urahara. I'll show you my Shikai this time without fail." Byakuya raised his blade. "Scatter, Senbon-" Takumi attempted to wrap it in wire once more, but Byakuya grabbed the wire before it could touch the blade, indicating how fast Byakuya had become. "-zakura."

The blade released a glow, before it disassembled off the blade, scattering into many different fragments, but kept the handle of the blade within Byakuya's hand. Watching it catch the moonlight that was raining down on them, the scattered pieces of the sword began glowing a beautiful pink colour, and casually fell down like cherry blossoms.

"It's quite a beautiful looking sword."

"It will be the last thing you see."

"We'll see about that. Those blades are still made of metal, so lets see if I can use my blade to push the metal away, like a reverse magnet. Heh, that will be interesting, time to put theory into practice Byakuya-kun~"

Byakuya gestured with his hand, and the scattering blades surrounded Takumi's form, spinning and came at him like a barrage of bees.

Quickly thinking, Takumi pierced the ground, and created a dome of electricity to pulse outwards to push the blades away as Takumi had said like a reverse magnet, only for Byakuya to swing it in different directions to avoid the first pulse from Takumi's blade, some blades coming from the left and up positions as the pulse rang out once more, pushing a majority of the blades away.

However, a few managed to get through, a few cut into his flesh which released some blood, so Takumi grabbed them with his hand, despite them cutting into his skin while using the technique to push more blades away before they could do more damage, and ran his electricity through the blades, before throwing them towards Byakuya.

"What are you trying to accomplish? I control these blades, so they wont get near me."

Byakuya waved his hand to direct the blades away, but Takumi twisted his sword, and released the lightning from the blades he had grabbed, each releasing a pulse, which pushed away the blades that were right by Byakuya's body, allowing Takumi to dash at high speeds, bewildering Rukia who couldn't be more surprised.

"_He's actually facing down big brother, and hasn't died within a single attack...Takumi, you are doing something like this just for me. I don't deserve your kindness. Please just run before Byakuya actually kills you...please._"

Rukia pleaded within her head, as Takumi appeared before Byakuya's form. His blade raised up into the air, charging electricity, when Byakuya waved his hand behind him, revealing some of the blades he had kept there, in order for them to become a shield, blocking the electrical attack from Takumi's blade, however Takumi elegantly waved his blade, which connected his electricity to the lightning he had released before, and moved his blade around, changing the direction of the lightning to swim around the shield that Byakuya had made.

However, Byakuya had disappeared by the time it got around the shield, so the electricity dug into the ground, Byakuya appeared above Takumi, swinging his sword downwards, releasing countless blades against Takumi's unsuspecting form.

"Takumi! Behind you!"

Takumi grit his teeth, quickly twisting backwards, and raised his sword, but the sea of small razor-blades came forward, digging into Takumi's skin, making him wince out, but Takumi unleashed the pulse from his blade once more, pushing the majority of them away from his body, while swinging out for Byakuya's body, who flashed backwards in the air, at the same time unleashing a Sokatsui for his body.

Takumi let out a breath, disappearing himself, attempting to get behind Byakuya, only for the elegant Captain to turn around, and used his blades to create a sphere around Takumi's form, with the blades slicing at his hands, in an attempt to cut so deep that he wouldn't be able to hold onto his sword anymore.

Feeling the tiny razor-blades cutting his flesh along with the tendons in his hands, the grip on his blade weakened more and more.

"_Damn it, he's trying to cut me off from my hands...clever._"

Takumi exhaled deeply, allowing the electricity to run around his form. Catching up the air, the electricity mixed with the air, and set off a chain reaction, which resulted in an explosion in the air by forcing the electricity to smash together several times to increase heat, blasting the blades away from his body, and also caught Byakuya up in the blast wave.

"W-What is he doing? He just hurt himself from that attack!"

Nanao didn't quite understand it.

But Shunsui did.

"He did yes, but he also gave himself an advantage."

Nanao didn't quite understand.

But she saw that the blast had knocked back Byakuya as Takumi came rushing forward.

His hands looked wrecked, he couldn't even hold his sword properly due to the speed and skill of Byakuya's blades cutting his tendons in his hands. But still, by sheer willpower, Takumi flashed before Byakuya, twirling in the air, and brought his leg downwards in a heavy kick, Byakuya's eyes widening slightly, and thrust his blades in that direction, but Takumi disappeared from view.

He reappeared towards the left of Byakuya, so Byakuya accordingly swung his blades in that direction, but once more, Takumi disappeared once more, reappearing towards the right, his foot heading swiftly for Byakuya's neck, so Byakuya brought up the blades just in time, creating a shield to block the foot of Takumi's blade, cutting his foot, but Takumi flashed away once more, and did so several times, getting closer, and closer to Byakuya.

"_My movements have been impaired somehow. Has Takumi Urahara done something to me? I should be faster than this...what has he done?_"

Byakuya knew something was off.

But he wasn't sure what it was.

However, as he thought about it, Takumi appeared above Byakuya, flicking his leg downwards, releasing several blades from his leg.

"Hidden blades within the legs, Yoruichi truly has taught him."

Byakuya mused, and raised his blades, becoming a shield.

But while doing that, Takumi appeared before Byakuya, thrusting his body forward, with his arms flapping behind him, Byakuya growled, bringing the blades back down, but what surprised him next was the blades were being repulsed by Takumi's body somehow.

"How, you don't have your Zanpakuto..."

Byakuya glanced around…

But he couldn't see Takumi's Zanpakuto.

Shunsui however grinned, and chuckled.

"He used Kyokko to bend the light around his mouth to hide his Zanpakuto from view. Doing it with the last little bit of movement he has in his right thumb."

True to Shunsui's words, Takumi indeed did have slight movement within his right thumb, allowing him to cast the Kido.

"H-He's using his mouth to hold his Zanpakuto? But to even move his thumb while his tendons have been damaged that severely, he must be in incredible pain."

Nanao was astonished, Shunsui however continued to chuckled.

"He's very unconventional after all. And yes, he is in excruciating pain right now." His eyes went to Rukia who looked on with worry. "He must really care about you to go through all this pain, on the slim chance that he might pull off a victory."

"Captain Kyoraku..."

Shunsui turns his head back to Nanao, while Rukia watches while hoping Takumi doesn't die.

"Kuchiki-san up there does indeed have experience and power over Takumi. However, he underestimated Takumi, he's a very capable young man, with many ideas in that head of his. It seems that Kuchiki-san forgot that Takumi can come up with ideas on spot, even with the odds against him."

"Do you believe he's going to win?"

Nanao questioned her Captain who furrowed his eyebrows.

"We'll have to wait and see. Either way, it's commendable he's lasted this long against Byakuya Kuchiki at all, so no one can say he isn't trying his hardest."

As he said it, Kinhime was seen by Byakuya, as Takumi pierced his shoulder with the blade, causing Byakuya to wince, while bringing down the blades over Takumi's form, washing over him, cutting deeply into several different places.

Rukia felt immense worry, but also seeing Takumi give Byakuya some trouble was impressive.

She believed that Byakuya was ultimately stronger than Takumi currently, but to see that Takumi was able to land blows on Byakuya, she could only attest that to Takumi masterfully manipulating the situation to his own benefits, even sacrificing parts of himself to land concise blows on Byakuya's body.

The blades continued to wash over Takumi, so he pulled backwards, landing on the ground while Byakuya looked over his wound in his shoulder.

Surprised that Takumi could even do that, Takumi chuckled lightly.

"Been moving slower than normal huh?"

"You did something to me."

Byakuya growled out, while Takumi kept grip of his sword in his mouth.

"On my first strike, before you released your powers against me, I ran electricity through your system, damaging your muscles to a point that it would slow you down enough for me to counteract your movements, but even then you still are outpacing me which is commendable, it shows the qualities of how strong you are in a fight, fighting through the stiffness of your muscles to keep up and outmatch me. I know you're stronger than me, but I don't give up so easily."

Byakuya cracked his neck side to side, seeing the wounds on his body.

"I should have released the limiter at the beginning of this fight, before you had a chance to land a blow on me. This match would have ended with your defeat by now."

"Good thing that you were sealed a bit then huh."

Byakuya raised his sword up into the air, the blades floating around him, forming what seemed to be a shape of an arrow.

"You might have been able to keep up with me, but I wont allow you to beat me Takumi Urahara. You will be coming back to the Soul Society one way or another."

Takumi grit his teeth, and felt his body sore from the attacks from Byakuya.

But he stood his ground, despite blood leaking out of his system.

His eyes went towards Byakuya.

"No, I wont."

"Stubborn."

"Perhaps...but, I'm doing what I believe to be right...stand there, and tell me that this is right...tell me that Rukia-chan did something that she should be punished for." Byakuya held a moments hesitation, which Takumi caught. "Hesitating are you?"

"No, I am merely thinking of an answer that would be most appropriate."

"That's hesitation. It's a yes or no question. Do you think that it is right for Rukia-chan to be punished for this? Disregarding me, do you honestly believe she should be punished for anything? What she did that day, was to save humans, and myself, she's a very brave woman, who knew she'd be in trouble, but she did it anyway."

Rukia's bottom lip quivered, remembering that Shinigami weren't supposed to show strong emotions like she was, but she couldn't help it.

Byakuya chose not to answer.

Instead, he merely directed his hand downwards towards Takumi's body, sending off the arrow at high speeds.

Takumi went to dodge it, while Rukia screamed.

"TAKUMI! NO!"

Desperately, she didn't want Takumi to die...

* * *

But suddenly, Byakuya received a very hard blow to the back of his neck, his eyes widening, and he fell forward, unconscious from the blow.

Takumi watched as the blades scattered in the winds, returning to Byakuya's blade, making a single sword again, while all of the people present were bewildered by what, or rather, who had just done that.

"C-Captain?!"

Nanao yelled out with immense confusion.

It appeared that Shunsui had knocked out Byakuya in a surprising turn of events, Rukia's eyes widening while Takumi wondered what was going on.

"Oops~ Didn't make it in time~"

Acting nonchalantly, Shunsui watched Nanao pushed up her glasses for her relaxed Captain in bewilderment.

"O-Oops?! That's all you can say?! W-What are you doing Captain Kyoraku?! Attacking a member of the Gotei 13 like that! Yo-You could...y-you could be punished for this! T-This is...s-simply...I-I don't know what to say about this at all!"

Shunsui shrugged his shoulders while Takumi gave a bemused look.

"It wasn't me that did it."

"W-What, but I saw...w-what's happening right now…?"

Nanao was confused, while Shunsui laughed loudly, and looked towards the lrft.

"See, it wasn't me who did it."

"_Unexpectedly, this Captain with the kimono is quite a cool guy._"

Takumi mused to himself, just as Yoruichi flashed in.

"It was her, I merely tried to intercept it, I guess I didn't make it in time~"

"I-I see...s-so, it was her after all...then I don't have to say anything else..."

Yoruichi eyeing up what was happening, turned to Shunsui.

"So, you came Kyoraku."

"That's right. You're lucky, it could have been someone not so friendly-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Takumi called out. "What's going on? W-Why do you sound so calm when a comrade has been incapacitated? And why are you making it sound like we're allies? N-Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm just curious about what's happening..."

"Hahaha! Well, lets just say that I couldn't stand to see anything happen to you!" Shunsui laughed, but his face turned serious as he looked to Yoruichi. "But, I can't do this again, you understand don't you?"

"Of course, I have to take him away immediately." Yoruichi flashed beside Takumi, grabbing his body and hauled him over her shoulder. "We're going Takumi."

"Great, then lets take Rukia-chan and go!"

"It's impossible."

Takumi was immensely surprised by what Yoruichi had said.

"W-What do you mean by that?!"

"She means, Kuchiki-san here has to come with me." Shunsui gestured to Rukia. "Takumi, you see, it has to be this way. Because reinforcements will be here soon, with the release of the limiter, I can guarantee more will be arriving, and Yoruichi-san there can't get both you, and Kuchiki-san here out of town."

"B-But, I can't just leave her to the Soul Society! They will execute her or something!"

"Yes, that might happen. But unlike you, Rukia Kuchiki-san will have a chance to survive, you don't Takumi-kun." Nanao stepped forward and said those words. "Also, Kisuke Urahara is a very resourceful man, he hid you once, he can do it again, I am sorry for this difficult time."

"But..."

Takumi tried to refuse it, but Rukia stepped forward, and moved closer to Takumi.

"Takumi, it's alright. You've done more than enough for me now. Why do you think I left the Urahara shop? I knew that they'd be able to track me down, but not you. I wanted to get away from this city, so I could keep you safe. For once, stop being stubborn, and listen to me. Let me handle this from here."

"Can't you see Rukia-chan?! They're going to take you away-"

"Well I don't want you to die either Takumi!" Rukia snapped at him, surprising him. "Can't you see, I'm trying to protect you! You protected me once, so let me do it now! There was an incident in the Soul Society, and it was said you did something truly evil, but having witnessed what you did for me during this world, no matter what happened to your memories, you are not the person who could have committed those crimes! Besides, I knew that before I met you in this world, because we have met before I came to Karakura town, many years ago!"

"W-We have…?"

"Yes, that's right. It would take too long to explain, but suffice to say, you are the reason I became a Shinigami, the kindest Shinigami I had met, was you, and I wanted to be just like you, the kindest Shinigami who'd even help out people in the Rukongai without thinking."

Takumi wore surprise on his face from Rukia saying that, and then he felt her lightly kiss his cheek, in a surprising turn.

Her cheeks burned red, not believing that she had done that.

But she didn't regret it for even a second.

If this was the final encounter they were going to have, then she wanted to do that just once.

She thought about kissing him on the lips, but she felt embarrassed to do so in the end.

So this was enough for her.

Byakuya had somewhat regained consciousness, but no one had focused in on him, instead he watched silently the interactions between Rukia and Takumi.

"Rukia-chan..."

"It was...stupid of me. I promised I wouldn't become apart of your world...this world...but in the end, I ended up loving being here. Going to class everyday, speaking to everyone, like Inoue, the Kurosaki twins, even that Giselle who frightens me. Even the Hollows didn't bother me, because I got to see many adventures with you and the others, we had fun just simply talking, laughing about nonsensical things. But most of all, I got to know more about you, Takumi. You're weird...but, you're very genuine, and kind, and always there for people that need it, getting angry when someone's been abused, mishandled, people that need saving, you're there for them, you see the good inside of those who have even hid it away from themselves, like Bambietta. You saw through her crap, and saw a good person underneath there when even I thought there wasn't. Besides, you also helped me when I needed you, you came for me without regarding your own safety. That's what I admire about you...that's what I love about you."

Hearing those words…

Hearing that single word 'love' Takumi was shocked she used it in the context when regarding him.

"Rukia-chan...I..."

Rukia smiled softly.

"Do one thing for me...be happy. Just be happy, and think of me once in a while. If you do that...then I can do this."

Takumi just blinked.

Hearing what he did.

Rukia had said it…

She loved him.

And he...loved her.

"Rukia-chan, I..."

Rukia placed a finger up, as if she was scolding him, but she held tears within her eyes, something she had promised not to do.

"Don't say anymore...because if you do, I wont want to leave...I wouldn't be able to...so just say goodbye..."

"But I..."

"Please, I want to hear you say it."

Takumi swallowed the emotions he felt, and gave her what she wanted.

"Goodbye..."

Then Yoruichi delivered a blow to the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious, knowing that he was about to try and stay.

Yoruichi caught the sight of Byakuya who's eyes were transfixed on her gaze, so she had to play it up as if she was making aggressive movements.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

She placed out her hand, and shot off a Kido spell at Shunsui, who took out his blades, and sliced through it, lunging forward, but saw that Yoruichi was taking off, he glanced downwards at the barely conscious Byakuya, and pressed a finger to Nanao.

"Keep Kuchiki-san here, I'm going after them."

"Y...Yes Captain."

Nanao watched with a heavy heart as her Captain sped off after Takumi, and Yoruichi, while she walked over, and grasped Rukia's arm so she couldn't move forward.

Rukia didn't make any facial expressions as she saw a few minutes later, that reinforcements had come, and were tending to Byakuya and Renji personally. Nanao glanced at Rukia, who was keeping herself silent.

"I didn't realize you had fallen in love with him."

"I didn't realize myself until recently."

"I see...then, take comfort in the fact that you left on the best possible terms. This way, he'll survive, and you will have a chance. Your and my Captain's will defend you the best that they can, I can guarantee it."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Ise."

Nanao merely nods, and waits for Shunsui to come back, while she thought "_If I know Takumi-kun, he wont stop until he's saved her._" and wondered what that was going to be like, and wondered what she was going to do if the time came.

Shunsui returns a few minutes later, looking roughed up, no doubt to lie about what happened. Nanao knew that she'd also have to lie, and she didn't see Rukia having a problem with lying, if it meant keeping Takumi safe.

"Heeeeh, crafty people, they managed to get away. That damn Takumi, and his tricks, he's a clever one alright."

Shunsui explained the situation to the back up squad that arrived, while Rukia glanced in the direction of the Urahara Shop.

"_Goodbye Takumi, thank you for everything._"

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, that was quite the chapter huh! For those who guessed, it was confirmed in this chapter that Takumi was apart of the Gotei 13 at some point! But, what Squad he was in, or Squads perhaps, his relationships to some of the older Gotei 13 members, his rank while within the Gotei 13, among other things shall be discussed at a later date!**

**Anyway, at the beginning, Rukia tried protecting Takumi the best she could, even knowing it could cause her more problems. Takumi vs Kisuke happened! Though Kisuke didn't truly try and kill Takumi and didn't have the heart to hurt him as much as he could have but still tried to detain him, Takumi kept up with Kisuke's level of planning for the most part, and managed to outsmart Kisuke in that instant to stop him from stopping him going after Rukia, Kisuke even admitting that he had underestimated Takumi, and Takumi admitting that Kisuke right now was above him in terms of combat, showing a mutual respect between them after the battle.**

**Speaking of, Takumi managed to take down a sealed Renji with nearly no issues after his fights with Bambietta which strengthened him quite a bit, a released Renji would be bit of a different story, and then managed to somewhat handle Byakuya, even after he released the limiter, using his skills and tricks to bring Byakuya's down to a manageable level for the current Takumi and managed to catch him off guard, but Byakuya proved to be too much in the end, and if not for Yoruichi, he would have been finished. Then finally, Takumi and Rukia had a heart felt goodbye, Rukia even admitting that she loves him, and while not saying it, Takumi felt the same.**

**Well, Rukia's gone back to the Soul Society to save Takumi, from whatever 'crime' that he did, we'll discover more about what that entails, along with what Rukia said about them having met before, and the relationship between Takumi and Shunsui, along with Nanao, Byakuya and others in future chapters.**

**Until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem).**


	16. Training!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thank you, I'm happy you like the chapter! Yeah, it was quite heartfelt huh~? I could see Hiyori and Toshiro having a fight later on down the road yeah, it would be fun~ Nemu shall be returning rather soon, and aiding in the rescue somehow. That would be quite the funny running joke~ I like it~ We are yeah, we'll see some training here, and some growth from some other characters. That could be a cool fight for Yuzu, and yeah, Nanao's a cool character, so yeah she can~ And yeah, I have a fun scene like that planned for later~**

**Vizard Masky; He does yeah, and he will begin explaining a few things in this chapter. You could be right about Aizen. It does yeah, it seems that he has some allies within Soul Society. Lets hope he is, knowing Takumi he wont take this easily, and will do everything he can to clear his name. And thank you!**

**Oblivious IJ; Maybe a little, but some very difficult things are gonna happen.**

**SomeDudeThatReads; It just seems like something Nemu would do~**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He did yeah, he fought a good number of people, his Father, Renji and Byakuya, and considering his opponents, he did quite well to get as far as he did. She did yeah, it seems that Rukia's fallen for him without even her realizing that. Some people do, some people don't, we'll be getting more into that as the story goes on. Aizen might do yeah~**

**Andrew123456; Their relationship is going to be quite complex, I can't reveal much but it is going to be something between them that makes them quite good rivals in my opinion, and yeah, he can use thunder now on small scales though he's not delved into that yet, perhaps he will now, when he achieves Bankai, it would be on higher levels.**

**Skull Flame; It seems that he was yeah~ We'll find out more in the future about Takumi~ He did yeah, and yeah it could have, good thing Takumi had some backup in the form of Yoruichi. It seems to be, their relationship will be expanded upon as we go forward. She might have known him yeah~**

**Sllver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, we dived right into it~ Yeah, Takumi can be quite cunning when he wants to be, and has to be. He was yeah, Shunsui and Nanao were the people sent with Byakuya and Renji, we'll learn more about Shunsui's, and Nanao's relationship to Takumi in the future~ Yeah, Rukia might be promoted sooner than canon, she certainly has the skills. He did yeah, Byakuya saw Rukia's feelings written on her face. Hehe, yeah, they have a fun dynamic between them. Maybe it would have yeah~ Perhaps he subconsciously remembers that and thinks he worked it out by seeing it glowing. He did quite well yeah~ Quite the goodbye between them. It seems that he was apart of it yeah. We'll see what Squad, or Squads, he was apart of. He would have known them yeah, their relationships we'll explore at a later date. It could be because of the Vizards~ Some people know the truth since they know Takumi, like Shunsui, if he didn't believe Takumi was innocent, then he would have tried to capture him. Yeah, it would be cool. I can understand that, it isn't really offensive naturally. Maybe they could be. Or Half Angel. That would be pretty cool to see~ Well, I can't reveal their relationship, we'll see that as we go through the story. I guess they could be. They could merge, that would be pretty cool. Yeah, that would be pretty interesting. She could get it earlier, it would be pretty interesting to see her use it. Sure, that would be pretty interesting for a Phenex Oc. Sure, that would be fun~**

**A fan; From Bleach? That's a hard question. I would say Gin, but he was already a somewhat good guy, perhaps Starrk, I always liked him, and it could be cool seeing him helping out the Shinigami.**

**SomeDudeThatReads; Kisuke made a barrier at that time to contain Takumi, so it also blocked off spiritual energy so they didn't notice. And thanks very much!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Training!**

Sitting within her little cell, Rukia's eyes went across the wooden bars before her. Her kimono was white, her eyes displayed little resistance. Her mind wandered to Takumi, and what he was doing right now, if he got away, if he was still injured, or if he had been found, and was on the way to the holding cell they were in.

Sitting on a lone chair, she glanced at the guard, who didn't make eye contact with her.

However, the door opened soon enough, revealing Renji who was still in bandages after his slice by Takumi.

"Rukia, I thought you'd like to know, Takumi Urahara hasn't been found."

Rukia felt a load release from her mind and body.

"I see, so he managed to get away."

"Yeah, he's as crafty as ever. So, can you stop being depressed now, and eat something?"

Rukia's eyes flickered.

She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten, though it seemed as if it didn't matter at the moment.

"I'm not eating because I'm depressed, I'm just not hungry." Her eyes looked Renji up and down in his outfit, which was a flowery kimono. "So, a Lieutenant is wearing such girly looking clothing."

A tick mark appeared beside Renji's head.

"Oi! Don't make fun of the clothes I wear! I wonder what you wore while in the human world huh?!"

"Heh...I wore human clothes, idiot."

Renji huffed, folding his arms in slight annoyance.

"Whatever, you spent too much time there, you've become different. And those skills you used on me, did you really learn them from Takumi?"

"I saw how he fights with Kido, and swordsmanship, that's all."

"You must have known staying with him would eventually lead to this." Rukia didn't refute it. "But, why did you stay if you knew?"

Rukia had asked herself that very question many times, and she never came to a good conclusion, besides one thing.

"Because, he saved my life, our lives Renji. You must remember."

Renji's eyes tossed left.

"Of course I remember. You think I like what happened back in the human world?"

"No, I couldn't imagine that you did...so, did you come to tell me when my execution date is?"

"Of course!" Though he used a joking tone, Rukia took it seriously, and her head bent downwards. "H-Hey I was just kidding. We were worried about you, you know? I'm sure Captain Kuchiki is pleading for you to have a lighter sentence right now."

Rukia didn't believe that was true at all, in fact she knew it wasn't.

"No, that can't be true. Because, in the forty years I have been within the Kuchiki family, he never once looked in my direction."

Renji pursed his lips, and hoped that Rukia wasn't speaking the truth, he was sure that Byakuya wouldn't let her die...though even he had his doubts.

* * *

Falling…

That's how Takumi felt.

Everything felt sore.

His hands, his arms, his legs, his body.

Everything felt like he had been hit many different times in that area.

Heat was pooling inside of him, he felt like he was falling. His body wasn't sure how he was going to continue on…

But then his eyes shot open, and saw that Orihime was sat beside his bed with her fairy friends floating around her, and a orange barrier around his body, shocking him.

"O-Orihime-chan…? What's going-"

"Taku-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Orihime burst into tears, hugging onto Takumi tightly. "I-I was so scared that you weren't going to wake up! Your arms were damaged, and your entire body had so many cuts! I was so scared! But you're awake! You're really here!"

Takumi moved his arms, and was surprised.

He recalled what Byakuya had done to him, cutting his tendons, and left him without the use of his arms. It seemed maddening almost what was going on.

He looked around, and saw that he wasn't in his room.

He wasn't in Orihime's room.

In fact, when he looked outside, it wasn't any place in Karakura that he recognized.

So he didn't know where they were.

"Orihime-chan, where are we?"

Orihime rubbed the back of her head.

"We've been taken to a different city Taku-chan."

"A different city? But why…?"

Orihime looked over Takumi's body, seeing that he had been healed, and was glad.

But she also felt worry about what was going to happen next.

"I don't know that much about it Taku-chan, but I was told that you were being pursued by the Soul Society."

"You did huh..."

"Yes, Tessai-san came into my room and kidnapped me!"

Takumi gave her an astonished face.

"H-He did what!?"

Takumi couldn't believe what he had heard from Orihime, kidnapping her...it seemed quite insane.

Orihime stood up dramatically, and waved her hands above her head.

"I was just about to go to bed, when I heard a noise at my window! Stood there, was Tessai-san, with his lips pressed against the glass, and said "You're coming with me little lady~" in a scary voice! I almost fainted but then he said you were in danger, so I came right away! You've been unconscious for just over a day Taku-chan!"

"My arms, have been healed..." His eyes went to Orihime, who was panting slightly. "Did you heal me Orihime-chan?"

Orihime smiled gently.

"Of course, I'd always heal Taku-chan."

Takumi gave a thankful expression on his face.

"Thank you..." Takumi flexed his hands, and legs. "It seems that everything is working."

"Taku-chan, I was told a little about what was going on, Kuchiki-chan has gone to the Soul Society, hasn't she?"

"Yeah...she was taken back to the Soul Society..." Takumi placed a hand to his forehead. "I couldn't save her in the end..."

"It's not your fault Taku-chan, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just glad you're safe."

"Yeah...but she's in the Soul Society now, and she could be getting executed-"

"Not for a month." Kisuke spoke as he entered the room with Yoruichi in human form. "It usually takes a month to decide about executions."

"Great, then that gives me sometime to prepare."

Orihime, Yoruichi and Kisuke all understood what he was saying, but Kisuke was against it.

"Takumi, you can't go to the Soul Society. We barely managed to escape as it was. If you go there, then you're going to your death."

"Then tell me why they want me to die in the first place. They mentioned something about a crime...what crime was it?"

Kisuke exhaled slowly, while Yoruichi stepped forward.

"Alright-"

"Yoruichi-san."

Kisuke berated, but Yoruichi shook her neck.

"He deserves to know." Kisuke bit his lower lip. "Takumi, the reason why you are being chased by the Soul Society, is because someone framed you for a crime that you didn't commit. They used something about you as a reason as to why you were doing what they were doing."

"A-And what where they doing?"

"Experimentation of souls, turning them into Hollows, and vice versa."

Takumi and Orihime released a gasp.

"L-Like Hiyori-chan and the others?"

"Yes, that's right." Kisuke continued. "But, it wasn't you, it was that person who was doing these things. However, because of...it's because of me that he decided to frame you. I was banished from the Soul Society in order to save you from your death. But I didn't care about being banished. All I cared about was your life...but, what he did to you, was crueler than anything...he did this to you, because of me Takumi. When I said that your suffering was my fault, it was true, because if you hadn't of been my child, then he might have left you alone, but because you were my son...he'd do anything to hurt me, and targeting you...is what would hurt me the most."

"Is that why I don't remember the Soul Society? He did something to me, and that light inside of me..."

"It's complicated Takumi, there's many things that I need to tell you about. But there's things that you aren't ready to know about yet...Takumi, I know you want to protect Rukia Kuchiki-san, but I can't let you go Takumi to the Soul Society-"

"So, they want me because they think I did these things?"

Takumi interrupted, Yoruichi nodding.

"That's right-"

"Then I'm not running."

Kisuke furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

Takumi placed a hand over his chest, showcasing his determination.

"Let me prove my innocence. This guy has to be in the Soul Society, right?" Takumi asked Kisuke who nodded. "Then let me go back, and let me prove that I didn't do these things. I wouldn't experiment on living people, that's not who I am. I know the boundaries, even me back then, I just couldn't believe I'd do something like that."

"Of course we know that, even members of the Soul Society who knew you knew it wouldn't be you who did this, but this person...they made it look like you had done it, and I couldn't obtain evidence against him before they were going to sentence you to death, and lock me away. The Soul Society is very old and traditional in the ways of dealing with these kinds of situations. Sitting down and speaking to them isn't going to change their minds."

"Then as I said, I'll have to make them see that I didn't do anything. I have to clear my name, and it is about exposing the bastard that did this to me, and to those poor people that he had turned into Hollows and save his future victims, also it is about you, Father, and what he did. He could still be plotting against the Soul Society as we speak, and if we agree with their rules or not doesn't matter, we need Shinigami, to balance the souls, and also stop Hollows. Throwing off that balance could cause chaos."

Takumi thought that he was doing the right thing.

Not just for himself, or Rukia.

But the Soul Society at large.

He wanted to also help them out, if he truly was from there, then he believed he had a duty to make sure that they were also protected, and even if he didn't have any duty, they also help balance out the world, if they were destroyed, then the world would be thrown out of balance, Takumi wasn't an idiot, so he understood what he would have to do now.

Kisuke on the other hand, while understanding Takumi's thoughts on the matter, was also highly worried.

"If you go back Takumi, it will be very dangerous. They could execute you before you even had a chance to try and get evidence-"

"Taku-chan's not going to stop." Orihime interrupted, surprising everyone. "I don't understand much about the Soul Society, and I don't know about this incident you're speaking about Urahara-san, but I do know Taku-chan, and he isn't a monster that would hurt others in experimentation like they believe. And also, Taku-chan wont leave Kuchiki-chan within the Soul Society to face down crimes, while hiding away. I know Taku-chan, he would believe that's the cowards way, and Taku-chan isn't a coward, I've seen that many times, and I know Taku-chan wont stop until he's saved her, because that's the kind of person Taku-chan is."

Takumi was touched by Orihime's words.

She truly did know him inside and out.

It didn't matter if he was from another world, this was the reason he truly did love her.

"She's right, I have to go and save her. And I'll do it with or without your help Dad. I have a month, so I'll train for about half that time, and then invade the Soul Society."

"It's going to be dangerous-"

"If it was me, would you not go?"

Takumi interrupted Kisuke who was caught in surprise.

"...That's a question you should know the answer. I wouldn't let you die Takumi. I'd do anything to make sure that you're safe."

"Then, why can't you see that I can't let Rukia-chan die? I'm not scared of the Soul Society. I know they're powerful, I saw that when I fought Byakuya, and if that's Captain level, then I need to train big time. I came at him with everything, and he still managed to beat me. Even if I have to go alone. From what you said, you saved me from the Soul Society, abandoning your home in the Soul Society, right?"

Takumi explained the best that he could, but Kisuke wasn't having any of it.

"You're not going, and that's the end of it."

Kisuke turned around, and walked away from the area, leaving Orihime, Takumi and Yoruichi in the room.

* * *

The atmosphere was intense, Takumi's eyes went to Yoruichi who bowed her neck.

"Let me talk to him."

"You're not against me going to the Soul Society?"

Yoruichi to his astonishment, shook her head.

"You're going to attempt it whether I want you to or not. However, that's just because you're like your Father, so damn stubborn, but also willing to do what is right. Takumi, Kisuke puts himself through too much when it comes for you. He blames himself for a number of things that happened to you. He thinks that if you weren't his child...then that monster wouldn't have done what he did to you."

Takumi exhaled slowly, as Yoruichi began walking out.

"Yoruichi-chan. This guy that framed me..."

Yoruichi glanced back at him, and gained a soft smile.

"The man that framed you, is a cold person, and he most likely felt threatened by your Father, but also, you Takumi." Yoruichi turned fully back to him. "Back then Takumi, you were highly intelligent for a child, even Kisuke was surprised by your intelligence, and some people felt threatened by that, however you truly were the sweetest kid I had ever met, you didn't care about being better than anyone, all you wanted to do was make peoples lives better. You were one of the youngest Shinigami's to ever be ranked in a high position through hard work and dedication to the Soul Society."

"I was...I had a high rank?"

Yoruichi let out a small laugh.

"You did, you were gifted, but you also trained diligently, and worked hard to attain your rank, and that hasn't changed, even now. You're still just as sweet, and also a hard worker. And know this Takumi. Your Father loves you. Even if his words sound harsh, he does what he does to keep you safe."

"I know...that's why I have to repay his kindness, by showing others kindness. Rukia-chan doesn't deserve to die Yoruichi-chan. She's not done anything wrong, and I couldn't save her that night, I should have been strong enough to save her. If I can do something, and can clear my name...then we don't have to run anymore. We can live normally again. That's all I want right now, to live again in Karakura with you, and Dad, and the others. I know it's going to be risky, but we can't keep running, especially if this psycho is threatening the Soul Society, and the world we live in. We need to stop him."

Yoruichi's lips curled upwards.

"Hahaha, it's as you say Takumi. I am also tired of running away. Lets take the fight to them, right?"

"Yes, that's right Yoruichi-chan. They want me, they can have me. But, I'm not going to be their prisoner, I'm going to expose the evils of the Soul Society, and help protect it from these people. It's been too long, it's time for me to go back home, and make a huge entrance."

Takumi said with a strong expression on his face, while Yoruichi adopted a smile.

"You're right Takumi, leave this with me...heeeeh, even now, you think of others before yourself, it's beautiful Takumi."

Yoruichi turned and left the room, while Takumi nodded again and again.

Orihime's eyes went towards Takumi who stretched his arms upwards.

"I best get to training."

"Ooh, me too!"

Takumi's eyes went towards Orihime in bewilderment.

"E-Eh?"

He barely could believe what she had just said.

"Yes, I'll be going with you Taku-chan, lets train together, and become stronger!"

"B-But you can't go. It's too dangerous."

Orihime put her finger out towards Takumi, as if she was scolding him.

"Now, now, Taku-chan. If you're going to a corrupted society hell bent on capturing you, then you need to have allies beside you. I remember you playing those games where you have to be strategic, and have allies beside you. You can't do this alone Taku-chan, I'm going to be here with you."

Takumi shook his head.

"It's too dangerous Orihime-chan. You could die."

"And you could die if you go alone. I don't want to lose you either Taku-chan. I know that I might not be that strong, but I will train very hard to become stronger, and use these powers to fight beside you Taku-chan."

Takumi knew that once she had set her mind to it, she wasn't going to stop until she accomplishes her goals.

"Heeeeh...I guess it doesn't matter what I say, does it?"

Orihime shook her head side to side, showcasing her loving and adoring smile.

"Nope, because if you wont follow commands, then neither will I. Besides, Kuchiki-chan is apart of our group. I'm not just going for Taku-chan, I'm going for Kuchiki-chan also, and helping to save her from this fate."

Takumi ran a hand through his blonde hair, releasing a simple yet effective laugh.

"Haha, I guess we're two of a kind, aren't we Orihime-chan?"

"I guess so Taku-chan."

Takumi and Orihime smiled at the other, while Takumi thought it was too danger, he couldn't deny that even if he brought it up again, she could say the same thing. She understood the dangers it seemed, and still wished to go.

In his eyes, he knew what might happen, but he was going to have to do his best, even if he only had himself, and with Orihime, he knew that his chances would grow. He even knew that the chances of doing it were low, but he wasn't the type to just sit back, and wait for things to happen, he was going to take action, no matter how difficult the task was, no matter what stood in his way.

* * *

Yoruichi found Kisuke sitting on a balcony, overlooking the city they were currently in. moving slowly, she sat down beside him, and looked towards him, seeing his eyes unmoving from the area of the city.

"Kisuke, what are you thinking about?"

"You should know."

Yoruichi laughed lightly.

"I was trying to give you an opening there to let you open up to me. But if you're not going to do that, then I guess that I'll have to speak up." Yoruichi exhaled deeply. "Takumi, is going to go to the Soul Society."

"Yoruichi-san, how could you say that?"

"You know he's going to get there. He's your kid, he's very resourceful, he'll find a way to the Soul Society, and try to save her. Wouldn't you rather arm him with the best possibilities than not arming him at all? Didn't you prepare for this outcome?"

"I did, but I also didn't want to believe that this outcome would come. I can't go with him to the Soul Society Yoruichi-san."

"But, I can. And I care about that boy, you know that I'd do anything I can to protect him. But, you also have to understand he has to make his own decisions, you can't shield him from the world forever Kisuke. He's his own man, and if this is the path he's taking, then as his Father, shouldn't you stand beside him? Either way, what I'm trying to say is, don't underestimate him, isn't that what happened when you fought him briefly? He also managed to fight Byakuya Kuchiki, and drew blood from him, wounding him several times. And that's before training. Just think what he'll do after training."

"But if he goes back there, then he'll...you know what will happen Yoruichi-san."

"You know that man will come for Takumi again and again no matter where he is, and Takumi understands, yet he's still willing to save her despite knowing it could lead to his death, because of what you've drilled into him, his sense of justice, and not willing to give up. He's willing to take the risks, and I know you both together can achieve amazing results, so can't you and he come up with something?"

She spoke kindly, Kisuke threw his hands up into the air.

"Haaaah, if you say that, then Father and son will have to work together~"

He gave a hollow laugh, thinking about the situation at hand and what that could mean for the future of Takumi, and what might happen to him if he went to the Soul Society, what a certain someone would do to him if he got his hands on him again...he couldn't allow that to happen, but he knew that Takumi was stubborn, just like he was.

"So, are you going to sit here and mope for a while before finally joining in? Or, are you going to just skip the moping and give Takumi the best chance that he could have?"

Kisuke scowled at Yoruichi who smirked back.

"Fine...you're right in the end, he's going to do what he needs to do. I guess that I'll have to help him out."

"Wise choice."

Kisuke released a chortle, throwing his neck backwards, releasing small breaths out of his nose, and hoped that he would be able to help Takumi out enough for him to finally be able to get out of this situation, and keep him safe.

* * *

Sometime later, Kisuke walked towards Takumi who was readying himself to begin training with his sword with Orihime beside him about to begin her own kind of training within a rocky terrain outside of the city that they were in, when he stopped him while raising his hand.

"Alright Takumi."

"Are you going to stop me?"

Kisuke released a breath as Yoruichi appeared beside him.

"Not quite."

"Then what are you going to do?"

Kisuke let out a small sigh, cracking his neck side to side.

"Though I wish you would reconsider, I very much wish that you would do that, Yoruichi-san has convinced me to help you out, so...I'll do it on two terms."

"What are these terms?"

"Yes. The first one is, you allow me to train you my way."

"Okay, and the other?"

Takumi didn't even need to think about it.

If his Father trained him, then he knew he'd grow in power.

"Take allies with you."

Takumi raised an eyebrow, glancing at Orihime, then back at Kisuke.

"Like who do you have in mind?"

"Haha, haven't you been gathering allies since the beginning of your journey as a Shinigami?" Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, understanding what he was talking about now. "Karin Kurosaki, Yuzu Kurosaki, Orihime Inoue, and Giselle Gewelle. They also have great potential to be powerful. If you're going to go to the Soul Society, then take them with you. I can't physically go, but if you agree to take them with you, then I'll accept this."

"It isn't up to me if they wish to go, it is their own choice."

Takumi retorted, Kisuke acknowledged that swiftly.

"Of course. But, those are my terms."

"I accept them."

He didn't hesitate in saying anything other than that.

He had no choice.

He had to become powerful, and he knew that he'd gain power from working with his Father, and Yoruichi rather than trying to do it on his own. Besides, he needed to have the ability to travel to the Soul Society, which Kisuke possessed at this moment in time, so this was his only choice at this moment in time.

Kisuke chortled, dusting his hands, as Takumi stepped forward, clenching his fist.

"Now, this young boy who was once a simple inventor, has to take on the Soul Society, to rescue Rukia Kuchiki-chan from a corrupted society!" Orihime's eyes widened happily as Takumi thrusted his hand to the sky. "With my friends beside me, we will head into the belly of the beast, and slice it apart, to show how flawed their society is, and-"

"What are you, the protagonist of a Shounen Manga or something?"

Karin demanded, moving closer with Yuzu and Giselle.

Takumi huffed.

"I'm the protagonist of my own life."

Karin looked on with a baffled expression on her face.

"W-What the hell does that even mean?"

Takumi went to answer, when Orihime stepped forward.

"Also!" Orihime announced, thrusting her hand to the sky. "This shy maiden with her six Princess shielding flowers, shall stand beside Taku-chan, and become the female protagonist of this story, and together, we shall save the Soul Society from themselves!"

"These people have lost it." Karin sweat dropped, as Yuzu cocked her neck. "Besides, I'm the protagonist, this is my journey, you're here for the ride. You're like my party members." Yuzu gave her a quizzing look. "I've been playing a lot of RPG's lately." Yuzu slowly nods her head, Karin's eyes going towards Takumi and Orihime. "Now, party members, it's time to support me in becoming stronger."

""We're the protagonists!""

Takumi and Orihime argued with Karin who narrowed her eyes, while Giselle slapped her hands on her face.

"Well, I don't know about protagonists, but I'm the deuteragonist~"

"What's a deuteragonist?"

Yuzu's question to Giselle was met with a goofy smile.

"Secondary to the main character in a game, or manga, or anything really~"

"Oh...then I could be like that too."

"Yup, you surely can~"

Karin and Takumi squared off while Orihime did a cutely angry expression that didn't look threatening at all.

Kisuke wondered what they were doing for a few moments…

But it then came to him that they were trying to make light of the situation, so they could be in a good head space for their training, which he found to be quite a good idea, considering they all knew they'd have to be serious soon, they decided to just have some fun like teenagers should do.

"Anyway, there they are. They've actually already agreed to come and help out, I just wanted to know what your thoughts were about it Takumi."

Takumi gazed at them, while they pulled closer, they seemed to be ready for battle.

But there was one thing Takumi noticed was Tessai crying in the corner.

"W-What happened to him?"

Karin let out a breath.

"He jumped us while we were eating dinner, I attacked him with a fork. He scared me, so I retaliated with force."

Takumi gave an odd look towards Karin who said that nonchalantly.

"W-Wonderful...but, you do know what's happening, right?"

Yuzu raised her hand.

"Of course we do, you're going to the Soul Society, so we're going to go with you."

Giselle nodded, and continued.

"Naturally, we're going to have to go with you Takumi-kun. Look what happened when we weren't with you."

Karin showed a smile on her face, which was rare for her.

"Yeah, she's right. We couldn't let you go on your own. Besides, I have to thank Kuchiki-san myself."

Takumi drew a question mark above his head.

"What for?"

Karin scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Heeeh, because of the experiences that we've shared. I'm not going to go into the sentimental crap, but this has been a life changing experience. Thanks to her, we finally got to avenge our Mother, and we got to learn much about ourselves, and our powers, Yuzu and I, I mean. Also, it helped us become friends, and I'm happy about that."

"Awwww, I knew you liked Taku-chan Karin-chan~"

Karin's eyes snapped upon Orihime.

"No! I didn't even mean like that!"

"But, maybe a little bit..."

"No! I can't stand him!"

"Ooh thanks."

Takumi spoke with a dejected look, Karin grabbed her head in frustration.

"J-Just shut up! I'm confused right now! It doesn't matter anyway! I meant as a love interest! I guess you're an alright friend!"

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or insult honestly."

"I'd take it as a compliment."

Karin breathed out roughly.

Takumi chuckled, and did just that.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying...it's dangerous. But even then, you're going to go?"

Giselle glanced at the girls, then at Takumi.

"We all have reasons for why we're going, so don't worry about that. We are all determined to do what is necessary to achieve our goals. It is simply to save a friend, or something else that we are going for."

Takumi could see that they were determined, and understood the risks, so he didn't have a leg to stand on in the end, and could only agree with a bow of his neck.

"Alright then, I guess we should begin training."

"Right you are Takumi!" Kisuke's eyes went to Yoruichi. "Yoruichi-san, you have something to teach Takumi, don't you?"

Yoruichi moved forward to Takumi.

"Yes, that's right Takumi. I want to teach you something that many others don't know about, and only very limited people have ever been able to pull off. However, I'm sure that you can manage to pull it off Takumi, so what do you say?"

"S-Sure, I could do that. So what is it?"

Yoruichi smirked, and drew closer to Takumi's ear, giving it a sensual lick, drawing an annoyed look from Orihime, Giselle, and Yuzu, even a mild look from Karin herself, she didn't look pleased.

"Don't worry about that, it's a technique I'm picky about teaching, but for you my adorable Takumi, I'll gladly reveal the secrets~"

"O-Okay, s-sounds great!"

"Ooh, it is great, very great~"

Takumi chuckled as he felt Yoruichi's hands crawling across his body, running up and down his chest, while Orihime bit her bottom lip, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, and how she should try and intervene.

"While you're doing that Takumi, I'll also be training you in various different battle techniques to prepare you for the Soul Society, and as in the case with Karin-san, I'll be helping you attain your Shikai."

Karin's eyes flashed when Kisuke said that.

"I'm going to get an awesome power like Takumi's?! Something even better maybe?!"

Karin couldn't hide her astonishment.

To be able to use her Zanpakuto in a new and interesting way, it was something she had to admit was something she would want.

Kisuke released a bellowing laugh.

"Hahaha, something like that! Every Zanpakuto is different after all, so who knows what's going to happen! But, for sure, it is going to be interesting to see you attain your Shikai!"

"Alright then, now we're talking!"

Karin seemed to be excited for it, while Yuzu and Giselle glanced at each other.

"Hey Giselle-san, what are we going to do? We aren't Shinigami's or anything, so I am not sure what we are supposed to do."

Kisuke, having heard what Yuzu had said, gave a wide smile on his face.

"Even though you aren't Shinigami, I still have a few things that you girls could learn."

Giselle waved her hand.

"No thanks, I'm gonna practice my power of the Zombie. Might come in useful in case we need to Zombie anyone."

Kisuke shuddered.

"S-So, you're going to make more Zombie Chizuru's then?"

"No, there's only one Zombie Chizuru's in this world, and she's it. No, I'm going to try and master it to a point that I can take over peoples bodies quicker, and easier with my blood, so we can build an army if we have too."

Kisuke could get that, then he turned to Yuzu.

"Yuzu-san, I'll have someone help train you to concentrate your spiritual power more, so you don't waste as much energy drawing in so you can fire off more arrows. Also, general training is going to be what you need to achieve now."

"Oooh, thank you very much Urahara-san!"

Kisuke waved a paper fan in front of his face, showcasing a happy go lucky expression on his face.

"Ooh, Orihime-chan. While Takumi is busy with training, I've got someone to help you train as well!" Orihime tilted her head curiously, only to see Hiyori jump down. "There she is."

"W-Wait!" Takumi panicked, as Hiyori smirked. "D-Don't you think she's a little extreme!? She doesn't take it easy on me, she might kill Orihime-chan!"

"Baldy shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!" Hiyori chastised, Takumi blinked in hard surprise that Hiyori was so angry. "Women need to be tough, I'm going to show the Princess here about how to be strong willed, and how to destroy her enemies!"

"But, she's really a gentle flower! You can't turn her into a hardened battle warrior!"

Takumi argued with Hiyori who didn't look pleased in the slightest.

"Then I'm going to turn her into a fierce warrior that will obliterate her enemies! She can do this! She is all powerful!"

Hiyori snapped while Orihime waved her hands up and down.

"Ooh wow, so I'm going to be trained by Hiyori-san huh~? That's going to be great!"

Takumi wasn't so sure about that.

He was scared for Orihime's safety at this point.

"Erm, Orihime-chan, she's actually a very dangerous person, perhaps it would be better if you didn't follow her..."

"It's alright Taku-chan, I'm going to do my best!"

"But..."

"She said she's fine with it baldy." Takumi cringed at Hiyori's words. "Don't interfere with our training, focus on your own. By the time I'm done with this girl, she'll be able to deal with Seated Officers of the Gotei 13 easily." Her eyes drifted to Orihime, who smiled gently. "You want to help your precious Taku don't you?"

"Ooh yes, that's right Hiyori-san!"

"Then lets begin."

"Yes!"

Takumi wasn't so sure about that.

He was worried about Orihime, and what Hiyori was going to do with her, or to her.

Takumi watched as they walked off, and hoped that she would be alright.

"Either way, training begins now! We'll be training for ten days, and then it will take a further seven to open the doorway, so that will leave you thirteen days to rescue Kuchiki-san!" Kisuke announced, his eyes dragging themselves to Karin. "Follow me young Kurosaki, and I'll assist you in acquiring your Shikai."

"Alright then, lets get going."

Karin walked off with Kisuke, while Giselle went off on her own. Yuzu went with Tessai so he could help her train, while Takumi glanced at Yoruichi, seeing that she was looking at him with a passive, yet also expression that was quite adorable.

"So, what are we going to do Yoruichi-chan?"

"Right. So I'm going to teach you something that it very difficult to learn. You have to be a master of Hakuda, and Kido, and combine them together. It is a skill that requires dedication and time to learn. But if you learn it, then combining its power with your Zanpakuto, will allow you to become even stronger than ever before."

"Great, that sounds awesome! So, what's that called anyway?"

Yoruichi gained a large grin.

"It's called Shunko."

"Shunko...huh. Alright then, lets get to training."

Yoruichi chuckled deeply, disappearing in a flash of speed, appearing behind him, taking his Zanpakuto, and throwing it away at a good distance. His eyes went back to her, seeing that her hand was caressing his back, and moving lower.

"No need for Zanpakuto right now, time to learn to fight with your hands and feet Takumi."

"Right-"

Yoruichi didn't waste time, and delivered a hard punch to Takumi's back.

His eyes popped out of his head, and was flung backwards, smashing across the ground before he came to his feet, to see Yoruichi appeared beside him, her foot swinging for his face, so he went to block it with his hand, when Yoruichi disappeared, appearing behind him, and delivered a double kick to his back, slamming him down into the ground, which shattered upon impact.

"Y-Yoruichi-chan!"

"Your enemies aren't going to take it easy on you. Like Byakuya Kuchiki." Takumi recalled Byakuya, as Yoruichi pointed her fingers down. "You remember, don't you? How he managed to beat you. The next time you meet within the Soul Society, he isn't going to start off at no power, you're going to have to be on his level from the beginning."

"I know that!"

"Then show me your power Takumi! Show me why you're Kisuke's son! That man is resourceful, and strong. Show me that you're even better than he is, show me the potential I know you have inside of you Takumi!"

Takumi turned to see Yoruichi firing off a Byakurai blast at close range, so Takumi did the same thing, the lightning bolts clashing together in a violent thunderstorm of electrical energy, forcing Yoruichi backwards, while she jumped in the air, moving faster and faster than Takumi could hope to achieve at that moment.

She appeared beside him, so he swung his hand outwards, but she wasn't there.

It was an afterimage technique that Takumi wasn't expecting, then he felt a foot kick him from behind, slamming him so hard that his body was lifted forward, and shot away from Yoruichi's body.

Takumi skidded in the air, turning to see Yoruichi right on him, so he placed his hands outwards, and announced "Bakudo 37: Tsuriboshi!" creating a net of Kido energy, a bouncy energy, Yoruichi's foot hit the net, and was pushed backwards by the elastic movements of the net, only for an wide arc of yellow energy to rip through the net, heading for Yoruichi's body, managing to cut her leg due to the speed that he used.

But then he appeared above her, with his leg outstretched, and slammed it downwards, forcing Yoruichi to block it with her arm, Yoruichi smirking at the sight.

"Now you get it. Fighting doesn't always mean coming up with a complicated strategy, it sometimes means having to adapt to situations as they come about Takumi, and that's what you're going to be doing now as I build up your body to handle the Shunko's power."

"Right, understood!"

Takumi came at Yoruichi, who did the same thing, and continued to train for a good while.

* * *

The next night, having had trained for two full days, Karin sat within her room, her hands behind her neck, and she let out a small growling sound.

"Damn, couldn't awake Shikai today either..."

She hated it.

She had tried contacting her Zanpakuto spirit, but she couldn't get into contact with him or her, whatever it was going to be.

While she was thinking about it, there was a knock at her door.

"Karin-chan, it's me. You've not come for dinner yet, are you not hungry?"

Karin let out a small breath.

"I'm fine thanks Takumi."

She replied with a calmness that surprised Takumi.

"Are you sure you're okay? You called me Takumi instead of idiot."

"I'm fine...actually, come in for a sec." Takumi did so, entering, and sat down on a nearby chair. "Say, you've awakened your Shikai, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"So, why can't I? I'm trying my best here, but the spirit doesn't want to know me. It's like the spirit is basically saying "Stop bothering me!" or something like that. I just...ugh, I don't want to fall behind you guys while you grow stronger and stronger."

Takumi could see that Karin was struggling.

She was unsure of how she was going to proceed with her training, and it frustrated her, he knew that feeling all too well.

"It will come Karin-chan. I didn't get it right away either. I got mine under a high stress situation. Opening up a dialogue with my Zanpakuto can be difficult, but it isn't impossible. I'm not saying you will have to take that extreme to gain your own, but it will take time."

"Even then, I want to become strong, like you guys are. Seeing you Takumi, can I be that strong?"

"Karin-chan, you can do anything you put your mind too. Sounds cheesy I know, but remember Yuichi-kun? You saved him, without me being there. You stepped forward during the invasion of Karakura from Hollows, and stopped that Dondochakka-san, and fought him hard. Your Zanpakuto will be watching all of this. I'm not sure how it is for everyone, but my own wished to see something from me that made her want to become closer with me. Maybe your Zanpakuto is waiting for the same thing, that something that tells him or her that you're ready for their power."

Karin rubbed her chin in thought.

"So, my Zanpakuto might come out if I keep pursing my own way of growing stronger?"

"Exactly! I'm sure that they are just waiting for your chance to shine, and for you to overcome whatever it is that's blocking your connection. Give it time, don't become frustrated, and just do your best."

Karin adopted a light smile.

"I guess you're right. Thanks Takumi, I just feel like I'm not doing anything, just sat there with my Zanpakuto on my lap, while you guys are growing in power."

"Trust me Karin-chan, you're not just sat there. You are improving in your own way and not falling behind us. You're probably going to be one of the strongest out of all of us. As I've said before, your power is strong, right now it is unrefined, refine that power of yours, and it will allow you to compete with many high levelled opponents."

Karin felt good about that.

It just made her feel as if she wasn't dead weight, useless.

Now she was going to do her best in everything that she was doing now.

* * *

The next day, which was the third day of training, everyone was getting into a good rhythm of training, Orihime was getting stronger with Hiyori's help, so was Yuzu with the help of Tessai, and Giselle was off doing her own thing. Takumi was able to keep up with Yoruichi more and more, showcasing his speed increase, and he also got trained by Kisuke in between helping out Karin.

Speaking of Karin however, she wasn't having so much luck.

"Damn!" Karin snapped, her eyes going for Kisuke's. "My Zanpakuto isn't interested in speaking to me! I've sat here for like two days now, and it doesn't respond to me!"

"It just takes time."

Kisuke soothed, but Karin was becoming impatient.

Though she remembered what Takumi had said, she still felt as if she was just sitting around and wasting time, and thought about what she could do to impress her Zanpakuto spirit, so she could work with them and use their power.

"But we don't have time. We only have so long, if I don't attain Shikai, then I'll be lagging behind the others."

Kisuke pursed his lips.

"Maybe so, but it can't be rushed. You have to connect to your inner desires, your soul Karin-san. It might be difficult, but you've got to think about what's at stake. Your Zanpakuto responds to your souls own desires."

"My souls desires huh..."

"Right, your Zanpakuto is apart of you, something you fight with, not something you fight against. Hear the voice of your Zanpakuto, they're always calling out to their master. That's all the Zanpakuto wants, to start a dialogue with their Shinigami, to help them become stronger, and I'm sure that's what yours wants as well. But you're not focusing on that, you're just focusing on what might happen in the Soul Society, and what your friends are doing. You have to think about yourself, and how you can become strong. It doesn't matter what the others are doing."

Karin believed she understood what he was saying.

Though it was easier said than done.

She laid her Zanpakuto across her lap, and closed her eyes.

She thought about her Zanpakuto, and speaking to it.

Whatever it would be…

But her mind kept drifting back to what the others were doing, and how strong they were training while she was just sat there, trying to speak to her Zanpakuto.

Karin then said "No." slapping her cheeks.

She knew that she'd have to focus.

She was doing just as much as they were.

She was trying to become strong in her own way.

She remembered what Takumi had said…

"_Please, I'll prove my strength, just let me talk to you..._"

In the end, that's all she could do.

She had to plead with the spirit.

She was willing and waiting to prove herself to her Zanpakuto spirit...

* * *

After sometime had passed, Karin's eyes shot open to reveal that she was within a different world all together.

The buildings were the wrong way up...or rather, she was standing on the side of the building, a large skyscraper, with many filling around her. Rain fell in the wrong direction. It was going upwards to the sky, rather than going downwards like rain should.

"W-Waaaaaaaaah!"

Karin screamed, quickly thrusting her body backwards, trying to cling onto the building.

Her eyes looked at the rain flowing in the wrong direction, and at the buildings around.

She couldn't see anything for miles, other than buildings.

No people, no nothing.

"This isn't like Inception, is it?"

Karin's first thoughts were that, echoing them out within the abyss of skyscrapers.

"Hahaha! Inception huh?!"

A laughing could be heard ringing out through the area.

Karin recognized the sound of the voice that was laughing as well…

It was her own.

"What are you doing standing there girl?!"

Karin's eyes shot left to see a standing sideways version of her waving at her.

However, unlike Karin, this version was wall white, the inverted version of her. Even the hair was bright white. The eyes however, looked so dense...so evil looking. They reminded her of a Hollows eyes, always just staring at her form, with a creepy grin on her face.

"W-Who the hell are you?! Why do you have my face?!"

Karin demanded from the being before her.

A copycat, or something else, she didn't know.

All she knew was that this being before her, was something out a horror movie.

The maniacal grin spread across her face scared her.

"Hahahahahaha!" The White Karin laughs. "You don't know who I am?! That's rich, that truly is rich coming from you!"

"W-What does that mean?"

Karin demanded, only for the white Karin to lick her lips sensually, something the normal Karin wouldn't do, but seeing her other self do it, was very surprising.

"How cute, you coming in here, making it rain."

"Rain...why is it raining?"

Karin had to wonder that.

She also thought about asking why it was raining the wrong way.

But the White Karin just grinned at her, which was very unnerving.

"I'm not good enough to be a Shinigami!" White Karin gave a judging tone to Karin. "That's what you think, right? Watching your friends growing stronger, and all you do is sit on the ground trying to talk to me! Hahahaha! That's so precious Karin-chan!"

"Talk to you...I was trying to reach my Zanpakuto..." Karin's mind began to work, and pulled closer. "But, that would mean..."

"Ding, ding, ding~ We have a winner~ Can you tell who I am?"

Karin believed she understood what was going on at that moment.

"You're...my Zanpakuto? But, you look like a Hollow..."

Karin didn't understand it.

Takumi never said his own resembled a Hollow when she had asked. In fact, he said that she looked different to him. But hers looked exactly like her, only a Hollow like version of her, without the mask of course, but the eyes were a dead giveaway.

Hollow Karin releases a chortle, which sends shivers down Karin's spine.

"Ooh, the girl catches on quickly. Hey, maybe you aren't as stupid as you think."

Karin felt hurt by the Hollow Karin saying that.

"I...I don't think that..."

"Yes you do." Hollow Karin spoke with an indifferent tone. "You think that Yuzu is smarter than you are, Takumi's stronger than you are, Orihime's suited to more support than you are, and Giselle...well, she's in her own world."

"Yeah, she surely is..."

Karin sweat dropped that she actually agreed with her Hollow/Zanpakuto.

"But, that's what you think, isn't it Karin-chan~? Thinking that your friends are better than you are, makes me sick! You are powerful! Stronger than anyone, and you act as if you're not!"

Karin didn't expect that.

This was like she was on a ride she couldn't get off.

But this was more terrifying as this rung true, she just didn't want to admit to it.

"I...I...I..."

Karin was lost for words.

This Hollow was targeting her inner doubts, and she didn't know how to break out of them.

"I, I, I, what Karin?" Karin backed away as the Hollow chuckled darkly. "You drive me crazy! You suppress your feelings all the damn time!"

"I have to do that!"

Karin snapped back, but the Hollow slammed her hand against the building, cracking it deeply.

"To spare others feelings, right?" Karin gave a single nod. "Then, what about your own feelings? Do you not matter at all?"

"Of course I do, but I have to not be a burden on others..."

"So, you're willing to be a burden now because you don't accept yourself at all? Because that's what you are, if you don't accept your own powers, and begin expressing yourself, you'll be left behind." Hollow Karin cups Karin's chin, and pulls her closer, grinning ear to ear. "I have an idea, how about I take over your body?"

"N-No..."

Karin meekly said.

This thing was going to take over her body?

What could she even do against something like that?

The Hollow Karin however gave a wicked grin that sent worry through her system.

"Shhhh, don't worry, it wont hurt a bit. I'll be all your desires made whole. We'll show the world your naughty side Karin~ Ooh, maybe I'll go and touch that Takumi boy~ Hahaha, don't deny it, you've thought about him naked before, haven't you?"

"Never! I don't even like him like that! And if I did, then-"

"You'd suppress it for Yuzu blablabla~" The Hollow acted disinterested in Karin, while petting her face with her thin fingers, which felt like ice crawling across her skin. "Heard it all before Karin, and I'm not impressed. Hmmm, taking you over, now that sounds pretty good. In fact...lets do this Karin, I'll be the one in control from now on..."

Hollow Karin pulled closer, and closer to Karin, who felt afraid of what was going to happen next…

Then she felt her world turning upside down.

Her body fell off the building, and she saw that the rain began falling against her skin. But, the rain then turned into thick blades. Each and everyone seemed to be unique in design, but she didn't know which was hers, and which were other peoples.

Her eyes went to the Hollow who gave her a condescending look.

"Goodbye Karin."

Karin's eyes began to close, as the darkness threatened to swallow her whole...

* * *

Meanwhile, in the real world, an eruption of energy surrounds Karin's body, forcing Kisuke backwards, and the others to stop training when a shrill scream came from Karin herself, engulfing the area around them.

"K-Karin?!"

Yuzu panicked, and went to run over to her, when Giselle stopped her.

"Don't, something's going on. I sense...but, that can't be..."

Giselle seemed to be in disbelief…

Takumi looked stunned as a mask began to form on Karin's face. A Hollows mask at that. She thrashed around, as waves of power tore through the ground around her, breaking it, destroying it out of existence.

Red beams of energy flashed into the sky, turning it into a darkened blood colour. Cries from Karin's soul erupted outwards.

Takumi felt worried for Karin, turning to his Father for answers.

"What the hell is going on? Is she the same as Hiyori-chan and the rest of them? But I don't understand something. How's that possible?"

Hiyori paused her own training, glancing at Kisuke who bit his lower lip.

"She's a freaking Vizard!?"

"It seems that she might be, Takumi, Hiyori-san. I always thought there was a chance...but to see this happening now...if she doesn't regain control soon, then she wont regain control ever again."

Yuzu, having heard what Kisuke said, snapped at him.

"You can't let my sister simply die while some Hollow takes over her body! Do something!"

"I could but it isn't going to be me that does it."

"Then...I-I will do something to save my sister!"

Yuzu broke away from Giselle's hand, and rushed forward.

"Yuzu-chan wait!"

Takumi called as Orihime cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Ooh my God, Karin-chan's soul is screaming right now...those cries are that of pain and anguish..."

Takumi mentally agreed with her, as he rushed forward to Yuzu, just as she got beside Hollow Karin. Hollow Karin's yellow eyes shot for Yuzu, who put on a pleading expression, seeing how her sister was growing in power, and also, her screams were becoming louder and louder.

"Karin, it's me, Yuzu! Please don't worry, we're going to help you out!"

Yuzu tried to connect with her sister.

But the Hollow wasn't having any of it.

Raising her fist, she went to strike Yuzu, when Takumi grabbed Yuzu, flashing her away from Hollow Karin. Her eyes went towards Takumi, who looked right back at the Hollow Karin's own, not wavering for even a second.

"Takumi-kun, Karin is..."

Yuzu didn't know how to say it.

She was immensely worried about her sister, and what could happen to her.

"Don't worry, Karin-chan's still in there somewhere, fighting. You have to remind her of you Yuzu, that's what Karin loves more than anything." Yuzu looked confused, as Takumi pointed towards her. "You Yuzu-chan, she loves you more than anything in this world. If anyone that can reach her, then it is you."

"But, what can we do Takumi-kun…? I'm scared for Karin..."

Takumi understood that, and went to speak when Kisuke did instead.

"Takumi, this is a good challenge, subdue Hollow Karin there. Then I can have something to help Yuzu-san here help out Karin-san."

Takumi looked at the Hollow, and saw how it was thrashing around.

Takumi knew it would be difficult.

But he had to do this for Karin, so he stepped forward, cocking his Zanpakuto.

"Ravage, Kinhime."

A lightning bolt shoot down, overcoming his sword, and changes to that of the zigzagged lightning bolt.

His eyes meet the Hollows eyes, and her body began to undergo what seemed to be a transformation.

"Usually, the Hollow hole is formed, but in her case, the mask is being formed first. Just what is Karin-chan? And why is this happening with her?"

Takumi thought about it.

But he couldn't come to a good answer at that moment.

"Karin-chan! Listen to me, I want to help you! But, I don't want to hurt you either! So please listen to me, and let me help you!"

The Hollow took an aggressive step forward, and opened her mouth.

From her mouth, a Cero began to form.

"Holy crap, Cero!"

Giselle announced, and went to step in, when Takumi swung his blade forward, creating a thin needle of electricity, which pierced Karin's head, and sent off a shock to the head, Hollow Karin's head shot upwards, as she unleashed the Cero into the sky, encompassing the sky in the brilliant crimson energy.

"S-She's really powerful..."

Orihime could sense it.

Hollow Karin's energy output wasn't a joke.

"It seems that you're not going to respond to reason...alright then Karin-chan, I'll help you out! Sorry about this!"

Takumi takes a step forward, as Hollow Karin let out a growling sound, and shot forward at a high speed, gripping the sword that she had, and swung it for Yuzu, so Takumi parried the blade, however Hollow Karin's strength was quite impressive, forcing Takumi off his feet, so Takumi did a back flip, slamming his foot into Hollow Karin's upper body, using his new found strength from Yoruichi's training to push her backwards and swung out his blade, shooting off a bolt of electricity at the Hollow Karin.

Hollow Karin let out a cry, and swung out her sword, which shot off an energy slash towards Takumi, who flashed out of the way, only for Hollow Karin to appear right beside him, thrusting her blade towards him.

"Karin-chan! Please stop if you're in there!"

Takumi parried the blade away from his form, and then swung his sword outwards, shooting off a bolt of lightning at close range.

Hollow Karin crossed her blade, and took the shot of electricity, which forced Hollow Karin backwards, skidding through the air, before the Hollow opened her hand, gathering what seemed to be red energy.

"Bala..."

Hiyori murmured, and went to step in, when Kisuke stopped her.

"Don't interfere."

Hiyori erupted into a mild rage.

"Oi Urahara! What is it with you trying to let your son die?!"

"I'm not trying to let my son die, I'm seeing how he's going to change the Soul Society. He needs to stand on his own feet. I wont be able to step in during the Soul Society, and he has to deal with the unexpected battles that will crop up like this."

"Even then, this seems dangerous..."

"It is, but this is real life."

Hiyori knew that was true, but she didn't want to see Takumi, or Karin, hurt because of this.

Hollow Karin thrusted her hand forward, shooting off a blast of red energy for her body.

Swinging out his blade, Takumi shot off a needle of electricity, coming into contact with the energy, and forced it to explode. However, Hollow Karin continued firing off more and more Bala bullets towards his form, more than he could handle with the levels of speed that he had.

So rather than take it, he created a shield of electricity before him, and blocked off the shots from Hollow Karin's power. The energy damaged the shield, but the shield regenerated itself with the power of his Zanpakuto, which impressed Yoruichi.

"It seems that our little Takumi is becoming a man after all, he's handling himself against a friend that needs to be stopped."

"Thinking practically, he knows that Karin-san is under there, but he also knows that if he took it easy on her, he'd have lost the fight, and lost Karin-san. He understands that sometimes it is a necessary component to battle to fight those who you care for to save them."

Yoruichi agreed with that mentality, showcasing her slight worry, but also appreciation for how far Takumi had come since the beginning of the time he became a Shinigami thanks to the power that Rukia had given him.

When Hollow Karin stopped the Bala barrage, Takumi dashed forward at high speeds. Hollow Karin growled angrily, and pierced the earth with her sword, which sent off a radical burst of intense energy, that shattered the ground and sent that off towards Takumi.

Knowing that he'd have to counteract that, he placed his hands outwards, and announced "Hado 57: Daichi Tenyo!" activating the Kido which began lifting up pieces of the broken earth, akin to telekinesis, and launched them at Karin's body, while he used his blade to coat them in electricity.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Hollow Karin roared angrily as she was bombarded by the attacks of the ground from Takumi's floating debris. And because of the electricity surrounding it, it also shocked her body in different areas, which impressed Kisuke.

"He's really coming along quite well, mixing in Kido with his Zanpakuto more and more."

"Yes, it seems that is the case."

Yoruichi watched with pride as Takumi used this chance to charge up his Zanpakuto's power, the electricity swimming around his form, becoming heavier, and heavier forms of lightning, which he pierced into the ground.

From around Karin, sparks of electricity began to form as she was being bombarded by the rubble around the area. The electricity continued to form around her, but became sharper, and also more thick, staying in the air around her body.

The Hollow tried to touch the lightning, but her hand was repelled by the electricity.

"Electric Cage!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Announcing that, the cage formed fully, and began shrinking around Karin's form, the bars made of electric shocked Karin's form as it grew smaller and smaller, sending the electricity through Hollow Karin's body.

"Hey, if you're going to do something Dad, do it now! I can't keep her pinned forever!"

"Right you are." Kisuke flashed to Yuzu, hugged her form, and then appeared before Hollow Karin. "Now Yuzu-san, I'm going to help you enter Karin-san's subconscious, so you can do what you need to do to help your sister."

"Y-Yes, leave it to me!"

Yuzu spoke with a strong expression on her face, as Kisuke began doing what he needed to do.

* * *

Karin fell through the earth, with the blades swimming around her.

Her eyes darkened more and more, her body felt heavier.

Hollow Karin kept above her, and spoke to her in condescending words to her.

"You're useless."

"...Maybe you're right..."

Karin didn't have the strength to fight against the Hollow.

Melancholic feelings began to fill her mind and soul.

The Hollow was taking over, and she couldn't fight it anymore…

"You're not going to be able to get control over your body."

"...I guess you're right..."

Hollow Karin showed a toothy grin.

"Hey, I'll go to the Soul Society, and rescue this Rukia for you, how about that?"

"Whatever..."

Karin had given up.

She couldn't face down the Hollow.

It was too powerful.

It felt like she was dying.

Her hand swam through the air, feeling different blades touching her hand, as her eyes darkened, closing...

"Karin!"

Karin's eyes shot open.

Hearing Yuzu's voice, she saw Yuzu before her, trying to reach out to her.

"Y-Yuzu...Yuzu!"

"Karin! It's okay! I'm here now! I'll always come for you!"

Hollow Karin's eyes became annoyed.

"So sisters come. Pleasant." Hollow Karin cupped her fingers together, and placed it towards her, red energy forming. "Get lost pest."

Yuzu gasped as the energy grew larger, and larger.

Karin watched with a heavy heart…

She had to do something.

Anything to help out her sister.

She wasn't going to allow the Hollow to harm her sister.

No matter what the Hollow did to her, it didn't matter...

"N-No! Stop it! Stop it now!"

Hollow Karin gave a sly grin.

"What did you say?"

Karin steeled herself, and stopped herself from falling, her eyes shooting for the Hollow itself.

"I said, stop it! You are not harming my sister!"

"And why's that?"

The Hollow demanded from Karin who showed a grin.

"Everything you said, was true. I don't express myself more than I should, nor do I admit how I feel about the people around me. But you also have to understand something about me."

Hollow Karin raised her eyebrows.

"And what's that?"

Karin swam up to Yuzu's body, and embraced her sister tightly.

"Anyone that targets my sister, and they'll have to answer to me!"

Upon hearing her words, Hollow Karin let out a laugh.

"Finally."

"What?"

Karin demanded, as the Hollow directed her hand downwards.

As she did, a sword came up from the sea of swords falling down to the ground, and she clutched it tightly within her hand. The blade itself looked like a khyber knife, with a beautiful cloth wrapped around the handle, which extended outwards a good deal, but wasn't encumbering, and the cloth was a mixture of white, and black. The sword itself, half of it was white, where the blade was, and the other half was black, to Karin it looked rather beautiful.

"You've finally begun moving forward. Hah, and you were ready to give up as well. But, it seems that sister here wouldn't let you fall."

"I never would! Karin is the strongest person I know, and she wont allow you to take over her!"

Yuzu spoke with assured feelings, Karin looked on with pride.

"Yuzu...you're right." Her eyes shot for the Hollow, who raised an eyebrow. "I'm not going to give my body up to you! I don't care who you think you are, I'm Karin Kurosaki, and I'm going to the Soul Society! So tell me what your damn name is, I need your power, but I wont be your slave either!"

Hollow Karin began clapping her hands together.

"You've passed, the first test."

"F-First...y-you mean there's others?!"

"For now, no. But in the future...remember this Karin, you aren't alone. Show any weakness, and I'll be right there, ready to take over."

Karin steeled herself, not allowing her to bend to the will of the Hollow before her.

"Don't worry about that, I'll be strong."

"Wonderful. So, you want to know my name, is that right?"

"Right."

Hollow Karin released a chortle, and cupped Karin's ear, once making it over to her, and whispered her name.

Then she pulled back, and placed her hands behind her head.

"There, you can go now."

"T-That's it? No fight or anything? No tricks?"

"Can't be bothered fighting right now. Besides, you'd not be a good opponent right now, when you're stronger, we'll be having a battle. Keep yourself alive until then, Karin."

Karin shuddered, but looked at Yuzu who gave her a nod.

Karin nodded also, and grabbed the blade within Hollow Karin's hand.

"Don't worry, I will be doing."

Once she said that, Yuzu and Karin disappeared, leaving Hollow Karin to herself, and she laughed to herself.

"What an interesting girl."

The Hollow watched as the sun began to come out, which made the Hollow smile to herself.

* * *

Back in the real world, Karin's eyes opened, as the Hollow features around her fell away. Takumi released the cage, as Karin fell forward, clutching her Zanpakuto in her hand, and stared at it with a smile on her face, while Takumi noticed that from her robes, a Hollow's mask fell out, landing on the floor, narrowing his eyes at the sight of it.

"Karin!"

Yuzu caught her sister in her arms, and peered down at the exhausted looking Karin.

"Hey Yuzu...thanks for coming." Her eyes went to Takumi. "And thanks for stopping me from hurting others."

"No problem."

Karin nodded slowly, but then her pissed off eyes went to Kisuke.

"As for you, did you know that a freaking Hollow was inside of me?! How does that even work anyway?!"

"I-I don't know! Perhaps it was from when your Mother was attacked or something!"

"You little!" She held out her sword, and showed it to Kisuke. "Meet Zangetsu!"

Kisuke was happy that Karin had finally achieved Shikai, and felt the power coming off of her.

But Kisuke then became fearful when seeing Karin's eyes.

"Hehehe, you're not going to do anything, are you?"

"No, just come here, I want to talk."

Karin's voice was low, which worried Kisuke immensely.

"N-No, lets keep distance between us."

Karin shook her head, and stood up.

"No, lets talk. Come here. My sword has something's to say."

"Karin-san..."

"Get here!"

Karin charged for Kisuke who let out a cry and began running away while she chased him with her oversized blade, but she handled it as if it was a normal sized shape, the others began to laugh, while Takumi bent down to the mask, picking it up, and held it tightly.

"_Karin-chan's got Hollow powers, and its melded with her Shinigami powers...that wouldn't come from a Hollow attack, not a normal one. Something must have happened to either her Father, or Mother, or both for this to have happened...but, if she has Hollow powers, then she's like Hiyori-chan and the others, I guess they'll try and recruit her...but more importantly than that, if she's got a Hollow inside of her, she's got a power boost, but it could be dangerous...I'll have to keep watch over her just incase...but, with Yuzu-chan around, I'm sure that she'll be able to ground Karin-chan in our world, their bond is rather beautiful after all._"

Takumi gave a delighted smile as Karin continued chasing after Kisuke with her sword, and managed to even slice his hat completely in half, which he found to be amazing to see, since Kisuke was quite fast.

But more than that, it was a chance to have some levity in the situation and prepare for what was going to come next.

* * *

Meanwhile, within the Soul Society, Nemu had finally gotten her interview with Toshiro. For 'support' Rangiku, Toshiro's very busty Lieutenant came along, and couldn't help but smile wickedly towards the smaller girl, who in turn scowled up towards her.

"What are you smirking for Matsumoto?"

"I'm just surprised you decided to do an interview, is all. I didn't know I wasn't allowed to smile~"

"When you smile, it means something not good is about to happen. Also, I only chose to do so under the advice of Hinamori, saying that this would be good for Nemu Kurotsuchi's development with her new personality seemingly coming through. Though I do feel complex about this situation."

"Just complex about the situation?" Rangiku hid a smile as her eyes went to Toshiro's bust. "Nothing else, you feel complex about?"

A tick mark appeared above the white princesses head, which made Rangiku snicker.

"For that comment, you can have double paper work."

"Ooh come on! I was kidding!"

"Don't care."

Rangiku snorted as Nemu entered the room.

Her face remained stoic, as she sat down on a chair, with a table separating her, and Toshiro. Rangiku sat a distance behind Toshiro, and watched with keen eyes.

"Thank you for attending this interview."

"R-Right, but I'm still a bit unclear what you're going to ask."

Toshiro wanted confirmation, so Nemu bent her neck.

"Yes, confirmation is about to be given. Please answer the questions as honestly as you can, it will help with my research."

"Okay...I'll do my best I guess."

"Yes, feel relaxed, these questions will not take long." Nemu brought out some official looking papers. "Now to begin." Nemu continued. "What is your bust size?"

"I'm leaving."

Toshiro went to stand when Rangiku placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait Captain, she's just asking for your bust size, don't become angry."

"I don't get why that matters though."

Nemu raised her head.

"I am interested to see where you rank between different females within, and out of the Soul Society. If you choose to answer this question is your decision."

"A-Ah, okay..."

Toshiro quickly gave her bust size, which made Rangiku laugh.

Toshiro's eyes shot for her, so she 'zipped' her mouth closed.

"Yes, now what is your ideal partner?"

Toshiro wished she hadn't come to the meeting now, it was so complicated with Nemu.

"Erm...well, I guess...strong...is that good?"

"Yes, that is fine." Nemu wrote down some words on some paper, before looking back up. "Would you say you're more attracted to blonde, white, red, or black haired people?"

"I-I've never thought about it before..."

"Ooh, I like myself a blonde! Whites not bad either~"

Rangiku chimed in, Toshiro shooting her eyes for Rangiku who once again 'zipped' her mouth.

Nemu then produced three pictures.

One was Takumi, one was Renji, and the final one was a man who had 69 tattooed on his face, and she placed them before Toshiro.

"Out of these three individuals, who would be your ideal choice?"

"Between them?" Toshiro wanted to make sure, seeing Nemu nod. "Well...erm..."

"Don't pick Shuhei, that 69 tattoo might be what he's into~ And God Renji, don't pick him, he'll be whipping you hahaha~"

Toshiro gave Rangiku a questioning look, seeing that her face was red.

She also noticed a sake bottle within her hands, indicating that Rangiku was a little drunk.

Rangiku then 'zipped' her mouth once more, igniting annoyance within Toshiro's eyes.

She sighed deeply at her Lieutenant's actions, as her eyes went over Takumi, Renji, and the newly named Shuhei.

"Erm...between them...I suppose on looks alone...though I am sure that individual is..." Her finger went to Takumi, Nemu looked with keen (for her) interest, and wrote down some notes. "...I guess it would be him. But, I'm not so sure..."

"I see, so you would choose that individual. It seems that my theories about you and him being interlinked are coming true. How would you feel if he became your boyfriend?"

"H-He's a criminal though, right? That's Takumi Urahara-"

"Wait, that's Takumi Urahara?!" Rangiku yelled, grabbing the picture, and looked at it intently, before her face turned even redder. "Damn, he's quite cute~ Those beautiful sparkling eyes that seem to go on forever, and that face of his, he looks so adorable~ I want to cuddle him, he doesn't look like a crazy killer to me~"

Toshiro gave Rangiku worried looks, while Nemu raised an eyebrow.

"I see, so you are also interested Lieutenant Matsumoto?"

Rangiku showed a playful smile.

"Maybe~"

"Then, I'd like to interview you after Captain Hitsugaya, who has confirmed feelings for Takumi Urahara."

"I never confirmed anything!"

Toshiro yelled, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Rangiku bellowed happily.

"Sure, I'll let you interview me! I'm really loving the new you Nemu-chan!"

Nemu bowed her head.

"I am honoured for your words. Then, allow me to finish my interview with Captain Hitsugaya, then we can begin."

"Yup, you go for it Nemu-chan~"

Toshiro placed her head on the table, not quite sure what to make of her current life, and just carried on with the interview, hoping it would end soon.

* * *

That night, Takumi was working on something's that he would be taking to the Soul Society. Some medicines, some Gigai's, and some other things that he thought he might need. He was taking what was convenient to carry, and also what would be the most useful.

He even had BG5 before him, and was modifying him somehow, wondering what they were going to do next.

Orihime knocked on the door, so he spoke "Come in." so she did so, walking in to see all of these different things scattered around.

"Taku-chan, it's late. Aren't you tired from training?"

"A little yeah, I wanted to get in as many things as I could before we leave."

Orihime could understand that, but she was also worried about his health.

"Taku-chan, don't push yourself too hard. I know you feel guilty about Kuchiki-chan being captured, but it wont do any good if you push yourself too hard."

Takumi released a small yawn.

"Perhaps you're right. But, I can't just stay, you know, not moving. I have to keep myself busy, or I'll think about what happened during that fight with Byakuya...he managed to beat me...I knew that people out there were powerful, but he was...very strong, on a different level than me. That's why I have to become stronger in order to defeat him."

Orihime pulled closer to Takumi's form, wrapping her arms around his upper body.

His eyes broadened slightly, turning to see Orihime's smile.

"I know you'll become very strong Taku-chan."

"I hope so-"

"No, no hoping. I know you will Taku-chan."

"But, how could you know?"

Orihime gave a wink, which made him blush slightly.

"Because you always push yourself further than anyone else. I know that you've got this Taku-chan, and we'll all be beside you. It might be difficult, but with us together, I'm sure that we'll be able to do something, and change the Soul Society."

"Yeah, I hope we can. It seems that some of their laws are barbaric. I know that they're different to the human world, and they have different customs, but they also seem to have similar things to us. Rukia-chan didn't seem that different to us. Besides the fact that she didn't know how to put in a straw into a juice box~"

Orihime released a small laugh.

"Hehehe, I remember that Taku-chan, that was quite funny~"

"Yeah, she was wacky like that~"

Takumi let out a bellowing laugh which Orihime matched.

But soon, Takumi and Orihime's heads came together, leaning against the other.

"You can still back out Orihime-chan."

"So could you Taku-chan."

"You already know what I'm going to say, so I'll save that for now."

"And you know what I'm going to say Taku-chan."

Takumi did know, but he still felt worried about her, and what could happen to her.

"I know...even then, Orihime-chan, I'll protect you while we go to the Soul Society."

Orihime smiled softly, but shook her head, confusing him.

"Nope, we'll protect each other."

"Haha, you're right. I'm counting on you Orihime-chan, lets shake up the Soul Society together."

Orihime inclined her neck, continuing to embrace Takumi's body tightly.

But then fireworks began going off behind them, outside.

Bewildered, the pair stood up, and went to the balcony, stepping outside, and watched as many dazzling fireworks filled the sky with their flashing beautiful lights. The popping noise was loud, but watching it was beautiful.

Takumi glanced down, seeing Karin and Yuzu looked up at the sky, and showcased grins on their faces.

Giselle sat on the roof, and overlooked the fireworks, and smiled to herself, while Yoruichi and Kisuke sat nearby, overlooking the fireworks.

"It's kind of like the festival, isn't it Orihime-chan?"

Orihime nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, that's right Taku-chan, it's really beautiful."

Takumi, and Orihime stayed silent for a little while, just watching the fireworks pop in the sky, and fill it with beautiful colours.

But then Orihime turned back to Takumi, and tilted her head.

"Taku-chan, can we return here? After rescuing Kuchiki-chan?"

"Return here huh?" Orihime wondered what he was going to say, before his hand enclosed around her own, giving her reassurance. "Yeah, we'll have a private display, just for us next time, Orihime-chan."

Orihime's face softened, watching as Takumi stared at the sky.

She felt wonderful in that moment.

Everything just seemed so perfect.

The light of the fireworks, the fact that they were relatively alone.

She knew that maybe this wasn't the time to bring it up, but if she didn't, she knew that she wouldn't forgive herself.

This could be the last time she very well could do this.

She pulled closer to Takumi, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Taku-chan, do you remember when we went out with Nel-chan? About how I wanted to talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, do you want to talk now?"

"Yes...Taku-chan, I just wanted to say..." Her eyes went towards his own, as the popping of the fireworks grew louder, and louder. "...I'm glad that I have met you Taku-chan. Everyday has been so much fun, and also, you've been beside me, supporting me, and also...Taku-chan, I want to stay beside you, always."

"Stay, beside me..."

Orihime leaned forward, allowing her fingers to touch his cheek.

Feeling the heat from her, and the coolness of her fingers, their eyes met with one another's.

"Taku-chan...I want to always support you as you have me. Just watch Taku-chan, I'll be right beside you in the Soul Society, all of the way."

"Yeah, we'll be together, and get Rukia-chan back."

Orihime's face shifted between happiness, and also, something a little more sadder.

"Taku-chan...do you like Kuchiki-chan?"

"Of course, she's our friend."

"No...I mean, do you like her...romantically?"

"A-Ah well..."

Orihime's face lifted up softly.

"It's okay Taku-chan if you do like her like that. She's got many amazing qualities-"

"But, you're also equally amazing."

Orihime gasped when he said that.

"Taku-chan I..."

"If it wasn't for you, I'd still be that kid that sat by himself, and was weird. Who didn't really talk to anyone, you helped me become more sociable, and also, while I was doing that...I began feeling deeper emotions for you..." Orihime's face curled upwards, but Takumi's own cast downwards. "...it's so confusing, I'm not sure what to say...it's like a battle is within my head...there's you, the girl I've...had feelings for, for so long...and then there's Rukia-chan, this girl that turned my world into something else...but I just…"

Orihime understood what he was trying to say.

She could always tell.

"You like both of us."

A sheepish expression overcame his face.

"Yeah...is, that wrong? I don't really know myself...I'm more used to knowing the science behind why things work, technology, medical science and other things like that...when it comes to feelings and matters of the heart, I'm not sure how to handle them..."

"Well, don't worry Taku-chan, you're doing a great job already!"

"I-I am?"

Orihime giggled, hugging onto Takumi even tighter.

"Yes, that's right Taku-chan, you've done amazing until now, I'm happy...I never thought I'd be able to compete with Kuchiki-chan...but hearing you say you like me...that made my heart soar...because the truth is Taku-chan...even if I have to share you with Kuchiki-chan, then I'd be fine with that, if I could be beside you Taku-chan!"

Hearing her declaration, Takumi breathed in and out slowly.

His cheeks turned redder and redder.

"I see...then I want to be beside you always as well, Orihime-chan."

Orihime's lips curled upwards, and pulled closer.

Takumi did the same thing.

With the fiery explosions ringing out in the sky from the fireworks, their lips met in the middle.

The first time they had kissed one another, under the starry sky.

Meshing together again and again, their kiss turned passionate, full of their love, his fingers running through her long hair, and her hands wrapped around his torso, their kiss lasted just over a minute, but for them it felt like a lifetime of their feelings exploding into one another.

When pulling away, Takumi pushed a bang of her hair behind her right ear, and declared something to her.

"Lets save Rukia-chan, together."

"Yes, I'd love that Taku-chan."

Neither said anything for a while afterwards, and just enjoyed one another's company as he held her in his arms, just watching the night pass them by.

* * *

Days had passed since she had been taken back to the Soul Society, she wondered why Central 46 was taking so long in deciding her judgement, she thought that they'd be quick about it, so they could put her out of her misery, this almost felt like torture for the young Shinigami. Renji had come most days, and kept saying that he didn't know anything.

But after waiting as patiently as she could, Byakuya had decided to finally show himself.

"Captain Kuchiki sir, can I presume that it is going to be good news?"

Renji remained optimistic, and hoped that Byakuya would pull through.

But, that's not how it came to pass.

With his normal stoic attitude, Byakuya dropped a bombshell upon them.

"Rukia, you shall be executed in one month, at Sokyoku Hill."

The news hit the pair like a truck.

Rukia though was more prepared for it than Renji was, so she understood that this was a fact of life.

For keeping Takumi safe...she began accepting this, as her death.

Renji on the other hand let out an impassioned cry.

"But Captain! This can't be serious! Didn't you-"

"Renji." Byakuya cut him off, holding his same cold look within his narrowing eyes. "This has been decided by Central 46, it isn't a place for you nor I to interfere." His eyes went towards Rukia who barely could match his eyes. "The next time we see one another, will be at your execution."

"Yes...brother."

Rukia merely said those words, unable to say her true emotions.

Renji on the other hand couldn't accept it.

"But, Captain! You can't, she's your sister! Can't you do anything else?! Sir!"

Byakuya ignored Renji's plight, while Rukia played with her fingers, looking down at her lap, and her eyes blinked several times over.

"_A Shinigami isn't meant to cry about their fate...so I wont show depression or fear. I realized this might happen to me...but, in the end, I crumble under the emotions...but for this, I can do this. I saw amazing things in the human world, for the first time in a long time, I felt truly alive, ever since I had been with Kaien and the others back in Squad 13, it felt like I was home..._"

Rukia lamented on what her transpired within the human world.

Her experiences, her joy, her happiness.

Even though this was her death sentence, she knew that those experiences were a lifetime worth, and she wouldn't have given them up for the world.

In the end, she had learned to live happily, attend school like a normal teenager would, and most of all, she had fallen in love...she wouldn't have given that up for the world.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we had the training chapter this time, and some more revelations. As people guessed, it seems that he was framed for some crimes, and though Kisuke's against it, after some encouragement from Yoruichi, he decides to lend assistance, and help Takumi, Orihime, Karin, Yuzu and Giselle grow stronger for the invasion of Soul Society. Takumi's gonna learn Shunko from Yoruichi, while Karin also learned about her inner Hollow, that seemed to be after Karin's body to control, but also seems to encourage Karin in her own way, and with some trials, managed to unlock Shikai. Nemu got her 'interview' which greatly embarrassed Toshiro, but for the introduced Rangiku (who was a bit drunk) loved having the banter between her and Toshiro in good fun. And then at the end, Orihime and Takumi had a heartfelt conversation, revealing feelings, and finally kissed one another, along with Rukia learning about her months execution at the end.**

**We'll see the results of their training soon, what Kisuke's taught Takumi, among others with them all showcasing their abilities during the Soul Society arc.**

**Anyway, there's a question I'd like to ask you all, something a few people have asked about before, and that's Hanataro, and if Hanataro should be a girl or boy in this story. Since Hanataro's gonna be appearing soon, and will have a marginally larger role in the story than canon, I thought I'd ask your opinions.**

**Well, until next time where we head for the Soul Society, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	17. Enter the Shinigami Realm!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**oro03910; I can understand that, and yeah, Aizen's a genius alright, no one can deny that. Yeah it very well could be. It is quite useful, and Hanataro will be doing more things in this story.**

**Nirvash Neo; Thanks very much! Thanks for the vote! Yushiro huh, yeah maybe Yushiro could make an appearance soon.**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks! Yeah, we'll be seeing more of Hollow Karin in the coming arcs of the story. Yeah, she was quite open with what she wanted, so she was quite opposite to Karin in that regard. Ooh we will see a fight between Takumi and Kenpachi, it's going to be quite the fight. Yeah, Nemu and Toshiro have quite the fun interactions huh~? Yeah, they'd definitely have some fun reactions to Nemu's questions. I am thinking about it, though I haven't decided what kind of ability Yuzu is going to unlock yet, though I've got some ideas, and ideas are always appreciated. Their fight would be funny. Thanks for the vote! And yeah, that does sound pretty funny~**

**SomeDudeThatReads; Well, I hope I can make it entertaining~ Thanks for the vote. No worries.**

**Vizard Masky; Thanks very much! He did yeah, we'll learn more about that in the future. And yeah, he's got his friends support in fighting the Soul Society. Well, I can't reveal anything yet, but something definitely did happen to Takumi, and by what Kisuke said, it wasn't good at all. The Quincy girls will be showcasing some new stuff during this arc, and Karin, she will be showcasing her increasing levels of power. She will eventually get control over it yeah. I know, I always thought that was a cool way to use it, and yeah, Karin might be able to pull that off. He wont pop up with Karin, but he might pop up somewhere. Maybe she might try something with Takumi hehe~ Thanks for the vote and yeah, that's what I was thinking about for male Hanataro. Thanks very much!**

**Striker Studios; Yup, Takuhime (love that shipname~) have become official! Yeah when they find out they'll probably do that. Not right away no, since he's just begun learning it, but as we go through the story, he'll catch up to the likes of Yoruichi and Soi Fon. And thanks!**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks very much! Yeah, I just had to put that in, it always made me crack up whenever I heard it from there. She did yeah, since Yuzu's got the Quincy powers, it wouldn't make sense for Karin to have Quincy Zangetsu. Nemu is quite adorable isn't she with her innocence? I wouldn't know who you'd pair Hanataro up with though. Maybe Isane since they have the healing thing going on, I'd say Unohana, but she'd probably destroy him in private activities considering who Unohana is.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Yup, you got it right! That's a good question, Takumi's gonna have to work overtime for this. If anyone can, then it is Yoruichi who can get through to him, and yeah, they're gonna have to be very powerful to stand up to the Captains alright. Yeah, Soi Fon's gonna freak out when she sees him using Shunko. Karin went through a bit last chapter, going through near hollowfication, and dealing with her inner struggles. But she's growing stronger for it. Yup, Orihime finally confessed her emotions for Takumi, and now they've managed to finally share a kiss between them. It seems she is yeah~ Thanks for the vote!**

**Skull Flame; I'm glad you like Hollow Karin! Yeah, she was encouraging Karin in a way to become stronger. He's not there, it's only Hollow Karin~ Ooh yeah, Orihime's being trained by Hiyori, it's gonna be good for Tsubaki while Orihime's been going through quite a bit with Hiyori. Shunko is going to be a good mix with Ta****kumi indeed~ She could be trying to do any of them, only Nemu knows what she's up too. Yeah, it's the former~ And thanks for the vote!**

**Guest; Thanks for the vote.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, we'll expand upon that more in the future. He got some explanation, and he'll learn more about that in the near future, we'll flash back to it in future chapters, for the suspense and all so Takumi right now in this chapter knows some things about himself, and the reason why he didn't ask for his memories back is because Kisuke already indirectly answered that unasked question. Yup, Yoruichi had some fun it seems~ Karin had quite some fun huh~? Ooh yeah, Giselle's gonna be building that army of hers soon enough~ I can't reveal much about it, but they do have a past together, since Takumi was from back when Hiyori and the others were in the Soul Society. Haha, he surely is yeah~ Yeah, Karin got some encouragement, and after battling her inner doubts, and worries, along with a confrontation with Hollow Karin, it seems she's making waves into discovering her powers. Yuzu did yeah, she managed to reach her sister. He was worried for her yeah, and yeah, they can use Cero, the other Vizards, so it makes sense that she could use Bala as well. Nemu's fun~ Yup, Takumi and Orihime shared a kiss between them. It will get explained to Takumi, but not on screen, we'll get flashbacks to it. It seems so yeah~ He could have been, you never know, we'll find out in the future. He probably wouldn't be considering how they act. She called him that due to the incident, before that, as Yoruichi said, he was the kindest Shinigami. Yeah, I thought it would be quite interesting, Takumi's skilled in Kido, and they don't do anything anyway so why not~ Yup, I liked it! Yeah, he could be~ Yeah, he could be known as something like that, and yeah sounds great! He'll eventually reach Bankai yeah. That would be cool~ Yeah in the future they could~ It could happen yeah~ Who knows, he might have that. I do have a fun scene for when Takumi finds out about Komamura. Yeah he could have done that. Yeah, Yachiru and Takumi are going to have a fun dynamic between them, and he could stop her doing that yeah, and that would be funny.**

**Andrew123456; She had a backstory with Gin, but we don't learn much besides them meeting and becoming friends so yeah I guess I could. Thanks for the vote!**

**A fan; He did yeah, I remember reading about that a while ago, it would have been cool to see what kind of enemies would come from that.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Enter the Shinigami Realm!**

With having a few days left, Takumi and the gang were taking it easy.

Karin and Yuzu spent as much time with their Father, as they could. Giselle went off to visit the Quincy girls who had decided to take care of Karakura while they away, and Orihime was spending time with Tatsuki, so they could just take it easy.

Takumi on the other hand, wasn't going to do that sort of thing.

He was going to make sure that everything was ready and he was waiting for his time to go.

Busy tinkering away at his items, and his various chemicals that most would be baffled by, he wanted to make sure that everything was ready for when he was going to go to the Soul Society, that's all he could do in the end.

As he worked on it, Kisuke came strolling into the room.

Overlooking what his son was doing, Kisuke pulled closer.

"Even now, you're preparing. You do know you have to take it easy, right?"

"Perhaps, but I've got many things to sort out before I go to the Soul Society."

Takumi replied, not taking his eyes off of what was before him, and what he was tinkering with.

Kisuke eyed up some of the objects around the room, and saw some Gigai's laying around.

"It's going to be difficult lugging around Gigai's Takumi. How are you going to do that?"

Takumi chuckled, pointing to some containers.

"They will store everything I need."

Kisuke walked over to the containers, and examined them thoroughly.

"Amazing Takumi, it seems that you've accounted for most things here."

"I thought that we'd need to travel fast, and carrying all of this around would be impossible, so I based it on some tech that you have Dad."

"I see, but you've done something quite amazing with it all your own. I can't say that I'm not proud of you, because I truly am proud of you. Though I'd also wish you'd take it easy, and allow me to take over here."

"Maybe I will later."

"You know, I'm surprised you've not asked about your memories, of the past I mean."

"Yoruichi-chan explained it to me, I'll regain them eventually, right?"

"It should happen yeah, give it sometime. I'm sure you've already begun remembering a little bit. Like questioning things that you shouldn't know but you do know subconsciously, things like that."

Takumi understood, and was wondering what his memories would bring him when he eventually got them back.

"I see...anyway, there is something I'd like to know if you have the time?"

Kisuke believed that Takumi was going to ask about it now.

Something that he didn't want to talk about, but he also knew that Takumi would bring it up eventually.

"Alright, what do you want to ask?"

Takumi watched as Kisuke sat down.

Gathering the courage that he held inside of himself, he exhaled slowly.

"So, I'll ask you this once, and I'd like a truthful answer please." Kisuke nodded for him to continue. "The day that light came out of my chest...why did it feel like I was dying? That light...what is it? Is...that what this guy did to me?"

Kisuke knew this question was going to come.

It was something that he didn't want to ever discuss, something that he didn't even want to consider telling Takumi about.

But the time in the end had come to explain his full intentions and wishes.

Kisuke exhaled slowly, pulling closer.

"I wish that it didn't come to pass...Takumi, the thing inside of you is..."

Kisuke began explaining what it was that happened that day.

He explained what the light was, and what it meant to him.

Takumi was blown away by what he was hearing, so much so that he felt almost like collapsing under the weight of the situation.

"I-I see...so, that's it then..."

"Yes, that light is...why he is after you, Takumi."

Takumi ran a hand through his hair, processing what was happening within his mind.

"Right...so him getting it would be bad."

"More than bad, it would be the worst possible outcome."

Takumi could understand that, but he also knew that was the reason why Kisuke was wanting to keep Takumi away from the Soul Society.

"Alright then, what are we going to do about it?"

"Takumi..."

"Dad, lets do something to stop this bastard once and for all. We can come up with something surely."

"We try and remove it Takumi, and..."

"I...I...right, okay. So something like that would happen to me...even then, we can outsmart this guy together Dad. You always said two heads are better than one, and if this nutcase is as you have described, he wont trust anyone to help in his plan making, but that's where we have the advantage, right?"

Kisuke released a soft chuckle.

"You're right. I do have an idea Takumi, and I could use your help. But, there is someone else within the Soul Society that can help you if it comes to a dire situation."

"Someone?"

Kisuke smiled, and moved closer, revealing the person who could help Takumi with what they were planning to do.

* * *

Rukia, having replayed the news of her death over and over in her mind, sits within her cell once more, her eyes unable to go anywhere other than the floor. She didn't know what to say, how to think about her current situation, among other things of that nature.

But then she saw that someone had come to her cell.

The person that came, looked like a shy and meek boy, with chin length hair, with bangs framing his face. Wearing the standard robes, he also wore what seemed to be a medical kit over the right shoulder.

"Can I help you?"

Rukia asked the Shinigami before her.

Said Shinigami pulls away, clutching a mop and bucket.

"Y-Yes, I have been tasked with cleaning your cell..."

"Oh, I see..."

Rukia trailed off, not seemingly caring if her room was cleaned or not, she just wished to be left alone if she was honest with herself, contemplating many things within her.

"I-I could come back l-later if you want me too..."

"No, that's fine. You can do as you wish."

The boy bowed his head.

He felt intimidated by Rukia and her presence.

But he didn't want to be, so he went into the cell, and began cleaning the area.

Rukia glanced at the Shinigami several times, who would freeze when Rukia looked towards him.

Rukia adopted a soft gaze, remembering her interactions in the human world, so she thought she'd apply that here.

"Sorry, what is your name again?"

"Hana...Hanataro, Hanataro Y-Yamada."

"Hanataro, that's a nice name. My names Rukia Kuchiki-"

"O-Oh I know who you are Kuchiki-sama."

Rukia released a chortle.

"I don't deserve titles like that, just Rukia would be fine."

"R-Rukia-sama…." Rukia raised an eyebrow. "R-Rukia-san?" Rukia nods slowly. "R-Rukia-san, if you don't mind me asking...there's a lot of rumours about why you're here...and I heard that it has to do with Takumi Urahara-san...is that right?"

Rukia leaned back in her chair, briefly looking out the bars of her window.

"Yes, that's true."

"If you don't mind me saying...why did you stay with him?"

Rukia giggled ever so slightly.

"In the beginning, I wasn't planning too."

"O-Oh?"

"Yeah, in the beginning, I knew exactly who he was when he told me his name. I knew that staying with Takumi would be dangerous, for both of us. However...at first I didn't have a choice, and he was so nice to me-"

"N-Nice?"

Hanataro seemed to be in disbelief, while Rukia nodded with a smile returning to her face after it had been absent for a while.

"Yes, he was really nice to me, he helped me with many things. To help me understand more about the human world...I'm sure you've heard that Takumi is a monster, right? Having done all of these heinous crimes, correct?" Hanataro slowly nodded. "Nothing could be further from the truth. Truth is...he's the kindest man I've ever met, he's very self sacrificing, and right now, all I can do is hope that he's living a happy life somewhere."

"But Rukia-san, aren't you..."

"Going to die?" Once again he nodded. "Yes, probably I am going to die. But, I don't blame Takumi for that, I don't blame anyone for that. I made my decisions, and I have to live with them. I...I don't want to die of course, but if this is what it has to be to protect Takumi, then I can do that...he protected me more times than I can count...he helped me with my own personal problems...I truly did rely on him in the end, for more than just protection, but emotional support."

Hanataro didn't quite believe what Rukia was saying.

After hearing the stories about Takumi from others, it just didn't make sense.

But the way Rukia spoke, it didn't seem like it was a lie either.

It did genuinely look as if she was speaking the truth, and if she was speaking the truth...then Hanataro wished to meet this person for himself.

* * *

The day had arrived.

Many days of intense training had led to this day.

The day that they were going to the Soul Society.

Night had taken over outside, Takumi's eyes watched the night sky, the tiny lights from the stars beaming down towards them, and his eyes reflected the moonlight.

Taking in the last sights he was probably going to see of the human world for a while, he thought about many things.

What he was going to do.

What he was going to say when getting to the Shinigami world…

He wondered what it was like.

If it was like the human world.

He wished he could remember when he was there, and what he had seen when he was there…

But nothing came to his mind.

Kisuke entered the room he was stationed in, seeing that Takumi had packed a number of things.

His eyes went over the stuff that Takumi had packed, and what he was going to take with him. He even saw that he had finished with BG5, and wondered what he was going to do with the robot.

"Hey, Takumi. Can I, say one thing before you go?" Takumi's eyes went towards Kisuke who gave a sad smile. "I wish that I could go with you, to protect you from this. But, it seems that my time of protecting you has come to an end."

Takumi could see the forlorn within Kisuke's eyes, noticing that his eyes had taken a notable dip.

"I know you want to keep me safe, and after learning what you did for me...I might not remember, but you told me that you let me down, what I heard from you, it sounds like you gave up everything for me, so in my eyes, you aren't a failure as a Father, you're the best one I could hope for."

Kisuke's facial features softened.

"Thank you, Takumi. Promise me, you'll come back alive."

Takumi clenched his fist, having a strong expression on his face.

"I promise to expose the darkness of the Soul Society, and come back home to Karakura. Don't worry Dad, the Soul Society better be ready for me."

That's the best he could do.

He had to be confident, because if he didn't, who was going to be confident?

Kisuke adopted a smile, hiding his inner doubts, and worries from his son.

"Yes, I'm sure they better be ready for you. But be practical, and smart about it Takumi. You saw Byakuya Kuchiki's power, you can expect more of them to be around, Captains are no laughing matter, they are powerful beings."

Takumi understood that, and he also knew that it would be rather dangerous.

But he still was determined.

"I realize that, but if I don't showcase my strengths, and try to change it, then they're in danger just as much as you and I am. This bastard has been running around, doing as he wishes for so long. If what you said to me is true, then he needs to be taken down, and we need to work with the Soul Society to do so."

"Yes, you're right Takumi, that's what you have to do...hah, my own son has become a man right before my eyes. Going off to rescue his Princess."

"I wouldn't call Rukia-chan a Princess, she'd probably kick our asses if she heard that."

Kisuke let out a laugh, nodding his head.

"You're right, she's that type of girl. So before anything else is said...Takumi, make me proud and show them why you are an amazing person."

Takumi clenches his fight tightly, nodding strongly.

"Yes, I will do my best Father, leave this to me."

Kisuke expresses a kind smile for his son who does the same thing right back for his Father.

Sharing a small moment between the other, Takumi made a promise to come back home, and Kisuke was assured that Takumi would be going with the best kind of emotional status, and that whatever was going to happen, he'd still be Takumi's Father.

* * *

Later on, Takumi went to pick up Orihime from her apartment, and knocked on the door while in his Shinigami form.

He had said that he'd come for her when the time was right, knowing that Orihime was going to do her best in trying to make as much of the time that she had as possible.

Waiting for a few moments, the door opened to reveal Orihime stood there, with a cute smile on her face.

"Hey Taku-chan, are we going now?"

Takumi nodded slowly.

"Yes, are you ready to go?"

Orihime nodded, looking back into her apartment.

"I was just saying goodbye to Sora. I know that he's in the Soul Society...say Taku-chan, if we have time..."

"We could look for him."

Orihime's eyes shined brightly.

"R-Really?!"

"Of course, he's there, right? Lets go and find him. We're already on a rescue mission, we might as well find Sora-san as well! I'm sure he'll love to see you Orihime-chan!"

Orihime threw her arms around Takumi's upper body, who in turn gently embraced her.

"I hope we can find him Taku-chan, that would be amazing."

Takumi petted the back of her head, while she snuggled against him.

"Yeah, it would be. Say Orihime-chan, what did you end up telling Tatsuki-chan anyway?"

"I couldn't tell her the truth. But I think she already knows we're going to a place that she can't follow. But, I saw that she came second in the tournament she was apart of with a broken arm, so she's dead strong, second strongest girl in Japan! How cool is that?!"

"I know, it is quite wild, isn't it?"

Orihime giggled lightly, continuing to hug onto Takumi's form.

Her eyes then went up towards him, who looked down towards her.

"We're coming back to everyone, I promise."

"I know."

Orihime bent up, as he bent down, and their lips came together naturally in a loving embrace of their connected lips. Takumi could taste strawberries from her lips, wondering if she had put on that kind of lipstick, and if she had, then it tasted rather nice to him.

When breaking apart, Orihime kept her arms around Takumi's waist, as they began moving away from the apartment.

Takumi however then had to tease her slightly.

"You know if people saw us right now, they'd only see you hugging thin air~"

Orihime's face turned into a slightly red colour.

"That's true Taku-chan, so even when we talk, I'll look like I'm speaking to myself, that's kind of weird, isn't it Taku-chan~?"

Takumi released a chortle.

"It is, but it's cute when you look shy~"

Orihime continued embracing Takumi tightly, and looked at the stars in the sky.

Right now, despite going to the Soul Society...she felt calm.

She felt relaxed.

She knew it would be dangerous, but with Takumi beside her, she thought that she'd be able to do anything.

* * *

Meanwhile, as that was going on, Karin and Yuzu were getting what they needed from their house, and were mentally preparing for what was going to come.

They didn't know how to tell their Father, how could they when they didn't know if they were going to come back to the human world in one peace?

Instead, they had told their Father that they were going to some retreat with their class, and had Takumi help make it seem official. Because they couldn't upset their Father, he might have been goofy, and a little crazed, but he was still their Father, and he loved them dearly.

Yuzu seemed to be upset about leaving home, which Karin questioned.

"Yuzu, don't be so worried. If you don't want to go-"

"N-No, I do. But, I was just worried, about Dad. You know how he can be, he wont be able to survive without us around, I need to cook for him, and you need to fight with him."

Karin understood that, but she also had a mission in mind, and that was to head for the Soul Society.

"I know what you mean, but he'll be fine. We'll be back before he knows it. Besides, this isn't a goodbye forever, we'll be back. I don't plan on dying within the Soul Society. And beyond saving Kuchiki-san, I want to understand more about these powers I have, I have a Hollow inside of me. And it is my Zanpakuto, I want to know what that means, and if it is common in the Soul Society, or if this is to do with what happened to Mom. Either way, I want answers, and if the Soul Society can't give me those answers, I can at least help Kuchiki-san and save her. Besides, without us, that idiot Takumi wont be able to get through it."

Yuzu held a hand to her mouth, releasing an audible chuckle.

"Perhaps you're right Karin, but we'll just have to do our best."

Karin nodded her head, gathered what she'd need, and head for the door.

Yuzu looked back into the house, looking at the kitchen, and hoped her Father would be alright.

They went to open the door, when they heard a familiar sound.

"Kariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin! Yuzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

The screech of their Father's voice stopped them progressing.

He came bolting down the stairs, landing before Karin who held out a hand towards his face.

"Stop right there, I don't want to hug you or anything."

"Hahaha, I know that! But, you were going to leave without saying goodbye to your dear old Dad!?"

"We...We didn't want to make a big deal out of it. We aren't going to be gone all that long. Besides, I thought that you'd want to spend sometime alone."

Isshin released a small chuckle.

"Of course not, you're my girls! But, I know this is something you have to do." Isshin went into his pocket, and produced what seemed to be a charm. "Take this with you. It belonged to your Mother, it's for good luck. It will keep you safe, in whatever it is that you're doing."

Being sentimental seemed weird to Karin, but she and Yuzu accepted the charm.

"Thanks Dad...w-we better get going, don't want to miss the bus."

Isshin smiled strongly, giving Karin a hug, or tried to.

Because when he did, she socked him in the jaw, and breezingly brushed past him.

Yuzu leaned over him, and placed a hand to his forehead.

"Dad, I've made a list of chores you need to do while we're away. I've also been shopping which will be good for about two weeks, so don't worry about food or anything. I've also washed your clothes, and cleaned the house."

Isshin smiled up at his daughter.

"Aah Yuzu, you make Daddy proud! Be safe Yuzu!"

Yuzu hugged her Father tightly, while Karin simply smiled at the sight.

"Goodbye Dad, we'll be back soon enough."

"I know you will, but a Dad's allowed to worry!"

"Of course!"

Yuzu and her Father hugged for a good minute or so, before he let them go.

After saying their goodbyes, Karin and Yuzu left together, while Isshin cocked his head back, meeting the eyes of Giselle hiding in the shadows.

"You'll keep them safe?"

"We're going to the Soul Society, so I can't guarantee anything. But, they aren't weak by any means, so don't worry about them. I'll do my best."

"Thanks...I'm sure with you and Takumi-kun, you'll be fine."

"Hopefully. Well bye Isshin-san, wish me luck~"

Giselle did a goofy pose, while swinging her arms left and right.

"Aah yes, good luck!"

Giselle rolled her eyes, and moved out of the door.

Isshin was worried about his daughters, but with Takumi and Giselle with them, he knew that they were in very capable hands.

* * *

Later on, Takumi and the others stood in front of a large stone gate type entrance way that didn't lead to anywhere, at least not yet. Takumi, and Karin wore their Shinigami robes, Orihime wore a pink shirt, and white jogging pants, Yuzu and Giselle seemed to be wearing what seemed to be the official Quincy uniform, all white.

Yoruichi in cat form, hopped upon Takumi's shoulder, her eyes peering into his own.

"Ooh, before we go. Everyone, I've got some presents!" Takumi announced, bringing in the others. He then handed them each two syringes filled with a green liquid. "This is my hyper accelerating healing medicine. It will help you recover a good number of wounds, it will even help you regrow certain body parts if you happen to find yourself with a missing limb, that's cool isn't it?"

"Ooh my, that's quite the medicine Takumi-kun, I'll take that~"

Giselle took her syringes, as did Karin and the others.

"I don't even want to know how you made these, but I'm glad that you did. With these, we can have a backup in case something happens with Orihime, or we're separated from her...yeah, that's a pretty good idea."

Takumi was surprised that Karin was agreeing with what he was saying.

Though he was glad all the same.

Yuzu noticed that on Takumi's hip, where was a container that was tied around his waist. In fact, she saw another on the other side of his hip. To her, it was curious what she was taking.

"What's in there Takumi-kun?"

"Oh, just something's I thought we might need if we come across strong opponents. Like Gigai's, my various chemicals to make vaccines, my various drugs I've been concocting in case we need to use them to fight strong foes among other things that I thought we might need. Also, I've got food and drinks in case we have time to eat some snacks. We will eventually become hungry and all."

"That's actually a good idea Taku-chan, I didn't even think about food."

Orihime spoke up while Giselle wiggled her tongue provocatively.

"Guess that we can leave the planning to you then Takumi-kun~"

"But, it's small. How can anything like that fit in there? Okay, I'll give you one or two, but from the sounds of it, you've got lots of stuff in there."

Takumi chuckled at Karin's words.

"It converts the things put into here into a small size, and picking them out is handy as well as easy enough to do. I came prepared after all, we are going into a dangerous place, and might have to come up with various things as we go forward. Of course it isn't infinite, so it can't store everything inside, but it can store up to about twenty items, that's why I have two on me."

"Impressive, you keep surprising me."

Karin had to admit that was the case, and hoped that they would be able to use some of the stuff that Takumi had brought with them and if it was going to help them along.

Kisuke, upon noticing that they had finished, saw that Takumi was waiting for him to continue, so in a very flashy way, Kisuke thrusts his arms towards the large stone gate, and wiggles his fingers around in an eccentric way, which kind of annoyed Karin if she was honest with herself.

"Well, this is it everyone! The Senkaimon!"

"We're going through this?" Karin gave it scrunching eyebrows. "It looks like shabby pieces of stone in the ground."

"Hey! It isn't like that!" Kisuke huffed, seeing Karin's eyes glancing at him. "Anyway, you'll be going through the Senkaimon, which will allow those who aren't souls to pass through and gain a body like that while within the Soul Society."

"So a conversion type thing then, for people like Quincy's, and Orihime-chan to come with us."

Takumi surmised, Kisuke nodding slowly.

"That's right. This is going to help you get through to the Soul Society. However, be aware that once stepping through, you only have four minutes to make it to the other side, so you must hurry."

"Why do we only have four minutes?"

Yuzu wondered to Kisuke who chuckled awkwardly.

"Suffice to say that you'll find out if you stay in there for too long, so do your best to run as fast as you can. Also, try and not touch the walls as you run through the Dangai, it will try and keep you detained there, and you wont be able to escape."

Takumi gave him questioning eyes, as he slammed his cane down onto the wooden gate.

Energy spread out from his cane, and through the Senkaimon while Kisuke chanted a few lines of some spell that Takumi didn't recognize, which began lighting up, creating a passageway for them.

"Alright then, I guess this is it." Takumi took a step forward, as his eyes met with Kisuke's own. "Don't worry, we'll be back."

"Are you trying to imitate The Terminator?"

Takumi raised an eyebrow at Karin.

"No, when did I do that?"

"It's just...ugh, whatever. Can we just go already?"

Kisuke saw the look of frustration on Karin's face, so he bowed his neck.

"Yes, you may leave now. Good luck to all of you. Be careful to watch your backs, and as I said, stay away from the walls, and make sure that you stick together."

Takumi nodded, and began moving forward with the others. Kisuke watched as his son, Orihime, Giselle, Karin, Yuzu and Yoruichi walked through the barrier, entering the Dangai.

Kisuke jumped down to the barrier, and touched the entrance, only for his hand to be repelled away from said barrier. Kisuke releases a small breath, trying to make sure that he didn't feel so much emotion, and had to wonder if he just sent off his son to his death...only time was going to tell if he was going to be able to see Takumi again.

Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, shuddering to see that it was Zombie Chizuru who was staring towards him with a creepy fixating gaze that stared deeply into his soul, he thought that he was dying when looking at the Zombie.

"Zombie Chizuru will stay by Kisuke's side."

That slayed Kisuke's heart.

He couldn't handle her anymore.

"No, that's not necessary, please don't stare at me."

Zombie Chizuru grabs Kisuke's hand.

Kisuke freaks out, trying to rip his hand away from her, but she had incredible strength, so in the end, he couldn't get away from her.

"It's okay, I am here for you Kisuke, Zombie Chizuru will love you now."

Kisuke thought that his worst nightmare was actually coming true at that moment.

But then looked at the Senkaimon once more, murmuring "Come back, Takumi." and now, had to leave it to him, and the others.

* * *

Upon entering, Yoruichi looked at the walls, which seemed to be like a flowing wave of darkness.

Takumi also felt as if this was a familiar setting that he was in, as if he had been there beforehand, but he couldn't really picture it in his head.

"Okay everyone get moving, we don't have much time! Also, don't touch the walls, or they will trap you here!"

Upon the advice of Yoruichi, they began running through the long corridor that composed the Dangai.

Because of his natural speed, Takumi sped off in front of the others, without even realizing it at first.

"H-Hey! Idiot! We aren't as fast as you!"

Karin snapped at him, causing Takumi to grimace at the sound that she released, it was quite worrying to say the least.

"Ooh right, sorry about that, I'll keep my speed slower."

Takumi began taking it a little more easy, he didn't want to leave his comrades behind in this world. He didn't want to be in this world either, to him it seemed like a depressing type of world, and that never was good.

As they ran through the Dangai, Yuzu noticed the walls were getting closer towards them, almost trying to grab their bodies.

"Ooh my God Karin! Look! The walls are moving closer to us! Are they trying to capture us?!"

Karin's eyes shot left and right, seeing that it seemed to be the case.

"Holy shit! Is this why we have to run as fast as we can?!"

Yoruichi, staying on Takumi's shoulder, looked back to see that Giselle was moving relatively quickly, Orihime was surprisingly moving quite fast, Yuzu and Karin were moving at a decent pace as well, keeping ahead of the collapsing walls that tried to swallow them whole.

"Yes, that's called the Koryu, it's a current that's constantly following to stop invades like Hollows, and in this case, us from entering the Soul Society. Also, don't use your spiritual powers to try and stop it, as if you try, it will capture you, and cause you to be stuck here. And then if you are, the Kotosu will eventually come, and kill you."

"What the hell is a Kotosu?!"

Karin snapped at Yoruichi who chuckled awkwardly.

"Basically, it's a version of a street sweep for this world. It stops loiters from staying here for too long to take advantage of the time distortion here. It looks like a bullet train with a glowing golden eye. Though I hope that we don't see it, it can be very difficult to get away from it."

"You just had to say it, it's going to appear now that you said it!"

Karin yelled at the cat who huffed, and watched as they continued running away from the flowing walls called the Koryu, and didn't want to be captured by it. Takumi had a bad feeling that Karin was right, and they would come across this Kotosu, it just seemed to be something that would happen to them.

While running through the world they were in, some of the wall latched onto the outfits skirt that Giselle was wearing, and began pulling her towards the wall.

"Hehehe, hey Takumi-kun, I'm captured, go on without me."

Giselle seemed so calm about it, which shocked Karin.

"Giselle-san!"

Yuzu tried to help Giselle, but the wall went for her as well.

Takumi flashed back, grabbing Yuzu, and flung her over his shoulder, while tearing Giselle's skirt at the side, revealing some of her leg, but the wall took the piece of skirt that Takumi tore off, and threw Giselle over his shoulder, and flashed back to the others, continuing to run.

"No one gets left behind Giselle-san, we all make it or none of us do."

Giselle felt her cheeks heat up ever so slightly, she found it arousing that Takumi had said something like that to her.

"Ooh my hero, coming to save me from the badness of the situation at hand~"

Giselle grinned as the others kept running.

Karin looked relieved that Yuzu was safe…

But that didn't last for long.

For as Yoruichi had said, a bullet train type thing began appearing behind them, shooting across the ground and came right for them.

"I knew this would happen cat! I blame you for this!"

Yoruichi looked offended while Orihime looked back at it.

"Taku-chan, that thing is fast, I'm not sure that we'll make it."

"It's been about two and half minutes Orihime-chan, we've still got under two minutes left now. We have to be near the exit surely!"

Takumi hoped that was the case.

Being chased by the bullet train made of the walls didn't seem like it would be quite a nice thing to deal with.

"I pray to God you're right Takumi, because I don't want to die by something meant to kill Hollows!"

"Karin-chan, this isn't just because you're here, you know?"

Takumi expressed his thoughts, seeing Karin's face take a noticeable turn.

"Are you sure? I have a Hollow inside of me so..."

"It would come here for any intruders." Yoruichi explained. "Not just you. Rest assured, this has nothing to do with your Inner Hollow Karin Kurosaki."

Karin wasn't so sure.

She still had to try and wrap her head around what it was that was inside of her, and what could happen if it got out.

After a minute more of running, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

"Ooh thank God! We're there!"

Karin cheered, while Takumi also released a breath.

"Yes, lets get out of here while we can everyone!"

Takumi cheered, only to hear Karin stumble a little bit.

Karin didn't fall over, but she did stumble, which caused her to lose her pace for a few moments, which allowed the Kotosu to catch up a little more than before, and her eyes went towards it, fearful about what was going to happen.

"Karin!"

Yuzu panicked from Takumi's shoulder.

Takumi's eyes went back to see Karin's body nearing the bullet train of darkness.

"No, Karin-chan!"

"S-Shit! I'm sorry guys! Just go on without me! I'll be fine here!"

Karin apologized, and gestured them on at the same time, hoping that would be the end of it.

But for Takumi that was unacceptable.

"No, it can't be, we can't just leave you behind here Karin-chan!"

Orihime, having heard what Takumi said, pulled backwards.

"Don't worry Taku-chan, I've got this!" Orihime placed her hands on her hairpins. "Now, Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily! Santen Kesshun! I reject!"

Orihime thrusts out her hands, and creates a large triangle based shield behind her, blocking the incoming, pushing against the bullet train looking thing that came for their bodies.

Takumi grimaced at the sight, and saw that the bullet train managed to force them all out of the Dangai, and into a new area.

Floating in the air, Takumi and the others looked down, to see that there was a land that was full of old time looking houses, something that you'd find easily over a hundred years ago, and they fell down towards the ground.

"I've got it!"

Orihime used her shield and pushed it down to the ground, catching them all as they fell to the ground, and thanks to her abilities, they managed to get themselves to safety, and finally having arrived in the Soul Society.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rukia continued to sit in her cell, waiting for anymore news about her execution, and what that would entail. She also thought about her interactions with Hanataro, and smiled to herself softly.

She was glad she could at least have some nice experiences within the Soul Society before her execution came up.

Rukia could hear alarms were sounding off.

She didn't know why that was.

Was a Hollow nearby?

Nemu entered the Squad 6 barracks, and walked to Rukia's cell. Her eyes were unmoving, her body seemed to be calm and collected. Rukia hadn't expected that Nemu of all people would come and see her.

"Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, what are you..."

"I decided to see, if you were still..."

Nemu paused, and thought about what she was going to say next, it was new for her to feel...anything.

"I was still...okay?"

Nemu with an emotionless expression, inclines her neck.

"Correct, and it seems that you are acting at an acceptable level."

Rukia was surprised.

The old Nemu wouldn't have even considered to check on her.

But whatever had transpired between her and Takumi, it seems that Nemu had become more involved, and interested in the lives around her, beyond Mayuri, and seemed to be doing things against what Mayuri wishes.

Nemu went to leave, when Rukia pulled forward.

"Lieutenant, I have to ask...the alarms have been going off. What's happening?"

"There seems to be someone, or a group of people that have managed to break through to the Soul Society. Unconfirmed at this time, if this is a Hollow attack, or someone else entirely."

"Someone else...no, it couldn't-"

"I currently don't have the information." Nemu expressed as normally as she could. "All I know is that an unknown presence has broken through to Soul Society. I shall keep you updated as information comes in."

Rukia allowed her neck to dip downwards slightly.

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Nemu bows her head, and walks off, leaving Rukia alone.

Rukia's eyes went to the window of her bars, and wondered what was happening out there.

If it was Takumi, or someone else entirely.

She just didn't know.

* * *

Back with Takumi and the others, they looked around at the buildings that had seen better days. It looked dusty, nothing how he had imagined it would be, how Rukia described it to be, it seemed to be just like the human world, only if they lived in rural areas. Orihime's spirits went back into her hairpins, as they continued looking around.

"Phew, we made it."

Takumi released a breath as Orihime cheered.

"Yes, we're here!"

Orihime, who saw Yoruichi's eyes on her harshly, and thrusted her paw forward, pulled backwards.

"What did I say about not using spiritual powers during our trip through the Dangai?"

Yoruichi's paw almost touched Orihime, when Takumi caught her paw, and held her up by her paw.

"Hey don't go blaming her. It worked out in the end."

"Only because the Kotosu didn't touch the flowers themselves, and only came into contact with the barrier. If it had touched the flowers, then we would have been doomed."

"Even then, Orihime-chan saved us, don't be so harsh..." Takumi's eyes went left and right, around the area. "This...isn't what I expected the Shinigami world to be like. It seems like...feudal Japan maybe?"

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

A groaning noise could be heard, but everyone couldn't see anyone making the noise.

Karin dusted off her outfit, cracking her neck left.

"Yeah, it's totally deserted. Shouldn't there be some kind of spirits around here? Or Shinigami? Anything?"

"This is the Rukongai, there should be some spirits around here." Yoruichi explained, as she took a look around. "However, they might have heard the commotion that we made, and decided to stay in doors, in case it was something dangerous."

"Is that a regular occurrence or something?"

Karin questioned the cat who raised an eyebrow.

"It's not unheard of anyway."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

Once again, more groaning noises could be heard, Takumi glanced at Yuzu who smiled.

"Do you hear a groaning noise?"

"Yeah, but I don't know where it's coming from."

"Great, so we might have scared the locals. Guess we can't ask for directions about where to go and find the Shinigami's."

Karin added, also looking around the area.

Giselle took a look around, and then saw a large city towards the right hand side. It seemed to be so immaculate, beautiful that she was rather speechless at the sight. Compared to the Rukongai, it seemed to be a paradise.

"I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark, and say that's the area we should be going towards."

Giselle pointed towards the large city, Takumi's eyes caught the sight of it, and his eyes flickered.

"So, that's the Seireitei is it? Damn, it seems quite big. But it can't be as simple as walking up to..."

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Takumi heard a yell come from under him, looking down he saw a man that wore a green outfit, and had a short sword on his back, his face eating dirt. "G-Get off my head bastard!"

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there~"

Takumi removed his foot, the man stood up, as a large boar creature came strolling over. Takumi's eyes glanced at the boar, before looking back to the man who got up. Dusting himself off, his eyes slowly went to Takumi's face.

"You idiot, landing on someone's head! Why I outta..." His eyes saw the robes of Takumi, and then Karin's own. "Shinigami's! You pieces of crap being in West Rukongai! How dare you think you can step even a single toe here scum?!"

Karin looked offended.

"What did he just say? Did he just call us scum?!"

Karin's rage grew larger and larger, while Takumi got between the pair with eyes sparking.

"Okay, lets all calm down now." Takumi's eyes went to the large man, who's eyes looked angered. "Haha, so hey! Sorry about me stepping on you. I didn't mean to do that. But, if you don't mind, could you tell us more about the Seireitei before we step inside."

"What am I? Your tour guide or something blondie?!"

Takumi grimaced, and glanced at Orihime who stepped forward.

"Sorry, please don't blame Taku-chan for standing on you. He didn't mean it. We are only trying to make our way to the Seireitei to help out our friend. So any information you could give us would be truly-"

"I'd never help a Shinigami! Especially two of them!" Karin and Takumi glanced at the other, while the man withdrew his blade. "And if you plan to stay here, then you've got another thing coming! I wont let you stay here!"

"You're going to attack us, and we don't know who you are."

The man placed a hand on his chest, and punched it proudly.

"My name is Ganju Shiba!" Yoruichi took note of that name. "And this is my loyal boar Bonnie-chan!"

"Bonnie-chan's adorable!"

Orihime cooed as did Giselle.

Ganju sweat dropped even more than before.

"Don't say that!" His finger extends towards Takumi. "And you, Shinigami bastard!"

"Language around the ladies, that's rather rude. And I have a Father thank you."

Ganju's nostrils flare, and swings his blade for Takumi, who quickly parries it with his own.

"Hey, want a hand?"

Karin offered, as Takumi twirls his blade with his fingers.

"You can take the next one."

"Alright, though you better not interfere in the next fight."

Takumi held up his fingers in the peace sign.

"Scouts honour."

"Where you a scout?"

He chuckles deeply, shrugging.

"Who knows." His eyes went back to Ganju. "Alright, if you want to fight, I'm fine with that. But, why do you have a grudge against us? Not all Shinigami's are the same you know?"

"Yes they are! All of them are the same hateful people!"

He rushes towards Takumi and attempts to stab him with his blade, while Takumi flipped over Ganju's form, who smirks, and stomps onto the ground. He says "Turn to sand, Seppa!" which began turning the ground into sand as he said, Takumi grimacing at the sight.

"Sand magic, huh. Interesting. How does that work Ganju-san?"

"Very interesting isn't it?! I'm not telling you anything about my abilities!"

Takumi thrust his blade downwards, landing on the blade, and then kicked off from it, shooting at Ganju who panicked, and received a kick to his chest, his eyes widening as his body was lifted off the ground, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Haha, nice Takumi."

Karin grins, while Giselle plays with her hair.

"I know, your skills have increased a good deal Takumi-kun, that guy stands no chance."

"To be fair though, anyone of us could beat him."

Karin noted, and Takumi thought that was true.

Even some of the weaker members, like Orihime and Yuzu could take Ganju from what Takumi could see.

But he didn't want to humiliate Ganju, so he walked over to him calmly, and bent down towards him.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to kick you so hard."

"I-I don't need your pity Shinigami! I'm the Number One Shinigami hater around here!"

"But, we don't have to fight at all. We could just perhaps talk about your issues..."

Takumi tried to be the reasonable one, but it seemed to be falling on deaf ears.

"Don't mock me!"

"I'm not mocking you...I just want to get some information and then we'd be on our way..."

"Lying isn't going to save you! I mean, what the hell is your name anyway?!"

Takumi shrugged, he didn't mind giving out his name.

"My names Takumi Urahara."

At that...Ganju froze.

He felt like ice had creeped up into his body and he was dying a horrible death.

His breathing became laboured.

His eyes went rapid, opening and closing at increasing rates.

Sweat formed on his brow.

His body slowly stood up, his nervous eyes meeting Takumi's own.

"Y-You're Takumi Urahara?!"

"Yes, that's right-"

"G-Get away from me!" Ganju jumps backwards, fearful of Takumi who tilted his neck. "C-Come on Bonnie-chan, lets get out of here!" The boar let out a small noise as Ganju got onto her back, and began riding off. "Y-You can have the area sir! Don't do anything to me! Goodbye sir!"

Takumi watched with bemusement as Ganju left the area.

"You rep precedes you Takumi."

Karin noted, while Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"It seems so, I feel complex about that."

"Ooh don't worry Taku-chan, we're here to clear your name too!"

Takumi hummed as he thought about it.

Meeting the first person that wasn't a Shinigami and still seemed to know who he was, it seemed rather insane that he got so much of a scared reaction. He had to wonder how bad it had gotten for even people that weren't Shinigami's to have heard of him.

"I guess...but it still is a complex feeling to know that people fear you over lies. Well, I guess that just means I have to try even harder to get some evidence I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Yup, that's right Taku-chan!"

Orihime cheered, while Takumi cracked his neck side to side.

"Now with that out of the way, maybe we should gather some information and make a plan before going to the gates..." His eyes caught the sight of Yuzu and Karin casually strolling towards the city. "H-Hey, we have to make plans before going straight there-"

"Who needs plans? Lets get into the city before any guards come! We saw what happened with that guy Ganju, if the others are anything like that then they wont listen to any reason that we try and give them, you know?!"

Karin and Yuzu began running Takumi slapped his head as did Yoruichi.

"Wonderful, so they're going ahead anyway."

"We better go with them."

Takumi spoke up, so he, with the others went to meet Karin and Yuzu.

* * *

As they ran for the Seireitei, Takumi saw from up above, that a giant gate was coming down. The length went on for miles, it seemed to be surrounding the Seiretei around them, and it looked as if they wouldn't be able to get through.

The large gates hit the ground, creating a large area of smoke that clouds the area around them. Orihime and Giselle cough while Takumi glances up, seeing that from up above, a large giant was coming crashing down towards them with a very large axe in his hand, aimed right for Karin and Yuzu.

"Hey! Look up you two!"

Takumi's call alerts them to what was happening. Karin looks up, and sees the giant coming down, so she grabs her Zanpakuto from her back, and swings it upwards as hard as she could, clashing blades with the giants axe, and sent off a giant pressure between them, which forces the giant axe upwards, and away from their forms.

Takumi, and the others watch the giant stand between the gates, and them themselves. His axe aims towards Karin, while Yuzu pulls backwards.

"So, who's this anyway Yoruichi-chan?"

Yoruichi got a good look at the giant, and then explained who it was to Takumi and the others.

"This man is Jidanbo, the guardian of the Seireitei's West Gate. He's held this position for three hundred years, and in that time, he hasn't been defeated. It would be better if we make a retreat, and also-"

"Hey Karin-chan, you wanna handle him?"

Yoruichi does a spit take while Karin glances backwards.

"You don't mind?"

"Nah, gives you good practice with your Zanpakuto, and fighting powerful enemies."

"Heeeeh, I just think you're being lazy again. But, if that's how it is, I guess I don't mind fighting the giant. Besides, you said you'd not interfere."

"Nope, your fight completely."

Takumi spoke with a smile, which Karin returned.

"Good, leave this to me then."

Yoruichi, flipping out on Takumi's shoulder, hits his face several times.

"Ow, that hurts Yoruichi-chan."

Takumi explained, so Yoruichi slapped his cheek again, making him groan in slight annoyance.

"Did you not hear when I said that we were going to be making a retreat!?"

"I did, but this guys levels of spiritual power isn't as much as Karin-chan's from what I can tell. Besides, we're going to making a great entrance, and this is one of the only ways to go through, right? We don't have time to go around to other sides of the Rukongai and hope to find another entrance."

Yoruichi thought Takumi brought up a good point. This would be the fastest way for them to get into the Seireitei, but she also knew that it wouldn't be so easy to get past Jidanbo before them, so she came up with an alternative solution.

"Well, we could always just go to Kukaku's place."

"Who?"

Yoruichi went to answer, when Jidanbo raised his axe high into the air.

"Excuse me! My name is Jidanbo, I don't really understand what you're discussing, but are we having a battle, or not?"

It seemed that he was getting a little impatient, something Giselle could understand quite well as she'd feel the same if she was him in this kind of situation.

Karin tabs her chest, pointing to herself.

"Yeah big guy, I'll be taking you on. You cool with that?"

Jidanbo overlooked Karin's appearance. Seeing her Zanpakuto, he seemed to be rather intrigued, and hoped that he'd be rather powerful.

"It matters not. However, this battle is going to be a duel between me and you, if you're the one to be fighting me. I wish to see your strength on your own."

Karin held onto her Zanpakuto tightly.

"Don't worry about that, these people wont interfere in this battle. This will be between you and I."

"I feel the will of a warrior inside of you. If that's the case, then I shall be facing against you!"

Jidanbo seemed to be ready, as did Karin who continued staring up at the giant.

Takumi chuckled slightly, seeing Yoruichi's worried face.

"Don't look so worried Yoruichi-chan, you'll get wrinkles. Karin-chan's got this, she's become a lot stronger than when she first gained her powers. She can handle this guy, she trained with my Father, and myself, so she's got this."

"Taku-chan, are you sure we shouldn't lend an assistance?"

Orihime added while tilting her neck side to side.

Takumi nodded without a missed second.

"It would be a wound on Karin-chan's pride. But more than that, we have to be prepared to fight on our own if it comes down to it, so this is good practice for all of us to see how we'd be able to react to a battle of this magnitude."

Orihime slowly nodded at the sight, and watched as Karin got into a fighting stance. Takumi held a hand to his blade, while Giselle kept making funny faces at Jindano, wiggling her tongue, and also dancing like a Zombie, which seemed to intimidate him a little bit.

"Is your friend okay?"

Gesturing to Giselle, who seemed to be in her own world, Karin sweat dropped.

"Define okay, and then I'll tell you if she is or not."

"That sounds fair. But, this is going to be finished in one hit. Can you handle that?"

"Can you handle me? That's the question."

Jidanbo, showed a bright smile on his face.

"Confidence is beautiful on you Shinigami girl! I shall enjoy our brief battle!"

Jidanbo raised his large axe into the air, and swung it downwards as fast as he could. The giant axe caught the air as it swung downwards, and cut through the air, but Karin remained calm, and raised her Zanpakuto in a cross above her body, and took the giants swing head on, clashing blades together, and created an immense air pressure between them, but Karin didn't falter, her strength seemingly having increased a good deal, could handle the strength of Jidanbo.

"See Yoruichi-chan? You worried for nothing."

Takumi comforted the cat, while Yoruichi wasn't seemingly in the same state of mind that Takumi was in.

"Y-You blocked my shot..."

Jidanbo seemed to be surprised by what had transpired between them.

Karin having blocked the shot seemed almost unheard of.

In fact, he was impressed with what Karin had accomplished with her strength alone.

"But, I am glad that you were able to block my first shot! It has been sometime since someone has been able to block my hit like that. However, it doesn't mean you'll be able to block my full powered strength!"

"So, that wasn't your full power?"

Karin's question was met with a nod.

"Indeed, that was only about half my power. I don't usually use full power for my opponents."

Karin whistled lightly.

"Then I have to say you're quite strong if that was just half powered."

Jindanbo bowed his head.

"That's kind of you to say. But, it wont stop me."

"I wasn't planning on my words stopping you. I just wanted to admire your strength, I am impressed with you. So, come at me with full power Jidanbo, and I'll show you my power as well. Lets let the best warrior win this fight!"

"Good! You know, only about three people have survived my first strike!"

"Then I'm lucky number four."

"Indeed you are! But, you can't survive my second one at full power!"

Jidanbo raises his axe once more, and brings it down upon Karin. Yuzu notices that Jidanbo's muscles were protruding forward from his skin, seeing that he was putting more effort into his attack this time, and worried for Karin.

"Karin, be careful!"

"I know, don't worry Yuzu, I've got this!"

Karin grips her blade tightly, and swings her sword upwards as the axe comes down. Yuzu watches as energy begins coming off the blade, which made contact with Jidanbo's axe itself, the energy released itself, and sliced through his axe, cleaving it in half, the half that was chopped off fell down to the ground beside Karin, who held no hesitation in looking towards Jidanbo and taking a step forward.

"M-My axe..."

Jidanbo seemed to be in a state of disbelief, while Karin swung her sword outwards.

"How was that Jidanbo? Has anyone ever done that before?"

He stared at his axe for a few moments, or what was left of it anyway, and couldn't believe that Karin broke it while seeing that she was seemingly not putting

"No...no one has ever done that to my axe before, much less having blocked my second attack, at full power, you destroyed my axe. You must have incredible powers to do that."

Karin rubbed the bridge under her nose.

"I don't know about that, but I think I did rather well. I trained to become strong, so it's thanks to my Sensei's that I became strong like this."

Jidanbo then brings out another axe, and aims it for Karin's body.

"If that's the case, then can you survive Jidan 10-hit Festival!"

He then began swinging his axe downwards at Karin in quick succession.

However, Karin blocks the shots with her Zanpakuto again and again.

"Five, six, seven...six..." Jidanbo becomes confused slightly, forgetting his placement when seeing Karin block his shots. "Wait, what was I on?"

"Seven~"

Giselle sings from the side.

"Aah! Yes! Well, seven! Eight! Nine!" The three strikes come down at Karin once more, but she parries each attack with her own blade, so Jidanbo grips the axe with both hands, increasing his strength as much as he could. "Have the final strike!"

Swinging downwards, Karin holds onto her blade tightly, and then stabs upwards, her sword penetrating the axe blade, as her energy was increasing across the blade, shooting out upwards, once more cleaving right through the axe, cutting it in half, surprising Jidanbo.

"Sorry dude, had to cut your axe in half again. You're cool with that, right?"

Jidanbo was bewildered by what Karin was doing.

"How are you still standing after that? No, how did you destroy two of my axes?!"

"Well, I channelled my spiritual powers through my blade, I can do that with my Zanpakuto, and released it once I was managed to cut into your axe. So, I am sorry if it does seem like I'm being cocky, I just wish to do my best, and not let down my comrades. You understand that, don't you Jidanbo?"

"B-But...wait right here! I will be back in two minutes!"

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I need to get my two axes! Stronger ones! Those axes had been worn and torn from years of use!"

"Well, we are on a time constraint here..." Jidanbo gives pleading eyes, so Karin sighs. "Alright, we wont move a muscle, go and get your axes. I'll just shatter them too."

"Right!"

Jidanbo rushes out of the area, while Karin glances at Yoruichi.

"So, what's with this anyway?"

"He's a very prideful person and thinks that his axes must have had a problem with them. Either way, the next time you break them, be kind about them and maybe he might let us through without much more incident."

"Alright, I'll try my best."

Takumi watched with a kind smile on his face, and hoped that this would end rather quickly.

* * *

About two or so minutes later, Takumi and the others were thumb wrestling when Jidanbo comes back with two large axes. They didn't seem that different to the ones that he was carrying before, but Karin didn't make a big deal about it, instead she just stepped forward.

"Okay then, I guess that we should get on with this."

"Before you might have been able to destroy my axes! But not this time! These are very strong, and have no flaws at all! And I'll display my ultimate attack onto you!" Jidanbo raises both axes into the air, taking aim at Karin who remained as calm as she could do. "10,000 Year Hit Festival!"

The two axes come flying down at Karin, who inhales slowly.

Clutching her Zanpakuto tightly, and then swings it above her head as hard as she could. She increases the energy within her sword, and allows a thin layer of energy to overrun the blade, and aimed that for the axes.

The pair of weapons clashed violently, and Karin had to admit that she was being pushed back slightly, but it wasn't enough for her to fail.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Karin puts more pressure into the swing and her energy, which cleaves right through the axes themselves, shattering them into many pieces.

"N-No! It can't be!"

"Sorry it is!"

Karin swings the blade forward, and the shock wave sends Jidanbo flying backwards into the gates, causing them to shake because of his body. Dust scatters around them from what Karin's attack did, but Takumi and the others were safe with Takumi using a Kido spell to keep the dust away from their bodies.

Karin exhales, cracking her neck side to side.

"Sorry about that dude, didn't mean to knock you down like that, just meant to push you back."

Jidanbo stares at Karin for a few moments, bewildered, but then he gets up swiftly, brushing his outfit of the dust that it held, and looked at Karin.

"I merely slipped, that wasn't anything to do with..."

Jidanbo's eyes go towards his broken axes, seeing the pieces just fluttering in the air, since they were that small now thanks to Karin's power, and begins to weep uncontrollably. Tears as big as a child's body ran from his eyes, landing on the ground and create puddles within the dusty ground.

Karin and the others cringe, Takumi glancing at Yoruichi.

"You implied this guy was a fierce warrior."

"I did, and he is. But he surprisingly has a sensitive side."

"I see...are we supposed to comfort him or something Yoruichi-chan?"

"Erm...I don't actually know."

Karin glances back at the others, who shoo her towards Jidanbo.

She exhales deeply, moving forward, and puts on an empathetic face.

"L-Look, I didn't mean to damage your pride or anything. I just wanted to get through the gates, that's all. Sorry about the axes, my friend over there is an inventor, maybe he could help with those axes or something to make them more sturdy?"

Karin offered, Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"Why does it feel like I'll be doing that after this is all over?"

"It seems to be a personal favour to Karin~"

Yuzu sang out, Takumi widens his brows slightly, as Jidanbo hiccups, looking down at Karin.

Seeing that she was being as kind as she was, he felt touched by her words.

"T-Thank you very much! You're unexpectedly kind!"

"Y-Yeah, so how about...you know, letting us through?"

Jidanbo didn't even have to think about it, his head bobbed again and again.

"Yes, yes, you defeated me in combat, it is only fair."

Karin glances back at the others as Jidanbo stands tall.

"How about my friends back there?"

"But of course, since you the leader defeated me in combat, your friends can come with you."

Karin smirks, cocking her head back to Takumi.

"See? He thinks I'm the leader, I'm the protagonist around here, party member."

Takumi bites his lower lip, tempted to say something, but doesn't in the end.

"W-Whatever, doesn't matter. We're going through, that's all that counts."

"Yeah, thanks to the leader here~"

Karin seemed chuffed with herself, while the others cocked their heads to the left hand side.

"So female leader, what is your name?"

Karin gives a big smirk, glancing back at Takumi who didn't say anything, he just kept on a straight face.

"The names Karin Kurosaki."

"What a cute name Karin Kurosaki."

Karin felt like arguing with the giant, but for the moment, she just held her tongue and didn't say anything at all.

"W-Well, thanks I think. So, could you let us pass now?"

Karin spoke with slight agitation, Jidanbo let out a laugh.

"Of course! But, I have to ask, do you want to go in there? There's some scary and mean guys over there. It isn't a safe place."

"We know, we have to go and save our friend."

Karin spoke for the group, Jidanbo seemed satisfied, and bent down. His fingers dug into the ground, and gripped the gate from underneath. Watching with amazement, the giant lifted the gate upwards with some strain on his body.

* * *

However, as he lifts up the gate...fear begins to take over his form.

Takumi notices it first, and pulls forward.

"Is something wrong Jidanbo-san?"

Takumi's question was met with a snickering coming from inside of the gate. Peering inside, Takumi saw a young snake like looking individual, wearing the same type of clothing that Byakuya wore, so Takumi knew that he was a Captain.

"Who is this guy?"

Karin rudely asks, Takumi and Yoruichi release a breath.

"It's a Captain Karin-chan, everyone. We need to be careful."

The atmosphere becomes tense, the snake like man's eyes that were basically a single line, opened ever so slightly. Chills went down Orihime's, and Yuzu's spines, while Karin, Giselle and Takumi stood their grounds.

"My, it seems that you've come straight to us, Takumi-kun."

Takumi didn't seem surprised that he knew his name.

"So, you know who I am. And who are you?"

The man places a finger to his lips.

"Haha, the same manner as always. So calm and polite. Well, my name is Gin Ichimaru, and I'm currently the Captain of the Third Division." His eyes go towards Jidanbo, and grins wickedly. "That wont do, letting in people. You're supposed to guard the gate."

Takumi's eyes widen when seeing a blade extending out of Gin's robes.

It moved very fast, but he managed to react to it, and leapt upwards, crossing his blade before Jidanbo, blocking the shot from the extending sword of Gin's. Yoruichi exhaled slowly, glad that Takumi had gotten to a point that he could react to that kind of speed, while Gin seemed to be rather pissed off about it.

"That's not good, you can't just go around blocking attacks."

Karin widened her eyes at the sight, blinking several times.

"Oi, isn't Jidanbo your comrade or something?! You just tried to kill him!"

"He's not serving his purpose. He isn't suppose to lift up the gate for others to enter. He's supposed to guard it."

Yoruichi looks on as Takumi pushes the blade away from Jidanbo and himself. Gin retracts his blade, and pulls forward ever so quietly, and almost like a snake after their prey.

"_I didn't think they'd station him of all people here. They must have known we'd try and get in this way. We need to regroup, and form a strategy, there will be more people coming here soon enough, and while these kids have gotten a lot stronger, they also couldn't take on the entire Soul Society which will happen if we stay here. We must avoid fighting Ichimaru for now._"

While she thought about it, Gin chuckles lightly.

"Now now, you shouldn't be able to move at all."

Gin unleashes his pressure around them, and because it was so strong, people like Orihime and Yuzu fall to their knees. Karin grits her teeth and sweats a little, while Giselle stays relaxed under the power, the same for Takumi and Yoruichi.

"Exerting your pressure like that, it wont take me down."

Takumi said it while pointing his blade towards him.

"Takumi, we have to leave right now, before the others come here!"

Takumi agreed with Yoruichi, and went to turn when Gin flash steps before him, and swings his blade down at a rapid pace. Responding as quickly as he could, Takumi repelled the blade backwards, while Gin flips over Takumi's form, and thrusts his blade towards Takumi in a series of jabs, which he avoids expertly, using his blade to parry some of the shots away from his body before he could be pierced.

However, while he did that, he placed his hand towards Jidanbo.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui."

Unleashing the Kido spell, the energy sprang forward and headed for the giant. Karin growls, and leaps upwards, clutching her Zanpakuto tightly, and swung her blade downwards, cleaving right through the energy that Gin released, protecting Jidanbo from the attack.

However, while Gin did that, Takumi saw an opening, and sliced left, managing to leave a decent sized cut on his arm, blood erupting out of his wound, and touched the ground, Gin's eyes narrowing dangerously at the sight.

"You little…"

Takumi swung his blade for Gin's chest to cut him down, but Gin leaps backwards, putting him between Takumi, who was standing in the Seireitei, and the others who stood in the Rukongai, Takumi seeing this as trying to isolate him from the others.

Gin shakes his head left and right, while Takumi clutches his sword tightly.

"My, you are quite fast. Then again, I shouldn't expect anything different, Child Genius. I'm also considered a Child Genius, so don't you find it interesting that we are sparring with one another right now?"

"I wouldn't call this sparring, you tried to kill your own comrade. What is wrong with you?"

"As I said, he opened the gates for the rift raft, did you not hear that part?"

Takumi knew he was being condescending, but he didn't care right now.

"I heard that part, what gives you the right to go around slicing down your own comrades who did something honourable after losing a match? Jidanbo-san has more honour than you."

Takumi's words stung Gin a little, but he didn't allow it to show.

"He is right Captain Ichimaru, I lost, and as the losing gatekeeper, I think it makes perfect sense to open the gates."

"Heh, a losing gatekeeper shouldn't open the gates, they should just die."

With cold words, Gin's sword extends behind him towards Jidanbo once more. Takumi went to respond, when Gin fires off a Kido spell right for his body. Gritting his teeth, Takumi dodges the blast, as the blade makes it to Jidanbo.

But before it could cut him, Santen Kesshun's barrier was revealed, protecting Jidanbo's body from the blade. But the pressure behind the blade forced the shield, and by extension Jidanbo backwards, he released the gates because of the intense pressure, and they begin going down, as Jidanbo's body fell backwards, and from his fight with Karin, was worn down enough that his head smacking against the floor was enough to send him into a semi unconscious state.

"Takumi! Come on! Don't stay in there!"

Takumi nodded at Yoruichi and went tn move when Gin came at him, clashing blades with him. Takumi swings left, crossing his fingers, and announces "Byakurai!" from both his right, and left hands, creating two intercepting blasts, which forced Gin to leap backwards, but because they clashed together, the onslaught of energy released caused an explosion right before Takumi's body.

As the gates continue to come down, Takumi makes a dash for the gates, but Gin releases a laugh.

"If you get out of the gates, then your precious friends will be stabbed."

Takumi's eyes went towards the extending blade from Gin, which was heading right for Yuzu.

Since Yuzu couldn't respond to it in time right now due to Gin releasing his pressure to stop her body, Takumi exhaled, knowing that if he blocked the shot, then he'd save Yuzu, but not get out, but if he got out, and tried to block the shot, then Yuzu could get stabbed, he didn't think he'd be fast enough to get out and protect her at the same time since the blade moved so fast.

Knowing what he would have to do, he appeared before the blade, and crossed the blade over his body, taking the shot from Gin's extending blade, but the gates continued to go down, Takumi's eyes heading outside of the gate to Yoruichi.

"Take care of them! I'll survive until you get here!"

"Takumi! Get out now!"

Yoruichi knew it was in vain that she'd yell that.

But she had to try anyway.

Takumi swung his Zanpakuto backwards, forcing the blade away from himself, and rushed for the gates.

"Taku-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Orihime cried, seeing Takumi's body attempting to get close.

What she last saw was Takumi's smile for her.

"I'll be fine Orihime-chan, keep yourself safe!"

And then they came down just before he could reach them, however a device came from under the gates just before they were blocked off from each other.

His eyes went back to Gin who gave a mocking laugh, seeing more and more Shinigami coming towards his form.

"And then there was one."

Takumi grit his teeth, his eyes going for the gates, and then towards Gin and the others.

Knowing that he was in trouble, Takumi exhaled slowly.

"Well, I guess that quite literally, I just knocked on Heaven's door."

Taking out his blade, he points it at Gin and the other Shinigami enclosing around him.

Knowing it would be dangerous, Takumi didn't have a choice.

He knew that this would be dangerous, but he had to do this.

He had to protect himself until the others arrived.

But it was going to be difficult considering his situation.

Takumi, was alone within the Seireitei, and more and more Shinigami, were coming for him.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we've entered the Soul Society! Takumi and Kisuke had a conversation that we'll learn more about at a later date and what that entails, Karin and Yuzu said goodbye to their Father, while Giselle promised to protect them while Takumi and Orihime shared a moment before they left together. **

**Then they entered the Dangai, and had some trouble, but managed to get through in the end, though it seems Karin's having some thoughts about her Hollow, and what that means to her. Then a little shakeup happened, and we met Ganju, who tried picking a fight as he does, but when hearing Takumi's name, became something different, almost frightened and took off.**

**Then Karin fought off Jidanbo, showcasing her new abilities by easily winning against the giant who seems to developed some admiration for Karin and sees her as the leader. But it wasn't so easy to enter when Gin came, separating Takumi from the rest of the team, so he's now in the Seireitei alone, lets see what he's going to do and how he's going to survive!**

**Until next time, were a surprise reunion takes place, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	18. Reunions!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, for now it seems that he is a one man army against the Seireitei. Kenpachi will meet Takumi in this chapter and they'll have some fun interactions in the coming chapters. That would be a pretty interesting ability for her to have. Ooh yeah, we'll be seeing some surprising stuff regarding Sora, among others this chapter.**

**Oblivious IJ; His eye colour changed through the anime which I thought was funny. It seems Karin certainly thinks so. I like that song.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; They have yeah, it's going to be difficult for them now~ Orihime did yeah, she'll be doing more stuff through the arc as well, and Karin showed how she improved to take down Jidanbo, though she did respect him as shown when she confronted Gin about it. Hehe, he's alone, lets see how he does this. He does yeah, Takumi's got his work cut out for him. We will yeah~**

**Skull Flame; Exactly, Nemu's quite the girl~ Could it be? We'll find out towards the end of the arc. I guess it was~ Ganju seems to be fearful of Takumi, his rep precedes him as Karin spoke up. He is yeah, Takumi's pretty smart though so he'll have some tricks up his sleeve.**

**guest; First of all, thank you, and I probably wont in the immediate future anyway.**

**Guest 1; He will by the end of this chapter!**

**Andrew123456; By design, probably Sode no Shirayuki, though I do like Tobiume as well. By personality, that's a hard one, I quite liked a number of them.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, he knows he'll need it, since he's going up against the Soul Society. He will get them back eventually yeah. We will get confirmed details during this arc somewhere. It is one of the Captains, but I can't reveal which one yet. He wont no, Takumi and Hanataro are going to build up a big brother/little brother dynamic through the arc. It will be their last interactions, save flashback, for a little while. Orihime and Takumi are now in a place where they understand their feelings, so expect some more, romance between them. Yeah, maybe he could, or he could do following this arc. They will yeah, probably at the beginning of the Arrancar arc, when he reveals it for the first time in the canon series. Giselle's gonna have some prominent moments rather soon. He does yeah, he's given everyone some form of healing medicine just in case, and yeah, even though he knew he couldn't, Kisuke for a moment wished that he could just push through that barrier. He will do yeah. She will eventually, maybe Kisuke will to keep himself sane. She isn't no, it's going to be Karin's arc to go through with her inner Hollow, and what it means to have her Zanpakuto be her inner Hollow. Nemu's coming into her own, and it seems people are beginning to truly notice. By this point, as Karin pointed out, all the members there could take Ganju, even Yuzu and Orihime could, so Takumi, a stronger member of the group, could take Ganju no problem. Karin showed her stuff, and Jidanbo jumping to those conclusions haha~ It is more serious, since Takumi's separate from them from the beginning, and will have to begin doing stuff. I can't reveal much, but Gin and Takumi do have some kind of history together. He hasn't no, and he might have a proper fight with Gin in the future chapters. Yeah, we could have a scene like that with Takumi. Oh no, Takumi wont care about Komamura's appearance, he'll probably think it's cool. I have read what's on the wikia about the novels, and yeah they are interesting, but I wont be going into the novels since I don't have the full picture, and they aren't easily accessible, I might add elements to this story though to add some unexpected stuff. That would be pretty cool if someone commented on that. It seems that she can, I wish she had shown it in the manga, to try and 'surprise' Ywhach with a love beam. Yeah, it's a cool idea! It was a bit long, and yeah, maybe they could be eager to meet him. Hey, maybe Takumi could even invent them or one of them. The Bounts are strong, but we've seen the Captains being able to take them on with some but not much trouble, and by that time, Takumi would have fought some strong Captains so yeah, Jin would be the only one really able to fight. And yeah, that could be something Takumi could mention to him regarding Kenpachi. Yeah he could show that in battle, I think it would come up with his fight against Kenpachi. Giselle is gonna make an army once getting into the Soul Society. Well you never know, he might be all of those. Yeah he could I suppose~ The events of the novel are interesting, the Bankai's seem pretty cool from what I've read, I like Shinji's it seems like it would have been fun to see in the series. I don't mind the other characters introduced either, they seem interesting enough. Yeah, he'd be cool. Maybe he will in the future, who knows~ Yeah, I think Komamura should have stayed the Captain of Squad 7. I always thought it would be cool if Ukitake became Squad 8's Captain after Shunsui becomes Captain of the 1st division. They'd be cool girls to join, thanks for the suggestions!**

**A fan; Female Frieza huh, that's quite interesting to think about. Yeah, that would be rather interesting to see.**

**AverageAtBest3; First of all, thank you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! She'd be pretty cool to see in the harem, thanks for the suggestion! And yeah, she's pretty fun as a character~**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Reunions!**

Takumi stared off as all of the Shinigami surrounded his body. He knew that this was going to be a difficult battle, and he knew if he tried to fight, then he was going to be killed. He could feel more and more people coming around towards him, and there would be no way he'd be able to fend them all off.

So he pulled backwards, drawing his sword, as Gin stepped forward.

"So, cut off from everyone else, it must be worrying for you. Are you scared right now?"

Takumi knew that Gin was trying to intimate him with words that sounded caring, but they were anything but.

"No, I'm not scared right now."

Gin showed a gleeful smile on his face.

"Thinking that you're going to fight your way through this?"

Takumi chuckled lightly.

"I doubt it, I'm going to be up against powerful opponents, so I don't think I like the odds that are against me."

Gin let out a small laugh.

"You're right, you're in a dangerous situation. What are you going to do?"

Takumi hummed as more and more Shinigami came around towards him.

"That's a good question, what am I going to do against all of you?"

"Perhaps if you give up, you're going to have a lighter sentence?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Sorry can't do that. I don't have the luxury of giving up right now."

Gin didn't sound too pleased about that.

In fact, he looked rather angered by Takumi saying something like that.

Rather than fight them all, Takumi swung his sword around, and said "Ravage, Kinhime!" as a bolt of lightning shot from the sky, and encompassed over the blade, turning it into a lightning bolt shaped blade.

Members of the Gotei 13 were taken back by the blade, and its beauty.

"So wonderful..."

"The blade that's supposed to rival Sode no Shirayuki in beauty."

Shinigami began talking about Takumi's Zanpakuto while he himself remained as calm as he could. His eyes looked between the members coming, and also Gin.

Gin had that smile that could go right through someone's body.

There was something to Gin that Takumi didn't like.

It seemed that there was something hiding beneath the surface.

Whatever it was though, Takumi didn't want to fight him right now. He preferred knowing more about his opponents, so that's what Takumi was going to do.

He raised his sword, which put everyone else on edge.

But then noise began to come off from Takumi's blade. The sound of roaring thunder was erupting from the blade. The sound grew increasingly loud, it was eclipsing the sounds of the Shinigami that tried to speak, but because of the sound of thunder, it was draining them out.

Gin knew something was about to happen, so he dashed for Takumi at high speed, withdrawing his blade, and slashed for Takumi who placed his hand outwards, activating a barrier of Kido, blocking the blade, and ran electricity through the barrier, which was connecting to Gin's sword, and travelled up his blade towards his body.

Gin abandoned his blade, flash stepping behind Takumi, and pointed a finger towards him.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui."

Firing off a Kido spell at close range, Takumi didn't have a choice but to raise his blade and took the assault of Kido energy, pushing him backwards slightly, Gin appeared before his sword now rid of the electricity, and stabbed towards Takumi's back.

However, just before he could, Takumi flash stepped himself, appearing above Gin, his sword charged with electricity, and swung it downwards, creating what seemed to be lightning daggers that shot off the blade.

Knowing that they could be dangerous, Gin back flips several times as the blades of electricity pierce the ground, as Takumi whipped his blade towards Gin, and as if responding by his thoughts, the electricity that had shaped themselves into daggers rose up from the ground, aimed directly for Gin, and fired off several of the blades for Gin himself, shooting like arrows, so Gin grit his teeth, and swung his blade out, clashing with each blade of electricity and knocked them away just in time, he had to admit that the blades were rather fast, and that Takumi wasn't a joke when it came to fighting and using his blade.

"Well now, it seems that you've grown up quite a bit. But still, I'm just playing with..." His eyes landed on Takumi, and saw that his blade was in the air, looking dangerous with the sparks surrounding it. "...now, what are you thinking about doing?"

Takumi gave him a wicked smile that would cause most to feel worry or fear.

"Thunderstorm Roar Kinhime!"

The blade began to glow, and by having sparks of electricity surrounding his form to act as if a localized thunderstorm was happening, it released the deadly pitched sound, which caused the people around to experience extreme ear pain from how loud and focused it was on them, Takumi seemed to remain unaffected by what was happening, even Gin found it difficult to deal with the sound of what Takumi was releasing.

Takumi's hands then slapped the ground.

"Bakudo 21: Sekienton!"

From his palm, a large cloud of red smoke erupts outwards, encompassing Takumi's form, blocking him from view.

"S-Shit!" A ringing continued to surround Gin's ears, as Takumi shot out of the smoke and seemingly tried getting away while the others were distracted, his eyes slitting even further than before, and quickly leapt towards him. "Shoot to Kill! Shinso!"

Gin's sword came shooting at Takumi like an arrow moving at high speed. Takumi twirled his blade, and moved away from the blade, but his arm got sliced a little bit. Gin smirked, disappearing from sight, appearing above Takumi, and thrusted the blade downwards.

Takumi raises his blade, and blocks the shot with his sword, but Gin appears beside him, grabbing Takumi's head, and throws him against a nearby building, shattering it, and his body appeared out of the other side, where Takumi saw Shinso's blade extending towards him at a rapid pace, Takumi's eyes broadening exponentially, and swung his sword downwards, clashing with the blade to the right hand side, Gin smirked, and raised his blade, bringing it down towards Takumi's upper body from up above.

Leaping backwards, Gin wondered what Takumi was up too, and why he hadn't used a lightning based attack yet since he knew that was a signature move from Takumi, which he found rather strange.

Gin retracted his blade, placing his hand outwards, and formed some red energy.

"Shakkaho!"

Shooting off Shakkaho, he did so several times over. The red energy shot out in bursts and encompassed a large area, Takumi attempted to dodge them all, but Gin used that as an opportunity to appear beside him, and ram his blade right through Takumi's torso.

His eyes widened considerably at the sight of the blade entering his body, while Gin smirked dangerously.

"Games over boy."

"Yeah, for you it is."

As he said it, Takumi's body swelled, and expanded to a place where it looked like a balloon. Gin attempted to pull backwards only for the body to explode, sending off a giant shock wave that caught Gin up in the blast, and he received burns across his arms because of the heavy duty explosion.

Gin however managed to survive for the most part, and pulled backwards, looking around for the real Takumi, realizing now that it was a Gigai, even the sword was a fake, since he never once used a lightning ability after jumping out of the red smoke he made beforehand, that made Gin feel slightly nervous, and had to wonder where Takumi could have gone.

Unknown to them, Takumi was easily a mile off from there by then.

He hid behind a set of buildings, seeing no one was there yet, and exhaled deeply.

He pulled out what seemed to be a black cloak, and wrapped it around his body.

"_With this, they wont be able to sense my spiritual pressure, I'll have to thank Dad for letting me look at the schematics for this energy hiding cloak. But now that I'm alone...I need to think about what I'm going to do. With Yoruichi-chan with the others, I'm confident that they'll be fine. Also, she mentioned someone called Kukaku, and if this person could get them into the Seiretei, then they'll be joining me soon enough._"

While Takumi thought about it, he heard the noises of alarms going off, drums being banged, among other things.

He could feel several people around the area, but he could also feel that they had even lower spiritual energy than when Orihime first awakened her power, so he could handle them easily if he was found out.

"_Yeah, Yoruichi-chan will protect them. I have to begin making moves of my own. I need to know my enemies more...but, how am I going to learn anything without confronting them? I need to make some allies while here. I wonder if Nemu-san would be able to lend assistance while I'm here? But more than that, if I could get a Captain or two on my side...then...there's got to be some people here that are either on my side, or at least agree that there's something wrong with the Soul Society...I need to do some investigating, and thanks to this cloak, they'll have a very difficult time in tracking me down. So first, lets see if I can find anyone with a good amount of spiritual energy, so I can tail them._"

Having made up his mind, Takumi leapt from the area, and onto a high building.

He overlooked the Seireitei, and how pristine the streets seemed, how clean and beautiful they were. But also, he knew that this was going to become his battleground, he was going to have to fight people, he just hoped he truly was strong enough to win.

He then searched for what he would consider rather strong with his sensing energy skill that he learned from his Father so he could know where he was supposed to go next.

* * *

Meanwhile, Orihime and the others were left reeling from what had just happened. Takumi had been trapped within the Seiretei. Orihime naturally panicked, rushing to the gates, banging on them again and again for anything to happen, anything that she could do.

"Open up! Please open up! Taku-chan!"

Karin could see the desperation on Orihime's face as her fists hit the walls again and again.

But nothing budged.

The gates wouldn't open for her, and right now, Karin didn't like the odds of Takumi living through this either. Seeing how fast the enemy was, it was a miracle that they managed to make it out of there in the first place.

Yuzu looked over Jidanbo while Giselle moved closer to Orihime.

"Inoue-chan, there's nothing we can do. We can't get through there."

"But Taku-chan...if we leave Taku-chan in there, then he'll be..."

She didn't even want to think about it.

She just couldn't let this happen.

Takumi was going to die and there was nothing that could be done.

"No, Takumi is a resourceful person, we have to believe that he's able to survive on his own for a little while until we can get in there to give him some assistance."

Yoruichi tried to explain the best that she could, while also feeling worry for Takumi.

Orihime wanted to believe that.

But she just felt as if she couldn't.

Giselle looked down at the ground, and saw what seemed to be a radio. Bending down, she picked it up, and held it in her hand, staring at it briefly, before realizing that this came from Takumi, so she kept it for herself at the moment and try to get in contact with Takumi, though she knew that if she tried to use it now, then she could distract Takumi since he would be fighting.

Yuzu continued examining Jidanbo's head, and other injuries, and thankfully, he wasn't that injured.

"It seems that with some rest, he's going to be okay."

Karin breathed out slowly.

"That's a relief. Man, that Ichimaru bastard was awful. He was going to kill his own comrade for being an honourable man in the face of defeat. I wonder if that douche has any manners at all?"

"I don't know, but Karin, what are we going to do? With Jidanbo out, we have to do something to help out, don't we? Takumi-kun is going to be all alone in the Seireitei, what if something happens to him…?"

"Nah, he's going to be alright."

Karin seemed confident about that, but Yuzu wasn't so sure, she just knew something was going to happen.

Orihime looked sadly at the gates as members of the Rukongai began coming out of their houses, seemingly from hiding. Karin looked at them one by one, while Yuzu placed a hand to her Quincy cross.

"Are we going to have to fight?"

"I don't know, but we best be-"

They were cut off when clapping surrounded them.

The villagers were clapping for them.

They found that odd, while an elderly man stepped forward, bowing his head.

"We saw what happened with Jidanbo, and how you all protected him from getting harmed."

Karin scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Hehe, I don't know about that, but I'm sure that we just did our best, that's all we could do."

"Even then, you have our thanks. Jidanbo is kind to us, and when seeing him in danger, we were sure that he was going to be hurt or worse, killed."

The elder explained while Karin gained an understanding face.

"You don't have to thank us, but it is appreciated all the same, thank you-"

"Orihime?"

Orihime's eyes broadened when she heard that voice.

Turning towards the voice, she saw that within the sea of the gathering people, she could see that her elder brother was stood there, wearing what seemed to be a kimono. Beside him, was a brown haired boy, holding onto his hand.

"Ooh my God, it can't be..."

Sora pulled forward, his eyes in disbelief.

"Orihime...that's you, isn't it? But what are you doing here…? How is this...y-you aren't dead, are you…? But if you're here..."

"No no, I'm not dead~" Orihime giggled, trying and failing to hide her tears. "We came to the Soul Society, to save a friend of ours...Sora..."

"Orihime..."

Sora got close to the young woman, and hugged his little sister while she cried onto his chest. A reunion between siblings, it seemed to be something amazing, and for sure, Orihime was glad that she could finally see her elder brother again.

Karin and Yuzu glanced at the little boy, who's face lit up when seeing them.

"Big sisters!"

"W-What did he call us?"

Karin wondered while Yuzu pulled forward.

"Karin, his voice sounds familiar..."

"You didn't forget me, did you big sisters?"

Karin searched her brain for when she had heard the voice before, but for Yuzu, it came flooding back.

"Ooh my God! Yuichi-kun! That's you, isn't it!?"

"Wait, Yuichi, as in that parakeet we helped out way back when?"

"Yeah, it's him!" Yuzu rushed Yuichi, and hugged him tightly. "Yuichi-kun, that's you isn't it!?"

"Yes, that's right, and you're here big sisters!"

Yuzu and Yuichi cried as they held one another.

Karin brushed under her eyes in disbelief, while Giselle tilted her head.

"Awww, it seems that this is a mass reunion."

"I wonder how they met...either way, I need to find Kukaku Giselle. You take care of everyone here-"

"Did you say Kukaku?"

Sora called to Yoruichi, who looked surprised.

"Y-Yes, that's right. We're looking for her, but she's notorious for moving around a lot so I don't know her exact location."

"It's funny you should say that, because I'm on my way back to Kukaku-sans place, after getting Ganju. But when hearing the noise, I had to come and investigate what was happening...to my surprise, I saw you Orihime."

Orihime continued to embrace her brother.

"Sora, Taku-chan got trapped in the Seireitei. We need to help him...can you help us?"

"I don't know if I can...but, Kukaku-san might be able to help you. Come with me, I'll take you to her."

"Thank you Sora!"

Orihime hugged Sora tighter, while Yuzu carried Yuichi on her hip. Karin smiled gently, and followed after them, once making sure that Jidanbo would be taken care of. Yoruichi was glad for the luck they had ran into, and followed after Sora, and the others, who were taken to Kukaku.

* * *

Renji with a heavy heart, walked into the cell were Rukia was, and saw that she was being the same composed self that she usually was. She didn't make a sound, she didn't even show any fear of anything, she seemed to be in deep thought.

"Rukia..."

"Renji, what are you doing here?"

Rukia snapped out of her trance, and saw that behind Renji, four people dressed in white, even covering their faces, held four poles.

Rukia believed she knew what this was about, and she wished that it wasn't about that at all.

"Are you...I mean, is this about my execution?"

"Yes...I'm sorry Rukia, your execution is going to take place in fifteen days. We're going to be transferring you to the Shishiro immediately."

"Why the rush?"

Renji bit his lower lip, unable to explain himself at that moment in time.

"I...I can't say. Please stand back from the bars."

Rukia did as she was told. The men in white come to her side, and place a collar around her neck. Four cords are attached to the collar, which attach to the poles that the men had. A veil is placed over her face, and she is dragged out of the cell, with binds tying her hands behind her back, not leaving any chance up for her to even try and escape, though Rukia didn't even contemplate it.

Led across the Seireitei, no one speaks.

Not even Renji speaks to her, he couldn't say anything.

It already was hard enough as it was to say anything.

Now it was nigh impossible.

He couldn't take the guilt that he had inside of him.

They were led to a giant white tower. It eclipsed most of the Soul Society with how huge it was. They went up many flights of stairs, before reaching the area where the long wooden bridge was. Rukia could see below her, and could see that the buildings down below seemed to be going about her daily business.

Making it to the large tower, Rukia is practically thrown inside, and the cords are taken off of her, but she remains with the collar on. Rukia looked high, to see that the stairs wind around the tower, going up to various windows.

She looks back to Renji, who's finger is pointing outside of the tower, towards a large hill, with a large wooden structure placed there. Rukia peers out of the window, looking at the area Renji was pointing at.

"You can see the Sokyoku Hill from here, that's where you're going to be executed."

Rukia knew that, and had a heavy heart about the situation. One of the guards strolls closer to the young woman, and as if he was taunting her a little bit, he spoke to her in a condescending manner which Rukia didn't appreciate at all.

"You can spend the rest of your days in this tower, repenting what you have done. This is why it is called Shishinro. Think about what you've done for the remaining time you have left here." The guard turns to Renji, and bows his head. "Thank you for your assistance in escorting the prisoner to this location."

Renji didn't say anything.

He just kept a level head, and remained as calm as a cucumber.

Rukia sits down on a nearby surface, her hands meshed together at the centre of her lap, twidling her thumbs. Renji's face takes a noticeable nosedive, peering out of the window once more, placing his right hand on the side of the wall.

"The real reason you were moved here, is unconfirmed reports about intruders into the Seireitei."

"Intruders?"

Renji nods without looking towards her.

"Yes, and according to rumours, one was Takumi Urahara."

Rukia's eyes widened signficantly, standing up, and tried to move to Renji, but she stopped when his eyes landed on her.

"Renji...are you lying to me? Are you trying to give me...what are you doing by telling me this?"

"I'm not trying to give you hope, I'm just alerting you to the situation Rukia. It is unconfirmed for now, but those are the rumours that are floating about, and with how they quickly decided to move you here, they must have good reasons to do so, so to me they moved you because they believe Takumi Urahara has infiltrated Soul Society. He's probably come here, to save you."

Rukia's breathing became rapid.

She didn't know what to think.

If he was in the Soul Society, was he going to die?

All to just save her?

Rukia didn't know, all she could do was think about it.

Renji looked back at Rukia who sat back down once more, having worry across her face. He then walked to the door, without looking back. He didn't know if he could look back towards her, and he was contemplating if he should have told her, as it would sound like false hope, he was certain the Captains were going to slay Takumi on spot anyway.

As he exited the tower, he was surprised to see a young Captain by the name of Sosuke Aizen waving him over.

Renji strolls over towards Aizen, and bows his head respectably.

"Captain Aizen, it has been a long time since we have seen one another."

"Yes it has, Renji." His voice was soft, almost like velvet. "Come here, why don't we speak about a certain matter?" Renji seemed confused, but followed Aizen quietly to a private room, shutting the door, and turned his eyes to Renji. "We haven't spoken much since you were transferred to Kenpachi Zaraki's division. I also heard that you have been moved to Captain Kuchiki's division now."

Renji confirms this with a nod of his head.

"Yes, that's right Captain. But, may I ask, what is this about?"

Aizen covers the door, with his Kido, which surprised Renji.

Then he directed his words with a kind expression on his face.

"I have heard you, and Kuchiki-san in the tower were friends since you were in Rukongai together." Renji once more confirms this with a nod of his head. "So, do you believe her execution is deserved?"

Renji pauses his actions, unable to believe that Aizen was asking this to him all of a sudden.

"Well, that is to say sir..."

"Please do not be worried, this conversation is between us. However, to me, it seems suspicious that what she has done, has gained her a death sentence. Her crimes didn't seem severe enough for that, and the rapid movement to the Shishinro, as soon as rumours sprung up about Takumi Urahara have been seen within the Seireitei."

"So, that is true Captain Aizen? H-Has he come here?"

"It seems to be very likely. However, until we have an official meeting, we cannot confirm or deny this. However, I do find it suspicious that Sokyoku has been granted to be used for this execution. I feel as if someone is orchestrating a conspiracy."

"A conspiracy...do you think it is Takumi Urahara doing this Captain? And why would he come here if Rukia is going to be executed?"

Aizen puts on a complex expression.

"That is a very good question. All I can say is that it seems a little over the top to issue these commands on the basis of hearsay. We cannot confirmed that it was Takumi Urahara, however likely it might seem. It makes you wonder, what this is in aid of. If this is about Kuchiki-san, or is this about Takumi Urahara?"

Renji didn't quite understand what Aizen was saying, but he knew it was something rather dangerous what he was saying, and wondered what was going to happen next.

Aizen went to speak, but then stopped himself, and turned his back to Renji.

"Goodbye Renji."

"Y...Yeah, goodbye Captain."

Aizen left the room, leaving Renji to wonder what he was going to do next.

* * *

Later on, Orihime and the gang followed Sora who were leading them to Kukaku's place. It seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. They had been walking out of town for over twenty minutes, and they still hadn't reached the destination.

"So, Sora, how did you become acquainted with Yuichi-kun here?"

Sora adopted a smile as he glanced at the small boy within Yuzu's arms.

"Actually, I was wandering through the town we were just in, and happened to find him speaking about you guys in the human world. When he mentioned your names, I knew that he was speaking about you. One thing led to another, and eventually, I decided to take care of him with Kukaku-san."

"I see, so you took him in, that's so nice Sora~"

Orihime bellowed, while Yuzu grinned at Yuichi.

"Yuichi-kun, are you happy here? It seems a little..."

"At first, I wasn't sure about this place, but being with Sora-san and the others, it is really fun."

"Did you find your Mom?"

Karin asked, then saw that Yuichi's head was lowering.

"No...I haven't been able to find her."

"It's a big place." Sora continued. "People are sent here from different areas, and sometimes you don't always land in the same area as your relatives, it can be tricky to find them again, this place is so big, that people tend to make families together here. Like children will be adopted by adults, and live together happily. It's different than the human world, and it can take some getting used to, I was just lucky to land here at all, and be found by Kukaku-san."

"I'm glad that Taku-chan's sword was able to free you from the Hollow Sora~"

Sora adopted a soft smile on his face.

"Yeah, I need to thank him. But you said that he's in the Seireitei?"

"We were going through the gates." Orihime explained. "But this man named...erm, Gin Ichimaru attacked us, and then when we were going back to the Rukongai, he attempted to stab Yuzu-san, but Taku-chan took the blow for her, but because of that..."

"It's because of me that he's in the Seireitei alone right now."

Yuzu let out a sad whimper, while Karin patted her head.

"Stop worrying, you know the idiot would tell you the same thing." Karin's eyes went towards Yuichi, and saw that he was smiling. "I'm glad that you're happy Yuichi. You are, right?"

Karin offered a simple yet exuberant smile that made Yuichi feel good.

"I am very happy! But I didn't think I'd see you again for years and years."

"Heeeh, it wasn't our plans to come here until we died yeah~" Yuzu sang out, making light of the situation. "We came here to save our friend, and now that Takumi-kun is within the Seireitei without us, we need to get in there as fast as we can."

"Then lets keep going. It isn't much further now."

Sora spoke up, while Orihime pondered something.

"Why does Kukaku-san live out here?"

Yoruichi released a laugh, hopping onto Orihime's head, while Giselle sways side to side.

"Kukaku tends to change the place to avoid others, and have a quiet area. Though even if the address changes, the design of the house is quite distinctive that you'll recognize it with a single glance."

"It's that great?"

"It's probably terrifying."

Giselle responds to Orihime who looks on with a complex expression on her face.

After walking a little while, they finally arrive at the...house, if it could be called that.

The residence was of that consisting of a smallish house, with two large and thick stone arms holding up a banner. Karin and Yuzu point at the extravagant nature of the house, while Giselle notices a large chimney, with the top of it having been sealed by some kind of metal.

"Ooh my God, it looks super creepy..."

Karin shudders, while Yuzu gives it a questioning look.

"What's with moving out here, if you're going to showcase where you live with a giant banner about your residence anyway?"

"A crazy type of person, that's who."

Karin murmured, while Yoruichi placed her paw to her face.

"Hmmmm, so it's arms holding up the banner this time. That's quite clever."

Yoruichi commented, while Sora releases a breath.

"Kukaku-sans like that." Sora pulled forward. "Anyway, follow after me, everyone."

Following after Sora, they walked forward, but not before two big men came before them. They weren't as big as Jidanbo, but they were dwarfing the people that were there, they looked exactly alike down to their clothes, the only noticeable difference was one had a split chin and the other had a normal chin, the names for these individuals were Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko.

""Stop! You may not enter beyond this point!""

They said at the same time, before Sora gave them a wave.

"Hey, it's me, I've brought some people to visit Kukaku-san."

The two large men looked down at Sora, who waved towards them.

""Ooh my! We didn't realize it was you! Enter right away Sora-sama!""

Karin and Yuzu looked at one another.

"How did he say he knew this Kukaku again?"

"He didn't...my guess, he's dating this Kukaku."

"Is Kukaku-san a man or a woman Karin?"

Karin smirked.

"Please let it be a man, that would make this more funny."

Giselle gave them bemused looks, as the doors were flung open.

Peering inside...it wasn't an entrance to a house, it was an entrance to a bunch of stairs.

Curious, they entered the stairs, and walked down the flight of stairs. The giants remained outside, while they followed after Sora.

Yuzu noticed something on the walls.

"Amazing, look at the walls Karin, they're glowing."

"It's a special type of fungus that grows in the Soul Society. It's used for many different things, including lighting hallways like this."

Sora explained to Yuzu, while the others followed them.

Leading them towards a double sided door, Sora pulls the sides of the door open, revealing a young woman with black hair, a red shirt on, and what was the most noticeable aspect about her, was that she was missing an arm, and she had a pipe in her other hand.

"Oh, Sora, you're back. Where's the kid?"

The young woman said it with a slacked tone, while Yuichi comes shooting into the room. Sitting down next to the woman, she gives him the ever so slightest of smiles, before turning to Sora once more, who bows his head.

"Orihime, everyone, this is Kukaku-san."

Orihime, and Giselle point with a dead pan expression while Karin sighs deeply.

"Ooh come on! Seriously!?"

Kukaku's eyebrows twitched.

"Excuse me, did you say something little girl?"

"You're supposed to be a man!"

Kukaku looked on with an annoyed expression on her face.

"Did you just try and assume my gender?"

"It would have been funnier, but you're dating Sora-san, aren't you!?"

Sora's cheeks turned slightly red, while Orihime's mouth opened wide.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?"

"O-Orihime, don't scream like that, it's just...well, we aren't...but, maybe...erm...well..."

"I'm Giselle!" Giselle announced, sticking her out tongue. Everyone looks towards Giselle who places a hand to her face. "I broke the tension that's all."

Everyone sweat drops as Yoruichi comes forward.

Kukaku notices Yoruichi's form as she strolls closer.

"My, that's a face I've not seen for a long time."

"I'm sorry for our lack of contact as of late. But, I need to ask a favour."

Kukaku didn't even seem to be surprised, and cracked her neck left while Sora sat down beside her. Yuzu noticed how close they were sitting, it did seem that something was happening between the two of them.

"It usually is the case when you come to visit. Let me guess, it is something complicated?"

"It might be a little complicated. But you always liked complicated, didn't you?"

Kukaku showed a darkened smile, which sent shivers up and down the spines of everyone.

"You could say that yeah."

"It also involves Kisuke, and Takumi Urahara-"

"Taku-chan's trapped in the Seireitei!" Orihime spoke up, showing worry on her face. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but if you could help us Kukaku-san, then we'd be eternally grateful for the assistance."

Kukaku stroked her chin while Sora bows his head.

"Kukaku-san, that is my little sister, and if she says they need help...I'd appreciate it if you could lend assistance."

Kukaku turned towards Sora, as Yuichi spoke up.

"And those two girls, Karin and Yuzu are my big sisters! Please can we do anything to help?"

Kukaku released a small breath out of her mouth.

"Well, if you're both asking and it is those damn pesky Urahara's, I don't see why we couldn't lend a hand." The group began looking relieved, but Kukaku's finger points towards Giselle. "However, while you Yoruichi, and Sora's little sister are fine, I can't trust the rest of your group."

"Hey! We're very trustworthy!"

Karin complains, but Kukaku reveals a dirty smile on her face.

"As I was saying, I can't trust you girls, especially that girl with long hair." Giselle points to herself, Kukaku nods. "There's something about you that terrifies me, so I'm going to send someone with you to the Seireitei, that's alright with you, isn't it Yoruichi?"

Yoruichi bows her neck.

"I am fine with anything you have decided Kukaku."

"Good, then little brother, get in here!"

She directs her eyes towards the right, seeing a door.

Sora stands and goes to the door, opening said door, revealing someone they were familiar with.

"Inoue's brother did say something about Ganju, picking him up so...yeah, so he's not going to attack us, like?"

Karin wondered to the others who weren't sure.

Ganju, the man that they had met before, looked up to Karin and the others, and then his face fell.

"N-No, you're with Takumi Urahara! W-Where is he!? Is he in this house!? Not that monster! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Kukaku looks between Ganju, and the rest, cocking her head.

"So, you've met."

A collective awkward chuckle surrounds them all, while Yuichi shows a childlike expression on his face.

* * *

Meanwhile, the person that Takumi was following, was Momo Hinamori. It had been half a day since Takumi had arrived in the Soul Society. He knew that it would be dangerous to keep outside, but he knew that he had to get some information somehow.

Because of his cloak, she wasn't any the wiser that she was being followed, so she just went about her duties as a Shinigami.

He didn't know how he was going to approach this situation.

He needed to know about Rukia, but he also didn't want to come off as a bad guy that threatened girls to get what he wanted.

But in this case, he was sure that he'd have to do something like that.

He followed her through the Seireitei, going around many different corners, and towards a large building.

Stopping outside of it, the girl meets up with a friend of hers.

"Ooh Rangiku-san, I didn't expect to see you here."

Rangiku shows a tired smile.

"Yeah, haha. Funny thing is, I fell asleep here, while trying to escape that Captain of mine. But, I heard the alarm being sounded off, what's going on?"

"Ryoka apparently tried to enter the Seireitei, and this is unconfirmed, but one managed to get inside, and is running around the Seireitei."

Takumi sweat dropped at that.

"_So, I'm just a Ryoka to them then...I guess it makes sense, I didn't have a pass to get into the Soul Society. Even then, it seems that they don't know it's me yet...but, that's going to change soon enough. I need to be the one that gets on top of this._"

Rangiku, having heard what Momo had said, looked surprised.

"Really? So the Shinigami there couldn't stop this intruder? Who was stationed there?"

"I don't know the specific details, but my Captain said that it was Captain Ichimaru who was stationed there."

She revealed to the bewildered Rangiku.

"Gin...and he didn't stop the intruder? Where they powerful?"

"I-I don't really know. But there's going to be a Captains meeting about what has happened. Whatever, or whoever it is, must be dangerous if they could get past Captain Ichimaru." Momo expressed while placing a hand over her chest, and inwardly thought. "_Captain Ichimaru has always given me the creeps, but he wouldn't let someone go, would he? No...maybe I'm just thinking about it too much._"

Momo's thoughts were interrupted when Rangiku placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Either way, be careful Hinamori."

"Yes, you as well, Rangiku-san."

Rangiku nodded, and walked off, as did Momo.

Takumi took off to following Momo once more, sticking to the shadows.

As she turned a corner, Takumi looked to see if anyone was around, and thankfully wasn't, he flashed behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder, she let out a worried breath.

"Don't scream."

Momo stiffened at the voice.

"W-What do you want…?"

Takumi didn't like the sound of her voice.

He didn't want to instill fear into her, that was the last thing that he wanted.

"I just want some information, you can tell me, can't you?"

Momo exhaled deeply.

"T-That depends, w-what do you want to know?"

Takumi leaned closer to Momo's ear, so only she'd hear his request.

"I just want to know where Rukia Kuchiki-chan is."

"Y-You're the Ryoka boy that we've been told about...I-I couldn't possibly give you the location of her."

"Hmmm, but I'd like to know about it please."

"No, I can't..."

Takumi released a breath, flipping Momo around so they were face to face.

Momo was surprised at his face.

She imagined a battle hardened face with many battle scars…

But to her surprise, she found a gentle looking face that was giving her a smile.

"I asked nicely. It isn't like I'm wanting to force it out of you. I probably could, but I don't believe on picking on girls. So, if you could just tell me about it, then you can run along, and tell everyone to get to that location to stop me or something like that."

"B-But, it sounds like you don't mind if I do that…?"

Momo seemed confused about that, while Takumi himself just continued to smile.

"Well, I am an invader."

"Yes, that's right..."

"So technically, you have every reason to distrust me, and want to send the Gotei 13 after me. But I'm not a bad guy...I know that's gonna be a tough pill to swallow, but I just want to find Rukia-chan because she's getting punished for something that she shouldn't be getting punished for. I mean, do you think she deserves to be killed for anything she's done?"

"Well, my opinion on the matter is complicated...b-but even then, I couldn't possibly tell you the location...as you said, you're an invader...I couldn't betray the Soul Society..."

Takumi inhaled slowly.

"Alright then, that's fair I guess. You wont tell me, I'm not gonna force it out of you. But, can you do me one favour please? It wont require you to betray the Soul Society, promise."

Momo, intrigued, raised her eyebrows.

"S-Sure, I mean if I can..."

"Great. Then can you tell them that Takumi Urahara has come home, and is going to save Rukia Kuchiki-chan?"

Momo looked surprised.

"Why would you announce that though? Isn't that painting a target...wait, why am I trying to not make you do this…?"

"Maybe I just have one of those faces?" Momo cocked her head while he chuckled awkwardly. "Why I would announce it...because there's something wrong with the Soul Society."

Momo furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that…?"

"Just wait for it, because there is something deeply wrong with what's happening in the Soul Society, sorry if it affects you, but the truth needs to be revealed, for your own sake's." Takumi flashed out of the area, Momo exhaled deeply...but then Takumi reappeared which gave her a fright. "Oops rude of me, I didn't introduce myself properly, right?"

"Indirectly I got your name."

Momo sheepishly replied, while Takumi gave an enchanting smile.

"Aah, always introduce yourself, and be kind, my Dad taught me that. So yeah, I'm Takumi Urahara, nice to meet you. Well, goodbye...erm..."

"Momo Hinamori."

Momo second guessed herself in that decision.

Why did she reveal her name?

She didn't know.

But something about him was so warm, inviting.

Something that she couldn't fathom.

He didn't seem evil to her at least.

"Hinamori-san, see you later...well you'd probably not want to see me later...well, goodbye anyway! Thanks for the chat~"

Takumi flashed out of the area, while Momo fell down to the floor, panting from the experience that she just had, and didn't know what the hell she was going to do, it seemed insane to her by what just happened.

Momo began whistling, as she quickly took off.

Takumi himself disappeared around a corner, and placed his head on the wall.

"_If they know I'm here, then they're going to make their moves, the ones who turned Hiyori-chan and the others into Vizards, and what they did to me and my memories. You wanted to know why Hinamori-san? It's because I'm going to bait them into revealing themselves, and get the evidence I need. Don't worry Father, I shall not die yet, and as you taught me, if you can't beat an enemy with strength, beat them with your mind, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. But still, I need to find some allies...that girl talked about a Captains meeting...if I could find that location, then I could find out who are the Captains and what I'm actually dealing with, and maybe persuade them to join my side...but, I couldn't reveal myself to all of those Captains, I'll have to be creative about it._" His eyes went to the sky, seeing that it was darkening. "_But, I'll have to find a place for me to rest, I can't stay out in the open...but, where can I go…?_"

Takumi looked around the area, and jumped to a high building. He sensed for the least resistance, the area that held the least amount of spiritual power, and after about five minutes, he saw what seemed to be a storage house, which he made his way towards him as quick as he could.

* * *

Back at Kukaku's home, Ganju kept screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" again and again, which was getting on Kukaku's nerves quite a bit. Karin on the other hand felt her hand going for her blade, but Yuzu stopped her with her eyes, so she didn't cause any trouble with the group.

"Alright Ganju, that's enough!"

Ganju whines a little bit, while Karin sweat dropped.

"That's...erm, so he was all tough in the Rukongai, but here he's subservient to his sister...that's quite funny~"

Karin laughed, earning a tick mark from Ganju.

"Oi! I am not subservient!"

"Ganju!"

"Okay, I'm subservient!"

Kukaku nods her head, standing up with a fading smile.

"My energies been drained with your constant screaming Ganju." Her lazy eyes went for the door, and stepped forward. "Everyone, follow me."

They nod, and follow after Kukaku.

They went into the corridors together, with Yuzu still examining the lights on the wall, and was marvelling what was in the Soul Society, while Kukaku glances at the twins, wondering why they seemed to be a little familiar to her, she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

They walk to the end of the corridor, and enter a large room. In the centre of the room, is a large column, Giselle points towards the column, and releases a small chuckle.

"Ooh God~"

"What's wrong Giselle-san?"

When Yuzu questioned, she giggled lightly.

"She's going to fire us at the Seireitei."

"No way." Karin argued. "That's not what that's for..." Her eyes went to Kukaku who grinned mischievously. "...r-right? You aren't going to fire us at the Seireitei, are you? Because, that just seems to be quite impractical..."

"Impracticality, isn't something you have to worry about, because what you're looking at right now is my device I use, because in the Rukongai, I am the foremost fireworks expert!"

[Did you just say fireworks expert!?]

Orihime, Karin and Yuzu scream out, while Giselle plays with her hair.

"Told ya so~"

"She's smarter than I give her credit for."

Yoruichi murmured, while Kukaku continues.

"I'm a fireworks technician. Sora, could you spin the wheel for me?"

"Of course Kukaku-san."

Sora goes to a giant wooden wheel, and begins pushing it with all of his strength. From up above, and down below, the ceiling and floor begins to move, revealing her personal fireworks station, the Kukaku Cannon.

The group look on in awe at the cannon, while Sora pants from moving the ceiling and floors.

"Usually, it takes Koganehiko, and Shiroganehiko to move that, but it seems that Sora is a rather strong man, isn't he~?"

For a moment, Orihime caught the sound of glee from Kukaku, and the way her eyes were on Sora, it seemed like something was going on between them.

She then takes out an orb which looked like glass, tossing it at Karin.

"Use your spiritual energy to fill the orb."

"Erm...well, I learned a bit about it before coming here...I guess I could try..."

Karin begins filling the orb with her power, which glows a beautiful blue colour. The energy fills the sphere, and surrounds Karin's form, in an unstable manner. It was growing into larger and larger sphere, but then it breaks apart, shattering like glass around her form.

"O-Oh...well, that's okay Karin, you can do it next time!"

Yuzu praises and cheers up at the same time.

Kukaku releases a small breath, tossing the sphere towards Ganju.

"Demonstrate it."

"A-Ah, of course! I'll do my best!"

Ganju channel's his energy into the sphere, and like Karin, it formed a dome around him. But it wasn't unstable like Karin's was and wasn't as big as hers.

"This is a cannonball made for my cannon, it will help you get into the Seireitei."

"But, why are we getting fired in this...n-not that I want to die or anything like that~ I was just curious about it~"

Orihime sang out, while Kukaku glanced at Sora who gave a sheepish smile.

She released a sigh, and continued.

"The wall around the Seireitei is made out of a special stone that blocks out spiritual energy. The stone also creates a sphere shaped dome of protection around the city itself, going above, and under the city so you can't drill your way down and try to get in that way. The only way to enter is to create a hole. By providing energy to the cannon ball, it creates a sphere of spiriton's that is strong enough to break through the protection field."

"Ooh I get it, it's like destroying the barrier that the ball hits, right sweetie?"

Kukaku glances at Giselle who winks at her to mess with Kukaku's head for her own enjoyment.

"Don't wink at me." Giselle licks her lips, freaking Kukaku out. "A-Anyway, follow me."

Kukaku seemed like she had given up, as she led them into a training area.

While the others follow her directions, Ganju glances at his sister.

"Are you seriously going to help them? I don't have any desires to help Shinigami, not after what they've done."

Kukaku's cold eyes land upon Ganju who flinches at her gaze.

"Do not bring this up again. You're dismissed."

Ganju releases a small breath, doing as his sister asks, and leaves the area.

* * *

As that was happening, Renji walked into a waiting room with other Lieutenants stationed there. He had to wear his armband that signified that he was a Lieutenant, and he met up with Momo, Rangiku, and Squad 7's Lieutenant, Iba.

"Renji, there you are. I was getting worried."

"Hinamori, I heard about what happened while on the way here. Did you really meet Takumi Urahara here?"

Momo gave a shy nod of her head.

"Yes...that's right. Weird thing is though, he was rather nice for someone who's supposed to be an evil person experimenting on innocent people."

"What did he want from you?"

Momo tilted her head while Rangiku looked out of the window nearby.

"Well...he just seemed to want some information. I didn't tell him anything, I thought for sure he was going to force it out of me somehow, but it seems that he just wanted to ask questions nicely. He also told me to tell everyone that he was in the Soul Society."

"But why do that?"

Rangiku posed the question, while Renji agreed.

"Is he trying to boast about him being here now? Thinking he can take on the world or something?"

To Renji's surprise, Momo shook her head.

"I don't think he's trying to do that though. The way he acted, it was more...I don't know exactly. It wasn't like he was being rude, or demeaning. He had me in his grasp, if he wanted, he could have sliced me down before I had even realized he was there. Honestly, he was kind of a gentleman, now thinking about it."

"A gentleman, hah! I don't think so, he's a hardened battle warrior!"

Iba brought up while running a hand through his hair.

Momo didn't know if that was true or not.

"Either way, it's taking a while for the other members to arrive isn't it?"

"It takes sometime to gather all of the Lieutenant's and Captains due to them being on missions among other things. I heard that there's going to be a meeting about this situation in the next day or so."

Rangiku explained while Renji briefly flashed back to what happened with Aizen, and why he seemed to be acting strange, which also was on Momo's mind.

"Ever since the incident happened this morning, Captain Aizen has seemed to be distracted by something."

"I wouldn't worry about it Hinamori, this is a stressful situation. I'm sure everything will calm down eventually."

Though Renji tried to reassure her, he also thought that Aizen was acting a little bit different to how he usually was.

"I concur."

[Aaaaah!]

They let out screams as Nemu steps out of the shadows.

"G-Geez! How long have you been there!?"

Rangiku snapped at Nemu, who just stared back at her calmly.

"I have been here for over twenty minutes. I had been patiently waiting for everyone to arrive."

"Y-You didn't say anything for twenty minutes?"

Renji wouldn't believe it if it was someone else, other than Nemu.

"I didn't feel the need to say anything at this moment in time. However, you brought up the topic of Takumi Urahara, so I became intrigued."

"Ooh yeah, we've heard your Captain hates him, right?"

Renji questioned Nemu who gave a nod of her head.

"Yes, that is correct Renji Abarai."

Renji always felt spooked when she spoke his name like that.

"A-Anyway, it seems that we might be sent after him."

Iba spoke up, as Nemu shook her neck.

"No, not until the Captains decide on what to do."

"Yeah, after that. Though knowing Zaraki, he'll try and go after this Takumi Urahara guy. I've never met him, but I've heard he's strong."

Iba's words penetrated the others and they continued their conversation.

* * *

A little while later, Karin and the others begin doing their lessons on how to control their powers to make a sphere. Karin was having difficulty, but for Giselle, she got it on the first try, since she had been doing the Quincy thing for a good while now, and formed a sphere around her.

"Good, it seems you've got it right away Giselle."

Yoruichi praised, while Giselle sticks out her tongue.

"Yup, for a girl like me, I can make these things pretty easily."

Giselle throws the ball up into the air, showcases an adorable smile, before Ganju comes by. His eyes land on Giselle who gives him a dirty smirk, which makes him feel cold inside of himself, so he turns and walks away.

Orihime continues to practice as does Yuzu, and the pair finally manage to get it down without much trouble.

"I did it Sora!"

"Well done Orihime, that's amazing!"

Sora praised his little sister, who in turn showcased a wide smile.

"Ooh me too!"

Yuzu cheered, as Yuichi hugged her.

"Well done big sister!"

Yuzu giggled, rubbing the young boys head affectionately.

Kukaku nodded her head slowly.

"Good, it seems that you have a talent at using your spiritual energy, both of you." Her eyes went towards Karin who was having some difficulty. "But, it seems that she's having a hard time in doing it at all."

"It's fine, I'll get this myself!"

Karin yelled, while the others backed away slightly.

Just then, they heard a buzzing sound coming from Giselle.

"Huh, what's that?" Giselle looks down at the radio she picked up from Takumi beforehand. "Oh, is it this thing?"

[...Com...in...come...n...it's Tak...mi.]

It sounded as if it was having some difficulties connecting, Orihime's eyes widened, and took the radio.

"Taku-chan! It's us, but we can't hear you!"

[On...mom...nt.] Takumi did something to adjust the radio, and his voice came through clearer. [Is that better?]

"Much better."

Yuzu gave a relaxing breath.

Orihime went to speak when Yoruichi did instead.

"Are you okay Takumi? Did you manage to get away from Ichimaru?"

[Yeah, I got away from him, I'm hiding out, I've made precautions in case they try and track me down. I guess those years of inventing has come in handy for this.]

Yoruichi was glad that he was in a safe area, at least for the moment, while Orihime was just relieved that he was alright.

"I'm just glad that you're okay Taku-chan, we're all safe here."

[That's good, I'm already making ways into finding Rukia-chan among other things.]

"Just be careful Takumi, you're still in enemies territory."

Yoruichi warned, she heard a light laughing over the comms.

[You can say that again, I've had to avoid many Shinigami's, seems like they know we're here. They call us Ryoka.]

"That makes sense, they'll probably hold a meeting about it."

[Speaking of Yoruichi-chan, do you know where Captains meet?]

"For official meetings, you mean?"

[Yes, I need to know.]

"Why? What are you planning?"

A chuckling could be heard coming down the line.

[Heh, don't worry about that, I'm not doing anything reckless if that's what you're thinking. Just tell me noticeable landmarks or something for me to follow.]

"Well, if it is the same as the past then..."

Yoruichi began explaining in details Takumi would be able to recognize by landmarks around the Seireitei among other things.

[Thanks Yoruichi-chan, I appreciate it.]

"Just stay safe, we'll be there in a day or so."

"Heeeh, you'll know when we arrive Takumi-kun~"

Giselle sang out adorably.

Takumi chuckled lightly.

[Alright then, be safe everyone. I'll contact you tomorrow.]

With that, the communication was cut off.

Orihime wished that she could have spoken to Takumi a little more, but she was glad that he was safe nonetheless.

"Dinners ready everyone."

Sora spoke with a gentle expression on his face, so the others besides Karin turn to leave.

"Karin, are you coming?"

"I'm going to stay behind a little bit, and train. I don't want to let you guys down."

Yuzu gently smiled, and went to stay, but Karin gave her slightly annoyed eyes.

"You don't want me to stay?"

"Naaah, go and eat something, I'll be there soon enough."

"If you're sure..."

Yuzu walked away, leaving Karin alone to train with the sphere.

However, she wasn't truly alone, as Ganju had stayed behind, and just watched her like a hawk.

Becoming slightly irritated, Karin speaks up.

"What are you watching me for?"

Ganju huffs, turning his head.

"I wasn't watching you for any specific reason. I just wanted to know something."

Karin raises an eyebrow.

"And what's that?"

"Why are you going to save these Shinigami anyway? I don't know anything regarding this Rukia girl that everyone keeps talking about, but I do know this Takumi Urahara by reputation, and he's a very scary guy."

Karin scoffs.

"Scary, hardly."

"You don't know-"

"Ooh I do." Karin gives a scary grin. "He's not this psycho everyone says from here. I call the guy out when he's being an idiot, but he's actually a genuine guy. He can be annoying sure, but he's saved my life, putting himself on the line for me, for my sister, and he has saved lots of people. I don't care what others believe here, because I know the truth about him, and the truth is that Takumi is a decent person and you can't say that he isn't either. I owe a debt of gratitude to Rukia Kuchiki-san, she brought us all together, and we had fun adventures. We met Yuichi because of them, and we got to know about our powers...and because of them, we finally managed to defeat the Hollow that killed our Mother. I don't know what your problem with Shinigami is, but Takumi and Rukia are two of the kindest Shinigami that you'll ever meet."

Ganju listened to Karin's words, and saw how passionate she was about it, which in turn touched his own heart, and remembered his elder brother, briefly believing that Karin looked like a female version of his brother for a moment.

Ganju picks up a sphere, and begins practicing himself.

"Whenever I do this, I always imagine a circle in my mind, and filling that up with my energy."

"What are you babbling about now?"

"I'm just saying, that's what I imagine. It's the basics for Kido, though I'm just speaking aloud at this point, do what you want with it."

It seemed like he was trying to help Karin out, and then he left the room.

She rolls her eyes "Terrible actor, he should have just said he was trying to help me." and began doing as he said, making a circle in her mind, and began filling it with energy, so it didn't overflow, she was a more visual person, and if she could imagine it, all the better.

She continued imagining it like that, and slowly but surely, her energy began to fill the sphere, the right way this time. It didn't get overloaded, it stayed where it was supposed to stay, and formed a sphere of energy around her.

It was bigger than most, but that was because she had high levels of spiritual energy.

"_Well done Karin, you're doing me proud._"

Karin froze when she heard the voice.

She knew it was her Inner Hollow, and that terrified her more than she thought it would.

Because of distraction, her energy begins to run rampage a little bit.

Yuzu quickly comes into the room, carrying a drink.

"I know you don't want me to watch, but..." Karin's eyes met Yuzu's, and she saw worry in her sister. "Karin? What's wrong? Don't worry, you'll get the sphere..."

Karin blinked her worries away, and focused on the sphere before her, controlling the flow of energy, and formed a stable sphere.

"Y-Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it."

Yuzu smiled brightly.

"It seems so! How did you do it Karin?"

"That guy, Ganju helped me out. Though I still think he's kind of weird."

Yuzu chuckled awkwardly, but she was glad her sister had managed to do it, and that meant they were one step closer to saving Rukia and providing assistance to Takumi.

* * *

As night descended upon them, Kukaku pours a drink outside, looking at the sky. Taking in the sights, she contemplates many things, what was happening with the girls she had taken in, and how they were going to get through this.

"I'm sorry Kaien, I'm helping a Shinigami like the one that had killed you. But, if I didn't, you'd scold me for not doing it. Because, you loved Shinigami, and you died being a Shinigami. So, I'll help them out..." Her eyes saw Giselle walking closer to them, bringing surprise to her. "Can I help you with something?"

Giselle shakes her head side to side.

"I don't need help, but I thought I should inform you of something."

Kukaku raises an eyebrow.

"And what's that?"

"Karin and Yuzu, those twins in there...you know, their Father is called Isshin Shiba."

Kukaku's eyes fly open.

"W-What did you just say?"

"I wanted to confirm it before mentioning it, but that's your relatives name, isn't it? He also was a Shinigami that disappeared a good number of years ago now, right?"

Kukaku could hardly believe it.

"Yes, of course..."

"Well, now you know. I guess that Karin and Yuzu are your relatives too~ Though, they don't know anything about their Dad being a Shinigami, and he doesn't want them to know yet, so its better if we keep this between us."

Kukaku exhales slowly, while Giselle sits down beside her.

"I see...if that's the case, then I suppose it makes sense why I felt...like I was with familiar people when noticing them for the first time."

"Maybe so."

"Just who are you anyway girl? You seem to know a lot about Isshin Shiba and his children."

Giselle pulled a funny face which sent shivers down the spine of Kukaku.

"I'm just your average girl, that's all~"

"Somehow I don't believe that."

Giselle put on a slightly more sinister expression.

"Maybe I'm just a girl looking out for those girls in there. Say, maybe you could teach them some secret Shiba clan stuff, since technically they are apart of it. I know that Yuzu-chan isn't in spirit form, but she's still a Shiba, technically."

"I guess you're right...I'm surprised that his children are here, and now..."

"Well, they're doing what their weirdo Dad would do, and save their friends~"

Kukaku showed a light smile on her face, and looked at the sky once more, contemplating many things.

Only this time, she thought about Isshin, and Karin along with Yuzu, wondering if she should teach them anything, about the secrets of the Shiba's powers.

* * *

As that was happening, Orihime was having the remains of her meal, and saw Sora sat there just watching her with a loving smile on her face.

"Sora, is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I wanted to speak to you about something, can we talk?"

Orihime didn't see a reason not to talk to her brother.

"Yes, we can talk about anything you want Sora! Is something going on?"

"Actually...well, I know what the answer is going to be Orihime, but there's something I just want to say. Now that I've lived here, in the Soul Society...it can be a dangerous place. And the Seireitei..."

"You're going to ask me not to go, aren't you?"

Orihime already knew the answer.

She could see that her brother was worrying for her.

Of course Sora agreed with what she said.

"I know you're going to tell me you're going to go, I just want to make sure that you're safe. It will be dangerous over there Orihime, and I….I don't have the power to protect you."

Orihime could understand what he was saying, but she also knew what she would have to do.

"I know, but I've got the power to protect myself Sora. I am going to go to save Kuchiki-chan, and also be beside Taku-chan."

Sora knew that she'd say something like that.

"Heeeh...I remember watching you, and him for a good number of times, being together, I saw you falling in love with him." Orihime's face burned red, while Sora placed a hand on top of her head. "I know you're going to go, just promise you'll be safe in the meantime."

"Don't worry Sora, I'm going to be coming back. But I have to do this, and this isn't about Taku-chan at all, this is about doing what is right."

Sora chuckled softly.

"When you're this pumped up, I can't fight against you. But, I am glad that you're growing Orihime, you've become someone who's strong, stronger than you think you are. I know you'll be able to do amazing things."

Orihime's hand overlaid with Sora's own, glad that she could speak with him again.

"Thank you Sora, leave this to me and the others, we will do our best."

Sora knew that she would.

But he also was worried about what was going to happen, cursing his lack of powers to do anything to help.

* * *

A day later, after gathering all they could, the Captains meeting began.

Filling the fancy decorated hall, were 12 of the 13 Captain's.

Yamamoto was assessing each of them with his withering eyes, wondering a good number of things to do with the situation at hand.

Some of the Captain's looked bored, particularly Mayuri, and Kenpachi. Unohana, Shunsui, Aizen, Yamamoto, Soi Fon, Komamura, Byakuya, Tosen, and Toshiro had serious expressions on their faces.

With them standing side by side, they weren't saying anything, though Toshiro could feel the intensity between the different members of the Captains. It felt more tense than it usually did. She knew it would be something akin to dangerous, and worrying, but he didn't think that he'd be feeling things like this.

Yamamoto banged his large staff onto the ground, alerting everyone to his presence.

"Now, Gin Ichimaru, step inside."

The double doors opened, revealing Gin, looking as he always did.

So calm and collected.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed upon the man as he walked forward with a calmness like no other.

Gin takes a step forward, and showcases his usual expression that was cold, and unpredictable.

"Is it really necessary to have all of the Captains be here for this meeting about me?"

Kenpachi's single eye shoots for Gin.

"How did you fail to eliminate the intruders? Though I am glad you did, it means that I get a crack at Takumi Urahara."

"To think that he's here...what does he hope to accomplish by coming here?"

Toshiro had heard rumours, but she wasn't so sure until Gin showed a cold smile.

"He's really here, but I don't know what he's after~ It seems that he's going to be dangerous either way~"

Mayuri who gained a sadistic expression points an accusing finger at Gin.

"Seriously, you couldn't even apprehend Takumi Urahara? Have your skills dulled in peaceful times?"

Gin threw up his shoulders in a shrugging manner.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I did my best against him, and he is a slippery person. He faked me out with a Gigai. I couldn't have stopped that once he had tricked me. I searched for him, I truly did. But he outsmarted me, that crafty boy."

Mayuri's eyes blazed with intense feelings.

"A Gigai outwitted you?! Are you being serious?!"

"Of course, I couldn't tell them apart. He had made it quite well."

Mayuri's eyes scrunched up.

"I can't tell if you're being serious, or telling a lie to us. Which is it?"

Gin showcased a dirty expression on his face, which made Mayuri curl his lips into a gleefully dark expression that Toshiro, who stood next to him, had shivers going up and down her spine, it didn't feel good at all.

"Who knows, though I tried my best. As I said, he's a tricky-"

"Gin, for allowing Takumi Urahara to escape into the Seireitei, you failed your duties as a Captain." Yamamoto interrupted with his stone like expression on his face. "But more than that, you acted out of order by going on your own, which for you, is highly unusual. Explanations need to be given immediately."

"I'm sorry Captain Commander, he was trickier than I thought he was going to be. But, if you allow me, I will go and find him myself."

Yamamoto's old eyes scrunched together at Gin's suggestion.

"No, we do not need you running around doing things that could disrupt the Seireitei. The simple fact is that Takumi Urahara is within this city, and if that's the case, then we have to remain extra vigilant."

As he said it, man with brown hair, and glasses, having a kind demeanour on his face stepped forward, that man being Sosuke Aizen himself.

"Captain Commander, I am sure that Gin wouldn't intentionally allow Takumi Urahara go of his own accord. We can recall that this is Kisuke Urahara's child, he is a very resourceful young man, so we have to presume that he is capable of escaping Captain Class members of the Gotei 13 so I believe that while yes, Gin acted out of the ordinary, he did so in regards to protecting the Soul Society."

"Ooh you, you're so kind~"

Their bodies froze.

They daren't take a breath.

It felt unreal.

That voice…

People recognized it.

They hadn't heard it in a long time.

But it sounded more, grown up than they had remembered.

Yamamoto felt a presence beside him, and saw Takumi sat on the arm of his chair, waving towards everyone.

"Hey everyone, what's going on?"

Takumi gained a cute demeanour, which sent shivers through the spines of most around.

"You little!"

"How dare you?!"

Mayuri and Soi Fon went to charge, when Takumi wagged his finger.

"Nahaha, doing that isn't going to accomplish anything. Did you think I'd come here, exposing myself, without having some kind of plan?" Soi Fon and Mayuri reluctantly backed down, as Takumi glanced at Yamamoto. "Epic beard by the way, I hope when I'm your age, I have a beard as epic as that."

Yamamoto gave Takumi an odd stare while he jumped to his feet.

Glancing around the room, Takumi clapped his hands together.

"Now everyone, lets all be kind and get to know one another~"

"And why would we do that?"

Byakuya demanded, Takumi grinned.

"Because I have released a truth telling gas into this room that's been soaking into your body, and if you tell lies, it will detect it like your heart rate increasing, among other things that indicate someone's lying, and will shock you. Also, if you try and not talk when I ask you a question, it will shock you unless I permit it to stop. So think carefully before responding with the truth, or a lie. As they say, the truth will set you free."

The Gotei 13 Captains let out shocked breaths, besides Shunsui who sees Takumi give him a sideways wink, indicating that he was lying, but no one else saw it, Takumi made sure of that, which made Shunsui internally laugh that Takumi could do that.

"_He's a clever one, he's using psychological manipulation to gain an understanding of his enemies, and forcing them to reveal the truth, or they would be shocked, most in this room know that Takumi could theoretically make something like that, so it wouldn't be out of the realms of impossibility that he'd try something, or at least to those who don't understand the kindness that Takumi is capable of, he wouldn't needlessly hurt innocent people, only those who would attack him. But I have to wonder, what are you going to do next Takumi? What are you trying to gain from this? Is this just trying to find out information? Or, is there something else you're thinking about right now?_"

Shunsui had to admit that it was rather intriguing to see what Takumi was going to do next.

He also wondered if the others would believe it.

Judging by the facial expressions, some had doubts, but some believed it.

Kenpachi on the other hand looked ecstatic, showing a murderous smile on his face.

"Now this is my kind of enemy, using explosions, hahahahaha! I hope he's a good fight!"

Mayuri released a sigh as he murmured "Of course that nutty bastard would be like this." while Takumi bit his lower lip, showcasing a face of an innocent boy, but also a hint of mischievousness as if he had done something wrong.

That expression alone, caused more to be unsure if Takumi was speaking the truth.

They didn't know if he was messing with them, or if he was genuine.

"Why don't we just kill you on the spot? And then leave the room?"

Soi Fon demanded, only for Takumi to smile brightly.

"Any hints that you try and attack me, and this room explodes. Also, if you try and leave this room, the doors been rigged to explode, and when I make things explode, it isn't pleasant, though I'm sure some remember that, right? Maybe you'll survive the explosion, but it will really be a killer, you know? I do think of everything after all, all possible scenarios, because you have to when entering a battlefield, that's what dear old Dad taught me~"

"Ooh come on. You can't be serious."

Soi Fon lets out an annoyed voice, while Takumi raises a finger to his lips.

"I'm deadly serious. I mean, this is going to be a learning curve, so lets ease the growing pains."

"I'll give you more pains if you don't stop this nonsense at once."

Soi Fon threatened, but Takumi chuckled deeply, shrugging off Soi Fon's threat which annoyed her even more.

"I'm not talking nonsense or being nonsensical, I want to understand about the Soul Society. It isn't everyday I get this kind of opportunity, and I am glad for the assistance that you all are giving towards me. So, how about-"

"I will murder you!"

Mayuri let out, unable to contain his rage.

He went to withdraw his Zanpakuto, so Takumi baited him with his eyes.

"Go on, do it."

"If you had explosions here, you would have used them by now to wipe us all out!"

Mayuri argued, but Takumi remained calm.

"I'm not in the habit of killing randomly. I don't want you dead, all I want is to do a few good things while I'm in the Soul Society, but I wouldn't come here without insurance either, only I know how to deactivate the bombs, and trust me, if you're caught in the explosion, most of you will probably perish. Maybe the guy with the epic beard will survive, but most wont, so think carefully about what you try before doing it."

"You wont be leaving here alive, I can guarantee that."

Soi Fon admitted coldly, but Takumi just waved her off, which antagonized her even more.

"But, I want to survive, so I best not get attacked by you huh~?"

"You like pissing me off, don't you?!"

"I don't know you enough to accurately say yes or no to that question."

"Seriously..."

Soi Fon exhaled deeply, while Toshiro watched with a calm demeanour, she couldn't figure Takumi out, and why she was doing what she was doing.

"So, how about we get to know one another~ Ooh yeah, ask me anything, but unlike you guys, I'm not compelled to tell the truth, so there's no point asking, just letting you know." Takumi looked around the room, then pointed to himself. "So, lets introduce ourselves, and our squads if you please. For those who don't know, but based on everyone's reactions to me I'm gonna guess you do know who I am, my name is Takumi Urahara, pleasure to meet you all."

He points at Yamamoto who raised an eyebrow.

"Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, from Squad 1."

"Good, that's good, now everyone else please~"

"Haha, I like this kid. The names Kenpachi Zaraki from Squad 11, your next opponent."

Takumi gave a wide smile.

"Can hardly wait for it Kenpachi-san."

Shunsui held back a chortle, seeing how relaxed Takumi seemed when speaking to Kenpachi of all people. He didn't even seem to be intimidated.

"Shunsui Kyoraku, Squad 8."

Takumi grinned ear to ear, he liked Shunsui's attitude.

"...Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Squad 12. You'll soon be dead if I have anything to say about it."

Takumi took note of that name, seeing the clown like Shinigami, but saw a very darkened expression in his eyes.

"Retsu Unohana, Squad 4."

Unohana introduces herself, earning a wave from Takumi which she did back pleasantly, though Takumi sensed something lurked beneath what she was saying as well, he also took interest in what name she gave, and turned to the next person.

"Sajin Komamura, Squad 7."

Takumi glanced at the big individual with what seemed to be a helmet of some kind on his head.

"What's with the helmet anyway?"

"I've always wanted to know that as well."

Kenpachi added, with made Komamura feel more annoyed than ever before.

"I...I have to speak the truth, yes?"

Komamura murmured, not wanting to receive a shock through his system.

"Yes, that's right."

"...I keep it on to hide my appearance, I'm...my appearance isn't something I like showing others."

Takumi understood how that could be important, so he decided to drop the subject.

"I wont ask anymore since it seems something personal. Sorry for sounding rude, I'm a naturally curious person."

"Haha, it seems you're playful Takumi-kun. You know who I am so I don't have to explain, do I?"

Gin's question was met with a single nod of Takumi's head.

His eyes went to Tosen who despite being blind, felt eyes on his forms.

"Kaname Tosen, Squad 9."

His eyes went to Toshiro who seemed to be relatively unhappy by what was happening.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya, Squad 10."

"No freaking way, you're Squad 10's Captain?!"

Takumi squealed, Toshiro glanced at him curiously.

"Yes, that's right-"

"How adorable!" Takumi hugged her head into his chest, causing her to blush slightly. "You're really a Captain? Awww, you're like one of favourites already, I mean most of these people scare me for different reasons, but you're just a sweet cuddly girl~"

Her face filled with embarrassment, her cheeks turned darker red by the second, and she couldn't contain her thoughts.

"U-Unhand me at once!"

"Do I have too?"

Takumi complained, Toshiro scowled up at him.

"Yes, I am a Captain, not someone you can cuddle!"

"Sorry, it's just you're so cute, you remind me of snow with your hair, and I like snow~"

Takumi chuckled, as he let go of Toshiro, and then he continued going over the people in the area, the Captains.

Though he didn't show it on his face, he wondered what and who he was going to be able to have join his side, who was likely going to kill him, and who he could persuade he was a good person trying to help the Soul Society.

"Don't worry Byakuya, I know who you are so you don't have to say anything. Your wounds seem to be healing quite well."

"And it seems yours have disappeared all together."

Takumi gave a gentle smile.

"I have a nice healer friend, that's all."

"Hm, when this is finished, I'll scatter your blood across the floor-"

"He's mine!"

Kenpachi snapped, Takumi blinked in surprise.

"No, Zaraki, I shall be the one to defeat Takumi Urahara."

"You had your shot, and you failed Kuchiki! If you want to be a failure, fine, but you're not having another fight with him until I have mine with him!"

"No, I shall fight him first, and that's final."

"I'll fight you to fight him!"

"Get lost! I'll be the one who fights him!"

Mayuri stepped in, as Unohana laughed to herself creepily.

"Now now boys, you wont be fighting him..." Unohana's eyes shot for Takumi who blinked rapidly. "Because he's mine."

A cold feeling went down Takumi's spine with how Unohana was looking at him.

"I don't know if I should be scared or excited this woman wants me."

Takumi murmured, while Shunsui snickered.

"I know what you mean, this woman is very dangerous, so take it as scary excitement."

"Gotcha."

As he spoke, Kenpachi stomped on the floor.

"No, that's not right, I already staked my claim on him ages ago!"

"Hush up you Neanderthal! He shall be defeated by me! The brawn can't beat the brainy hahahahahahaha!"

Mayuri gave a condescending glare towards Kenpachi who snarled right back.

Byakuya wouldn't intrude in their arguments anymore, deciding to fight him himself when he got the chance.

Takumi places a hand over his mouth, seeing Mayuri and Kenpachi still going at it about fighting him.

"I'm quite popular to fight it seems."

"You have no idea..."

Shunsui releases a small breath, Takumi gives an audible groan at the thought of men fighting over him to actually get a shot to fight him. He had a feeling he'd have to fight both of them.

Takumi looked towards the last individual within the room, who remained calm, but inside he did feel a little nervous.

"And finally, what's your name?"

He breathed in sharply at Takumi's question.

He wondered if Takumi was telling the truth, or speaking a lie.

He couldn't tell by the face Takumi had on, his eyes didn't reveal anything. If he was lying, then he was doing it nearly masterfully, and if he was telling the truth, he wondered if he was going to let out anything that he shouldn't or if he was asked a question, and he lied, he'd be shocked, and the others would know, he simply wasn't ready to reveal many things.

So he exhaled, and told his name.

"Sosuke Aizen, Squad 5."

Takumi raised his head at the name.

Something about that name, fuelled him with anger, with rage.

"Sosuke Aizen, huh..."

Aizen didn't even bat an eyelid as he responded with a calm expression on his face.

"Yes...that's correct, that is my name."

Takumi bobbed his head along calmly.

"I...see." Takumi looked around at the Captain's, and showed a peace sign. "Weren't there supposed to be 13 of you guys? Did something happen to one of you? Because it wasn't me, I didn't do anything to him or her, just saying. I'm not getting blamed for that too, already getting blamed for stuff I haven't done, I don't want anything new added onto me either."

Shunsui held bemusement in his eyes as he answered for the group.

"Sometimes his lung disease flares up, so he isn't able to attend. Though he isn't on the verge of death, it can be quite encumbering for him."

"Oh, that's rather sad." Takumi clapped his hands on his face, peering at everyone around the area. "So, raise your hand if you hate me~" Soi Fon, Byakuya and Mayuri immediately shoot their hands up to the air, while Takumi chuckles lightly. "Geez, you didn't have to be so fast about it. I mean, I don't even know two of you, and the one person I do know, I have more of a reason to hate him, than he does me. He took his own sister away when she didn't do anything wrong while I was trying to protect her!"

"So, you're going to play the amnesia card? You think that's going to work here?"

Soi Fon demanded, while Shunsui releases a breath.

"He isn't lying, he can't remember."

Soi Fon's eyes shot for Shunsui in a manner that told everyone that she wasn't pleased.

"You stay out of this Squad 8 Captain, you always had a soft spot for this boy. If I could prove it, then I'd say that you allowed him to escape in the human world."

"Hey now, Soi Fon-san, I didn't allow him to escape. You shouldn't make accusations about fellow members of the Gotei 13."

Shunsui joked with her, while Yamamoto banged his staff on the floor.

"Takumi Urahara, why have you come back to the Soul Society? You do realize your punishment means death. You understand that much, yes?"

Takumi breathed out slowly, his eyes dancing between the other Captains in the room, before landing on Yamamoto himself, and he wasn't intimidated, he wasn't scared, he just remained as relaxed as he could.

"Yes sir, I realize that, and if it wasn't for Rukia-chan being executed, I wouldn't have a reason to come here. And I understand you want me to die for these crimes I supposedly have committed, but I can tell you right now sir, your society is corrupted."

Audible gasps rang out in the room while Soi Fon marches forward, gripping Takumi by the collar.

"How dare you make such accusations?"

Takumi pushes Soi Fon's hand off his robes, and stares directly into her eyes.

"Because it is the truth. Whether you realize it or not, your society is in the middle of corruption."

"Explain yourself immediately."

Yamamoto was intrigued by what Takumi had to say.

Takumi overlooked the other Captain's with his eyes lingering on Aizen more than the others, before he continued.

"You're telling me Rukia-chan deserves to die for what she's done? She didn't give her powers to a human, she gave them to me. If you want to punish anyone for that, punish me, not her. I shouldn't even have to say how wrong this situation is! Can't you see that this is messed up?! A good woman is going to die, because she wanted to do her duties as a Shinigami, and protect humans?! At the time, she didn't even know it was me who she had given her powers too, so she can't be held accountable for that! The only thing she's guilty of, is being a kind hearted girl, who did her duties to the bitter end!"

His passionate words caught the attention of Toshiro, Unohana, Shunsui, even Kenpachi was surprised by his words, and it just made him all the more intrigued. Byakuya's eyebrows moved upwards, and listened to Takumi's words.

He then looked to the Captain Commander himself.

"If I gave myself up, would it save Rukia-chan from her execution?"

Once more, audible gasps rang out through the area.

Yamamoto honestly didn't know how to respond, while Aizen's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, which only Takumi caught since he was fixating on the man himself while everyone else had their eyes on Takumi's form.

"That is a question you'd have to ask Central 46."

"Go ahead, ask them."

Yamamoto blinked in surprise.

"You would give your life for Rukia Kuchiki? But, why would you do that?"

"As I said, she shouldn't die for my supposed crimes. So, ask them and I'll be back to hear your answer in a few days time. I don't want any bloodshed, I want to avoid bloodshed if at all possible, so please grant me this one request."

"You're not leaving here, it's as simple as that."

Soi Fon spoke with an aggressive tone.

Takumi released a chortle which went through her spine.

"That's the thing though, it's going to be difficult in containing me because...I'm not really here."

That drew confusion to almost everyone in the room.

Mayuri's eyes widened in realization when seeing Takumi's smile grow wider and wider.

"It's a Gigai! He's remotely controlling it from somewhere! Shit, we've been played!"

"Well done Captain of Squad 12, you figured it out. You can have a cookie."

Mayuri clutched his hands so tight his knuckles turned even whiter than they usually were.

"_That Gigai...I couldn't even tell the difference, even the spiritual pressure is the near exact same with only minuscule differences that would be very hard to tell even if you sensed his spiritual pressure...damn, he's come far into Gigai research. Ichimaru wasn't lying before, this boy can remotely control Gigai's with near the same pressure he has, and perhaps could also mimic others...he's heard all of this information about us, and God knows what he's going to do next. I have to be prepared, he's more gifted than I had given him credit for, even an amnesic Takumi is a smart enemy._"

Takumi's eyes went towards Yamamoto.

"Ask, consider it a favour to me."

"That's..."

Yamamoto didn't think he'd be asked this kind of request, but Shunsui stepped forward.

"I'll ask them on your behalf."

"Shunsui!"

Yamamoto berated, but Shunsui gave a cool smile.

"What's the harm in asking? I'm curious for the answer myself."

Takumi thanked Shunsui in his mind, his eyes glancing at Aizen's own who's face turned downwards ever so slightly. That movement of his face, was caught by Toshiro this time who followed Takumi's eyes.

"I'll be back in a few days for the answer. If it is a yes, then if I can save Rukia-chan without bloodshed, then that's what I'll do." Takumi waved his hands. "By the way, no bombs on the door, that was a lie hehehe~" Soi Fon tightened her hand while Takumi's body expanded. "Ooh, might wanna stand back, this Gigai does explode."

The Captain's flew backwards, and the Gigai exploded away...or so they thought. What they didn't see was Takumi using the spell he used to teleport his Zanpakuto to him he learned from Hacchi, and made that happen with the Gigai, so he didn't lose the Gigai's.

Once it was gone, the Captains share looks between them, as Kenpachi shot for the door.

"Where are you going now oaf?"

Mayuri demanded, but Kenpachi flipped him off while saying "He's my fight!" and shot through the door.

Standing on the roof, was Yachiru, a pink haired little girl.

"Ooh Ken-chan! Are we going?!"

Yachiru asked while hopping onto Kenpachi's back.

"Yeah, I'm going to find him before he's taken away from me, I wont lose this chance!"

Kenpachi ran away from the Captain's meeting, while the others were in disbelief, or rather, they were surprised that he had exited so quickly, Kenpachi truly was fired up right now.

"He never quits being so battle ready, he truly is a pain."

Tosen spoke with quiet words that only Sajin could hear who mentally agreed.

Aizen on the other hand showed calmness...he wasn't calm on the inside.

"_Shit...it seems that he suspects something already. I have to tread carefully, and make sure he doesn't have time to try and expose me. I need to have the Captains become more invested in chasing after him, and detain him without any evidence against me. If he gets it, I wont be able to retrieve it...I need to come up with a plan..._"

Aizen muses about his own thoughts, wondering how he was going to proceed. This threw a wrench into his plans, he didn't like the ideas of what was happening at this moment in time.

Yamamoto exhales deeply.

"It seems that we've got a peculiar situation on our hands."

"Are you going to ask about what he requested Old Man Yama?"

Shunsui's question was met with an annoyed grunt from Soi Fon.

"Why should we do anything he requests?"

"Because as he said, it would save bloodshed. If this can be resolved peacefully, I don't see why we don't try it."

Shunsui gave an answer that didn't satisfy Soi Fon one bit.

"In the meantime, capturing and detaining Takumi Urahara is our priority. However, I will ask Central 46 this question, and see what comes of it. Perhaps an easy solution can be made of this kind of situation after all. Dismissed."

The Captains bow their necks, and begin leaving the area. Toshiro notices Aizen moving closer to gin as he walks out, and says "Do you think you can get away with this?" which catches Toshiro's attention.

Gin shows a slightly creepy smile and replies with "I don't know what you're talking about." and then Aizen leaves, leaving Toshiro with a confused situation on her hands, and wondered how she was going to proceed.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So a few reunions happened this chapter, the surprise one of Sora Inoue who seems to have something going on with Kukaku, and they also live with Yuichi, the parakeet Karin and Yuzu saved at the beginning chapters of the story. Takumi's getting a lay of the land of the Soul Society, and even briefly spoke to Momo, who was understandably freaked out, but it seems she also understood that he wasn't such a bad guy in the end.**

**Finally at the end, Takumi met all of the Captain's, and seems to be messing with Aizen's plans, we'll have to wait to see what happens with that, but it seems that at least Soi Fon, and Kenpachi want to have it out with Takumi while Unohana briefly showed a bloodthirsty side to her, as we know Mayuri hates him for reasons we'll get into in the future, and Byakuya seems to be willing to fight Takumi as well. For those wondering about Gin vs Takumi, something is going to happen between them in the future, that's all I can say without spoiling it.**

**Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	19. The break in!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; It might happen, you never know~ Hehe, indeed it really has. That would be rather funny.**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Takumi's on Kenpachi's list alright, and he wont stop until he's got Takumi in his grasp. Yeah, I do believe it should have happened, it would be great development for Orihime, which will be shown through this series. Toshiro's adorable yeah~ She could do something like that, or co Lieutenant or something, wanting to prove she can do it without Aizen around, and yeah she could become Rukia's, we never found out who Rukia had as her Lieutenant. Yeah, that would be pretty cool. She'd be a good member to have in the harem. That would be pretty cool of Kinhime.**

**Miraculous Psychic Hero 100; Thanks very much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Yeah, I thought it would be pretty cool, and they'll have some moments between them. Not really dislike, it's more like she wants to fight against him. Soi Fon does, and Yoruichi is apart of it, but it isn't the whole reason why she seems to dislike him. She is yeah, we'll have to wait and see what happens with Toshiro, and Nemu.**

**Skull Flame; That's Takumi for you, if he can't beat them, he outsmarts them! It seems that he does yeah, and he's quite lucky. They do yeah, we'll see a few things happening in the future. Yeah, Takumi just strolled in there, with his Gigai, and basically had a Q&A with them. That was his plan though, he was working out which he could get on side, which weren't, and who he'd have to fight to get what he needs. We will find out more about their relationship in the near future. No, no I don't mind. Yeah, Kisuke's dealing with his own troubles back in the human world with Zombie Chizuru. She's interested in many things, and yeah, it could be a ploy to try and get rid of Takumi so she can have all of the girls to herself.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He surely does yeah, but it managed to pay off for him, he understands his opponents more now, and who he has to be on the look out for, who he could potentially get on his side, and he met Aizen...so that's gonna be quite fun when we get towards him among other reasons. Yeah, Mayuri hates him for a numerous reasons. They did yeah, I always felt like Orihime should have met back up with Sora, it would have been great character development. Hehe, Kukaku and Sora have something going on between them huh. Giselle is quite the mysterious girl, so Kukaku is unsure of how to deal with her. It could happen where they meet again.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! For now it didn't but in the future it might. Orihime's been reunited with her sibling, I think it could be good development for Orihime, it's a shame it didn't happen in canon, and yeah, Karin and Yuzu met up with Yuichi! Rukia's aware of him being there now yeah. It seems that they are. It is quite sinister, though for Takumi it doesn't bother him, neither does it Yuzu. He has yeah, and he did see her briefly. Momo and Takumi had some interesting conversations it seems~ He probably would have been around back then, so he'd at least know about Takumi. Aizen seems to have some resignation when it comes to Takumi, since he's rather unpredictable. Yeah, Karin's growing more, and Kukaku's realized that thanks to Giselle. Yeah, Takumi wanted to know more about them, so what better than making a flashy entrance like that? It seems something's going on between him and Yamamoto. He probably would have if he was there. Yeah, he's alright with Kenpachi, he knows Kenpachi is powerful, but he's not intimidated, cautious though. Yeah, a few Captains wanted Takumi, though not in the traditional sense~ Even Unohana got in on the action. Oh yeah, we'll be getting interactions between them in the future, Aizen and Takumi are going to have quite the battle, not only of powers, but of minds as well. Soi Fon's got her reasons that we'll reveal soon, Byakuya's have been hinted at but will be explored more, and Mayuri, he's Mayuri so yeah~ Ooh yeah, Kenpachi's very excited. No worries, just shows you're interested which is great! I can't reveal much, but we'll see how Takumi handles things like that and have glimpses of it. No, he doesn't really repress anything, what you see is who he is, he doesn't really have anything to repress. Kinhime's quite loyal to him yeah. He does yeah, I don't hate Iba or anything, but we don't even know what his Shikai does. Is it even allowed to be co Captains? I know there can be co Lieutenant's but I haven't seen that with Captains, it's a cool idea mind you. Yeah, they wont become involved with Aizen. Yeah, that's what I think. I know, ironic it seems. It would be cool. Yeah, Orihime is going to get more involved in fights. Sure, they could do~ That would be a funny nickname. Soi Fon and Takumi's relationship will be more addressed as we go through this arc. Yeah maybe that could happen. It would be pretty cool huh. He could do something like that with the limiters. Yeah, Takumi let in Shunsui about what was happening subtly. Sure, that could happen. That would be cool, I could see that happening with Komamura.**

**Andrew123456; We'll find that out in the future~**

**A fan; It will be revealed in time.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The break in!**

_Walking through the street, was a young Rukia. She wore a kimono with a flowery design on it. She looked to be quite young, and beside her, was a young boy wearing tattered clothing that was barely held together._

_In said street, many members of the district they were in gathered to see a few Shinigami walking through the street. Though from where they stood, they couldn't see the faces of the Shinigami, and could only see one tall Shinigami, strolling through the area, with a younger Shinigami trailing off behind him._

_"What's going on over there?"_

_Renji wondered, Rukia furrowed her eyebrows._

_"I don't know. Lets check it out."_

_Rukia, always so confident, strolled forward through the crowd with Renji following after her. Pushing their way through the crowd, they made their way to the front of the crowd, looking on at the Shinigami._

_One was Shunsui, who seemed relaxed, and was looking at the beautiful women around with lecherous eyes, and beside him, there was a young boy, with blonde hair and seemed to be around their age, which surprised them more than anything else._

_"W-Wow, he's...he's our age Rukia."_

_"He looks it anyway...and he's a Shinigami? I didn't know you could even be a Shinigami at that age. He must be talented."_

_"I'll say. Though I bet he's totally stuck up."_

_Rukia rolled her eyes._

_"You're always so pessimistic."_

_"Don't use words I don't understand!"_

_Rukia let out a small laugh, while watching the Shinigami interacting. Something about how both seemed...normal. She always assumed that Shinigami acted more noble, but the two before her, weren't acting as if they were better than anyone else. They just acted, as if they were trying to blend in with the situation around them._

_Shunsui was trying to get more of the women's attention, while the boy was pulling on the Captain's clothing to gain his attention, and drag him along._

_"Alright Captain, you can't keep staring at the girls all day."_

_"Awww, you're no fun."_

_He complained, but the boy pulled him along._

_"We have to get back to the Seireitei anyway Captain. You have to fill out a report." Shunsui looked at the young boy with a begging expression. The boy exhaled slowly. "You want me to fill out the reports don't you?"_

_"Well, if you insist~"_

_"Hmmm, I'll fill them out, if you have a meal with Hiyori-chan."_

_Shunsui felt like a dagger had just entered his heart._

_"N-No! Every time we meet, she calls me Baldy, and attacks me for no reason! I didn't mean to antagonize her! I didn't know she was going to be standing behind me when I joked about her name, did I?! You can't do that to me!"_

_"Well, that's the price you pay for badmouthing people behind their back, Captain~"_

_He let out a cheery laugh, which made Shunsui let out a cry._

_He then reached down, picking up the young boy, and held him out to the women._

_"Look at how cute he is! He's so young and a Shinigami! I'm taking care of him personally~"_

_"So, you've resorted to using me to pick up girls now?"_

_The boy sweat drops while Shunsui adopts a large grin._

_"It works if girls think you are a wonderful Father figure. They eat that stuff up."_

_Shunsui replied while sticking out his tongue at the boy who rolled his eyes._

_But the adult females all cooed at the appearance of the young boy._

_"Awwww, he's so precious~"_

_"He's so young to be a Shinigami, but he's too adorable for words!"_

_Shunsui gave a knowing smile to the boy._

_"See that? It works."_

_The boy rolled his eyes, flipping around and slapped Shunsui upside the head, making him cry out._

_"No slacking off."_

_"You're too serious, you know that?"_

_"Hehe, only when it comes to having you do stuff~"_

_The boy laughed out as he, and Shunsui unwillingly began walking back towards the Seireitei._

_The boy waved with Shunsui towards the crowds as they continued walking away._

_However, as they passed by Rukia, and Renji…_

_They felt something come over them._

_Like all of their energies had been zapped out of their bodies. Renji held himself a little bit better than Rukia did, but he wasn't looking so hot either._

_Rukia's eyes widened, and she began falling forward from the draining she felt…_

_But then the boy with blonde hair appeared before her, catching her before she could fall._

_"Whoa there, are you okay?"_

_Rukia looked up into the eyes of the boy._

_Something about the look of them, made her feel complex about many things._

_She didn't quite understand what had just happened, but he had caught her._

_"It seems that you have some spiritual energy." The boy brought out what seemed to be some food, and gave it to both Rukia and Renji. "Here, eat this, you probably got overloaded by the presence of Captain Shunsui and myself. Have that and you'll begin to feel better."_

_The boy petted Rukia on the head, while Shunsui slyly moved in beside him._

_"Picking up girls, are we?"_

_"N-No, I don't know what you're talking about!"_

_The boy denied it, pulling away from the pair as they began eating the food._

_Filling their stomachs, they did feel their energies return to them. Rukia's eyes looked at the boy that was waving towards them as they walked away, and she needed to know something._

_She stood up, and took off running towards him._

_"H-Hey Rukia!"_

_Renji complained, but she ignored him, and continued on._

_She attempted to reach the boy once more, but because she had just eaten and began regaining her energy, she was unsteady on her feet, so her legs gave way, and fell forward on her face…_

_Or so she thought._

_At the last second, the boy appeared before her, catching her fall._

_"That's twice today. You seem to be quite unstable huh?"_

_Rukia's face contorted to confusion._

_"D-Did you just say I'm unstable?"_

_"In the sense of standing and running."_

_The boy put his hands up in defence while Shunsui chuckled._

_"You aren't picking up girls the right way."_

_"I'm not trying to pick her up." The boy spoke, and turned around. "Well, goodbye young girl. You must have a good level of power to stand in our presences without fainting, especially Captain Shunsui's. You should try and harness that power to become a Shinigami. We could always use new strong people."_

_Rukia listened to what he said, but still…_

_She needed to know something._

_"Wait, what's your name!?"_

_Rukia needed to know._

_The boy turned around, and gave a bright smile._

_"My names Takumi, Rukia-chan."_

_Rukia's eyes flew open at how he called her name._

_"H-How did you..."_

_"I heard your friend call your name, Rukia-chan. Goodbye. Maybe we'll see one another again soon~"_

_Rukia watched as he began walking away with the Captain, unaware that her life had been changed from that moment on, and that Takumi, would become important to her…_

* * *

Renji was having many conflicting feelings at this moment, as he sat within the room with most Lieutenant's. Only a few were absent, like Yachiru from Squad 11, and Nemu who had received word from her Captain to return back to Squad 12's Barracks.

With Rukia trapped.

With Takumi roaming around.

Things seemed to be happening, and he couldn't do anything about it.

He couldn't save Rukia himself.

He had to take on the whole Soul Society for that, and he simply didn't have the power to do that.

But he did know someone that was attempting it right now.

"_Takumi...what are you going to do? Are you going to save Rukia…? Can you save Rukia…? Damn it...this feeling of inadequacy...if he was caught, would Rukia be let free…? If he was found...damn this, I can't think straight...my head hurts..._"

Renji clutched his hands tightly thinking about the situation at hand.

As he was, Momo came closer, seeing the distress on her friends face.

"Hey, Renji-san, don't look so worried, I'm sure the Captains are going to be doing their best."

"Yeah, I guess...say, Hinamori, when you saw Takumi, did he seem cocky? Or confident?"

Momo cocked her head sideways.

"Why does that matter?"

"Because...they might seem similar, but they're worlds apart. Could you tell me please?"

Momo pondered what Renji was actually saying, and thought deeply about it.

"Well...I guess if anything, he was truly concerned for Kuchiki-san."

Renji's eyebrows turned downwards.

"He was...huh."

"Yes, it seems as if he was going to do what it takes to save her. He didn't even seem concerned that the Seireitei would be on him. I don't know what kind of relationship Kuchiki-san and Urahara-san share with one another, but it seems that he is willing to do what it takes to save Kuchiki-san. Did that answer your question?"

Renji slit his eyes.

He thought about what Momo had said.

Takumi was willing to allow everyone to come after him if he could save Rukia.

And he right now was just moping around…

No.

He couldn't just do that.

He didn't have the power to save Rukia.

But he did know that Takumi wasn't going to stop, and he was very resourceful.

He might not be the strongest, but he had heard that he dueled with Byakuya, and managed to injure him.

And to him, that was more than he had done before, so he was sure that Takumi would be able to bring out something amazing.

"Renji-san?"

Momo called, seeing that Renji had gone silent.

Renji's eyes flickered, meeting the young woman's who held concern for her.

"Oh, Hinamori, what's wrong?"

Renji tried to be as polite as he could be, but considering the situation with Rukia, he didn't know how successful he actually was with that.

"Is something the matter? You went quiet...did I say something?"

Renji shook his head immediately.

"No, you didn't say anything...in fact, you helped me along."

Momo cocked her head sideways as Chojiro, the Lieutenant of Squad 1 came rushing through the door.

Momo, and several other Lieutenant's gathered together, and saw the panicked expression in his eyes.

"It seems that we've all been given assignments regarding Takumi Urahara, it seems that he made an appearance at the Captains meeting." The Lieutenant's went silent while the man carried on. "So, we have been tasked into returning to our barracks and receiving orders from our Captains. But no doubt, we will be most likely allowed to use our Zanpakuto's in the Seireitei, considering this a war time event."

"Is it really going to be a war? But it is one man."

Marechiyo, a large man eating snacks argued, while Nanao pushed up her glasses.

"This one man must be deemed very dangerous for it to come to this."

Izuru, a man with blonde hair, some covering one of his eyes, spoke up.

"If it's war, then he has to be as dangerous as we've heard. But can he really do anything against us all? He's a single man, we are many. He couldn't possibly take us all on if we are going to be confronting him."

That's what Izuru thought about the situation anyway.

But some didn't believe that would be the case.

"It's that kind of thinking that will get you killed." Rangiku warned seriously, to the surprise of others. "We have to remain on guard. One man, a hundred men, it doesn't matter. It still is a threat to the Soul Society that we have to be wary about. We've all heard that he managed to fight Captain Kuchiki and draw blood from him. We have to presume he's gotten stronger, and if that's the case, then we could all be in trouble. We can't underestimate him."

Chojiro agreed with a bob of his head.

"Exactly, this is going to be a very tough battle for us all, we have to succeed somehow."

Momo, who was at the back of the crowds, chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, this has turned very serious, hasn't it Renji-san?" Her eyes looked back nervously to Renji and saw that he was gone. "Renji-san, what are you doing…?"

Momo express her concerns, hoping that Renji wasn't going to do anything reckless. But seeing him gone after speaking about Takumi and Rukia, Momo knew that something had happened with Renji, a changed had occurred within him, and had come to some sort of decision.

* * *

"Come on Ken-chan! Lets find him!"

Yachiru exclaimed with a childlike sense of wonder, patting Kenpachi's shoulder again and again.

Kenpachi leapt through the Soul Society, breaking walls with his heavy foot steps, and pushing off said walls, trying to find any hint as to where Takumi would be.

Though he didn't know where Takumi was.

He didn't even have an inkling.

All he could think about though was the fight at hand, and what he could do.

"I know that, but I don't know where he is."

Yachiru's pink cheeks puffed out, while waving her finger in a random direction.

"I think he's that way!"

"But that's the way we just came from."

Kenpachi complained, but Yachiru remained vigilant.

"Don't trust me then, but that's where I feel he's coming from!"

"Ugggggh! Alright, I'll look!"

Kenpachi turned heels, and shot off like a lightning bolt, leaping onto several buildings, going in the completely opposite direction that Takumi actually was in.

Kenpachi landed on the ground, as Yachiru said "He's over there for sure!" so Kenpachi followed after her directions, running through the street, and then she announced "Go right!" so that's what he did…

But he came to a dead end.

"Yachiru, just admit you don't know where you're going."

"I do know where I'm going! I meant take the next left, not right! Oops, my mistake~"

Kenpachi let out a large sigh, and continued chasing after the wild goose chases that Yachiru was putting him on in the case that he would finally be able to get a fight with Takumi Urahara, Kenpachi truly couldn't wait for this to happen.

* * *

Just after what had happened with the Captains, Takumi ended up laying on a bunch of boxes, he had made a barrier outside akin to what Hacchi had shown him that hides spiritual pressure for the most part. He wasn't as good as Hacchi, but he has had time to spend just relaxing on his own, and coming up with some plans and strategies for what he was going to do next.

He took out what seemed to be some images of the group of Captains.

Overlooking each, and putting names to faces, Takumi's eyes glanced at Aizen, and narrowed his eyes slightly, but then he looked at the other Captains, and began making plans on what he was going to do.

"_Squad 8's Captain Shunsui-san seemed to be on my side, he didn't hold any negative opinions about me. In the first part of infiltration, you need to make some powerful allies, and he is definitely powerful. He seems so relaxed, but the levels of power coming off of that guy, I know that I can't beat him even now after all the training I did with Yoruichi-chan and Dad, so I can't face him down. Byakuya...I wonder where I scale to him now…? Am I still weaker...or could I be at his level? Only time is going to tell...damn this day, it's been quite difficult._"

Takumi continued overlooking the Captains.

Each one seemed to have something about them that would worry most.

But he was sure that he'd be able to do something against at least one of them if he put his all into it.

His eyes drifted to Toshiro, and smiled gently.

"_She was adorable, I can hardly believe that she's a Captain...but, she also felt strong, befitting a Captain of course...and then there's that Kenpachi Zaraki-san, he seems to have it out for me...no, that's not quite accurate, he seems to like fighting strong enemies. I wonder if I could have that power on my side...he wouldn't be easy to win over...but, if I could have a powerhouse like him in my back pocket, then we'd be able to fight and survive this situation at hand._"

Takumi thought about making an alliance with Kenpachi. Judging on how he acted during the initial meetings, he knew it would be a difficult fight if he tried to fight him right now, and even if he managed to win, he only had so many supplies, so he wasn't going to go for the big guns right away.

He went over the other guys and girls within the Captains, glancing at Soi Fon who he remembered from the meeting, and how she seemed to hate him with a passion. He just wished he could remember what it was that she hated about him, and if he could make it right or not.

"_Need to avoid that Soi Fon-san, she seems to not be on my side. And then there's that Mayuri...so that's the guy that made Nemu-san is it? I can see why she is the way she is, from our interactions, he's clearly unhinged, and he does seem to be the type that doesn't allow others below him to express opinions._"

Takumi threw his head backwards, while releasing a small yawn out of his mouth.

He was a little tired, but he wasn't going to allow that to overcome him now.

"_Alright, I need to go and find Shunsui-san and see if there's anything I can do with his assistance...but, I don't know where he is...I need to have someone tell me where Squad 8's Barracks are so I can meet up with him...yeah, time to do this._"

Takumi exhaled, and put his equipment away.

Then he walked towards the exit of his little area that he had set up for himself to have a little rest.

Upon walking outside, he looked around and saw that he was alone, so he decided to go and find some people so he could find Shunsui, and hopefully begin to make some changes.

* * *

As that happened, Mayuri came back into his lab, and threw a glass bottle against a nearby wall, startling the members of his staff, while Nemu looked on with a calm expression on her face, something that was the norm for her.

"Mayuri-sama-"

"Shut up Nemu!" Mayuri exclaimed with anger on his face. "That damn Takumi made a fool of me...how dare he do this…?"

Nemu watched as Mayuri walked off towards his private lab.

He stayed in there for a few minutes, before coming out with a few gadgets of his.

"Mayuri-sama, what are you intending to do?"

Mayuri gave a dirty smile on his face.

"I'm going to kill that Takumi Urahara of course."

"But, wouldn't that be against the orders of Central 46?"

Mayuri laughed at what she said.

He found it rather funny.

"That's ludicrous my dear girl, who cares what a bunch of idiots think? Do you go to idiots when you need a plan?" Nemu went to answer when Mayuri did it instead. "Of course not! You go to the intelligent people, and around here, that's lacking very much. Yamamoto doesn't know what he's doing, and Kyoraku is on his own planet. And as for that damn Zaraki, that oaf is going to cut into my plans of taking that damn boy out myself. Hmph, not if I have anything to say about it. I'll find him myself, before anyone else can. He's mine."

Nemu didn't say anything.

She couldn't.

However, she thought about Takumi fighting against Mayuri.

Mayuri wasn't scary because he was strong.

It was because he had many gadgets that could be used against other people, and he always prepared.

She wondered if Takumi would be prepared for Mayuri, and what would happen if they came face to face with one another.

"Come along Nemu, lets try and find him before anyone else does."

Nemu felt conflicted for the first time in her life.

She didn't believe that this could happen.

On one hand, she had to always follow Mayuri's orders.

But if she did, she would end up having Takumi die as a result.

She didn't want Takumi to die.

She liked him.

"I..."

"What Nemu? What's wrong now you docile girl?" Mayuri demanded from her, and when she didn't respond, he reached for her hair, but she recoiled, which surprised Mayuri a little bit. "Whats wrong with you girl? I never allowed you to gain understanding on that level."

"No, that's not it Mayuri-sama...I have a meeting with the other Lieutenants about what has been happening regarding Takumi Urahara. I am not supposed to miss this important meeting, so I cannot accompany you."

Mayuri found it suspicious.

Nemu never argued.

She never even attempted to disagree with him.

So he knew something about Nemu wasn't right.

It seemed like she was going through something.

"Ugggh, fine, whatever! Go to your damn meetings! But we will be having a conversation later Nemu, I do not like this new attitude of yours."

Nemu bowed her head.

"Yes, Mayuri-sama, as you wish."

Mayuri scowled at Nemu, he truly didn't like what was happening with her. This new Nemu seemed to be gaining something that he thought he had robbed from her, and that was the ability to defy orders.

He wished for her to grow, but in ways that he could control.

Not in the ways where she would openly defy him.

Mayuri huffed, and walked out of the room, while Nemu watched him leave.

Once he was gone, Nemu looked down at herself, and couldn't believe what she had done.

Defying Mayuri…

Was it possible that she was capable of doing that?

She didn't know, but she was sure that this was going to come back and bite her.

Even then, she wasn't regretful of what she did.

She finally managed to speak her mind to Mayuri.

Though it was a small victory as she hadn't said everything she had wanted. She got what she wanted across, and that was her defiance. However, she also wondered if she could do the same if so many people weren't around.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shunsui lays his head on the table before him, in his office as Nanao comes storming in. Her eyes flicker between Shunsui, and the reports within her arms, and then back to Shunsui once more.

"Captain, is it true what I just heard?"

"It depends, what did you hear?"

Nanao releases a small breath, she didn't want to play any games at that moment.

"Takumi-kun's in the Seireitei, and he appeared at the Captains meeting?!"

Shunsui releases a chortle.

"It seems to be the case. I guess that he's come to save the damsel."

"But Captain, if he stays in the Seireitei, the more bloodthirsty ones are going to try and detain, and possibly kill him. Aren't you worried that he has come here?" Shunsui seemed to ignore Nanao for the moment which irritated her. "Captain, aren't you listening-"

"He said something that intrigued me."

Nanao was surprised her usual laid back Captain was speaking so seriously.

"A-And, what is that thing Captain?"

Shunsui's fingers enclosed around one another, getting into a serious thinking position.

"He insinuated that something was happening within the Soul Society, and with Rukia Kuchiki-sans execution. He suggested that we ask about if he could replace Kuchiki-sans execution with his own."

Nanao's eyes widened with shock.

"H...He wants to die for Kuchiki-san? Is he that mad? He can't do that Captain, it is...he can't do it."

Shunsui shook his head.

"No, I think he was testing something, and by the way that he seemed to act, its as if something is happening without my knowledge on the subject. And if that's the case, then I want to see where this leads. Clearly, he knows something is going on, and I can't exactly go and contact him myself, in case people are watching...but even if they weren't, I don't know where he is..."

"Captain, what are we going to do?"

Shunsui smirked slightly, and also slyly.

"Aah, that crush on Takumi is going strong even now, isn't it?"

Nanao's face turned bright red, pushing up her glasses in abject feelings.

"T-That's nothing Captain! I keep explaining that you're wrong about that!"

Nanao was being bashful about what was being said.

She didn't like the expressions on Shunsui's face either.

A teasing expression that was giving her a hard time.

"Hahaha, if that's what you say Nanao-chan! Either way, I hope that you can do a few things for me."

Nanao wondered what these 'things' would entail.

"Captain, are you going to defy Central 46? I care about Takumi-kun just as much as you, but if we do this..."

"He wouldn't come here without a reason." Shunsui straightened his back. "I know it might seem random, but that boy doesn't do random things. He's discovered something here, and I must admit that what's happening with Kuchiki-san seems to be rushed, and not normal for Central 46, something is clearly happening. At least it is clear enough for me, and that interaction between Takumi, and the rest of us Captains, just confirms it for me. I know it to be true."

Nanao could see the passion that Shunsui was giving.

He truly believed what he was saying.

While she held reservations about it, she did trust in her Captain.

"Captain, what are we going to do?"

Shunsui cocked up an eyebrow.

"Are you planning to become involved? It will be dangerous."

Nanao realized that.

Even then she has steeled herself.

"Leaving it to just you doesn't suit me Captain. Tell me, what can I do to help?"

Shunsui adopted a smirk.

"First of all, you can..."

Nanao listened to what Shunsui was saying, and couldn't believe it.

But she had to believe in her Captain, and she had to make sure she did what she could to save Takumi herself.

* * *

Hanataro came by towards the area that was Squad 6's Barracks, and was going to be doing a duty of cleaning Rukia's cell once more, like everyday that he would do it.

But when he got there, he was surprised to find that the cell was empty.

"W-Wait, what's going on? Where is Rukia-san?"

Hanataro didn't quite understand what was going on.

It wasn't even near her execution date, and she was already gone.

Panicking, Hanataro rushed towards the nearby Squad 6 member who said "Don't touch me!" in a condescending manner, causing him to back away slowly.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to get so close...but, I have to ask about Rukia-san, what's happened to her?"

He tried being brave about the subject, but he saw the man's eyes narrowing at him even more, so he shrunk under his gaze. The guard rolled his eyes with annoyance for the Squad 4 member, and wished that he didn't have to speak to him.

But to get rid of him faster, he explained the situation as quickly as possible.

"I guess grunts like you wouldn't have heard. She's been moved to the Shishinro."

Panic entered Hanataro's heart.

"B-But, that can't be true! Rukia-san is...s-she is..."

"You're no longer required here, you can leave now."

Hanataro wanted to argue.

He truly did.

But in the end, he knew that arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere, so he just bowed his head, and walked down the lonely corridor that was the Squad 6 headquarters, he just hoped that he didn't run into Byakuya as he was intimidated by him.

As he made it towards the exit of the long hallway, the door opened, revealing Nemu to be stood there, with her usual melancholic expression on her face.

"Ku-Kurotsuchi-san! W-What's going on!?"

Nemu looked calm as her eyes flickered between the man before her.

Nemu didn't speak for over a minute, she just stared at him, as if she was trying to understand something important.

"E-Erm..."

"You wish to save Rukia Kuchiki-san, don't you?"

Nemu interrupted Hanataro, and he had to wonder if she had planned that out, though it did seem unlikely that she would even bother trying to trick him, considering who he actually was.

Hanataro was surprised that she would say something like that.

"T-That's! O-Of course not! I can't...I-I wouldn't do anything like that to endanger the Soul Society-"

"I have been watching your interactions with Rukia Kuchiki-san for the past few days, and I have seen that you wish to make sure that she is safe, but you currently do not have the power to do anything other than watch helplessly from the side."

Hanataro's eyes began to lower, knowing that Nemu was right.

Hanataro didn't have the power to save Rukia, he couldn't do anything to give her assistance.

"I...I guess that you're right..."

"However, it doesn't mean you are useless." Hanataro raised his head to meet Nemu. "If you want to help out Rukia Kuchiki-san, then I suggest coming with me, and making sure that a certain someone is able to survive."

"A-A certain someone...wait, do you want to help out Rukia Kuchiki-san?"

Nemu continued to stare on with her melancholic expression.

"My feelings regarding the situation are complex. However, your healing abilities are needed. Please come with me if you wish to save Rukia Kuchiki-san."

Hanataro continued to be surprised.

But he did want to save Rukia, so he didn't have a reason not to go with her, and she was a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, so he merely obeyed what she wished for him to do, and followed after her quickly.

* * *

Later on, Kukaku watched as Karin and Yuzu were playing with Yuichi kindly.

She recalled what had happened with Giselle the previous night, and towards the girls before her.

What they were in relation to her.

"_Being Isshin's kids...it's almost fate that they appeared now. Kaien, you'd approve of me giving them some secrets of the clan, right?_" Kukaku already knew the answer, pulling forward. "Yo, it seems that you're relaxing."

Yuzu turned to Kukaku with a bright smile.

"Yes, thank you very much for your hospitality."

Kukaku shook her head, acting kinder than usually would do.

"No need to thank me. By the way, can I ask you something?" Karin and Yuzu nodded slowly. "So, you gained your powers recently, right?"

"Well, yeah I guess. Though I've been able to see spirits for years now, and Yuzu recently was able to see them. Around the same time that we avenged our Mom who was killed by a Hollow."

Kukaku was mildly surprised that she had heard that from Karin.

"I see, your Dad, is back in the human world, right?"

"Ooh yes, he's back there. Hehe, if he knew what we were doing, he'd be so worried for us."

"Your Dad...erm..."

She didn't want to ask for the name as she didn't want to reveal she knew of their connection, but she also wanted to confirm what Giselle had said. She indeed did feel something for the twins, but she also knew that it could be a coincidence, and she didn't want to tell anyone the secrets of the Shiba Style that she thought that they could learn.

"Our Dad? What about him?"

Karin seemed confused by what she seemed intent about him.

"Nothing really. Just curious about what he would be doing right now."

Kukaku nodded a single time as she spoke, while Yuzu curiously tilted her neck.

"By the way Kukaku-san, what is your relationship with Sora Inoue-san?"

"Pft!"

Kukaku did a spit take, while Karin grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Yeah, what is it with you two? Lovers?"

"Th-That's not your business! Honestly, asking such things!"

Kukaku turned around, and walked out of the room.

Once she did, she saw Giselle stood there with a goofy smile on her face.

"You wanted to know their Dad's name, didn't you?"

"I didn't know if I could believe your words, so I'd get it right from them, though I don't know how to approach the subject."

Giselle tittered, opening the door, and gave a cheerful wave.

"Hey girls, what was Masaki-chan's husband called again?"

"You mean our Dad?"

Karin wondered with a question mark above her head.

The young woman responded with a nod, thumbing her skirt.

"Yeah, I totally forgot. I wanted to pray for him, as well as Masaki-chan. You know, that weirdo that goes "Yuzuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" and "Kariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!" as his crazy ways are. But for the life of me, I don't remember his name."

"Ooh, that's understandable. It's Isshin."

Yuzu explained, Kukaku widened her eyes ever so slightly, as Giselle glanced at her.

"So it is, thanks Yuzu-chan. Well, sorry to disturb you, see you later~"

The young woman whistled as she walked away. She glided past Kukaku who bowed her neck, then moved forward.

"Hey girls. Since you're going to the Seireitei, there's something I want to share with you."

"...What exactly? Should we go and get Orihime and Giselle?"

Karin thought that it would make sense that they all should be privy to what was going on.

However, Kukaku shook her head.

"No, this is just something for you. I saw the potential for you to use it while training yesterday. So how about it?"

Karin and Yuzu glanced at the other, before shrugging for her to continue.

* * *

Takumi began running through the Seireitei, trying to find where Shunsui was, but each time that he found a member of the Gotei 13, something would happen that Takumi didn't like.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Monsteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

"Don't kill me pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!"

Takumi released a sigh as the next bunch of Shinigami ran away from him.

"Oh come on! Please talk to me! I need to find someone!"

He released a small sigh out of his nose while continuing to look around for anyone that could give him some directions, but he couldn't find anyone that would be able to help him.

They'd run away as fast as they could away from him.

"At this rate, I'm never going to find the way towards...yeah, I need to think of something here..."

Takumi threw his head back, folding his arms, and thought of a new plan on how to get through this situation.

His eyes caught the sight of some more Shinigami, and he waved towards them, as they froze.

"So, hey guys-"

"T-That's Takumi Urahara!"

"We're going to die!"

"He's going to kill us!"

"Please leave us alone!"

They turned and ran away once more.

Takumi released a small breath, knowing that it would be futile to chase after them.

He became slightly frustrated with that, looking around his immediate area, before leaning against a wall.

"At this point, I'd take Kenpachi Zaraki-san, this is getting ridiculous."

SMASH!

Takumi heard a smashing sound coming from behind him, so he looked and saw at the distance, that Kenpachi in fact was running along. However, he went in the opposite direction after rounding a corner.

"Yeah, he's this way Ken-chan!"

"You better be right Yachiru!"

Takumi cringed.

"Okay, I take that back, I don't want to deal with Kenpachi-san anytime soon."

Takumi whistled innocently, and turned to move away from Kenpachi.

He ran down a long street, hoping that he'd come across anyone.

He also pondered where Rukia might be, though he guessed that it would be somewhere that he would find to be quite the difficult journey to get too.

But he still wouldn't give up for her either.

After running for a number of minutes…

He stopped.

He felt eyes were on him.

He couldn't get a good read on where it was though.

Takumi's eyes shot upwards, and left, and right.

But he still didn't see anyone...but he definitely knew something was amiss.

Something was happening and he didn't like it.

"Alright, if anyone is here, come out right now."

Takumi demanded, his eyes looking for even a hint of a presence.

But he didn't see anyone moving.

Takumi's finger lifted up, aiming towards the left and right hand sides of the area, and announced "Byakurai." shooting off the lightning blasts from both fingers, towards the locations that he had placed his fingers…

But nothing happened.

Even then, he knew that something was amiss.

But for now, decided to keep running along in the hopes he'd find Shunsui's area…

And he was right to be suspicious.

He was being followed.

Using some kind of camouflage technique, Mayuri was following behind Takumi, his body blending in with the walls. Stepping forward, his deranged eyes went towards the fleeting Takumi, and his sadistic grin grew larger, and larger on his face.

"_Haha, so he noticed my presence. I guess that even he is skilled enough to sense my spiritual pressure despite me trying to hide it so well. Then again, he is a tricky bastard to handle. Hmmm, now I have almost been discovered, I have to strike when he's not able to keep tabs on me._"

Using his camouflage technique once more, he blended in with the walls, and began chasing after Takumi, the deadly scientist was closing in on the boy…

* * *

Meanwhile, everyone was ready for the launch of the cannon ball, standing just outside of the cannon that was going to fire them up into the Seireitei, though some were nervous about it, some like Orihime was determined to go and find Takumi before anything bad would happen. They didn't want to waste anymore time. Orihime, Karin, Yuzu, Giselle, and Yoruichi seemed ready for the task before them, while Ganju steps out, wearing what seems to be a battle uniform.

"Geez, are you going to be coming with us or something?"

Karin grins out, while Ganju huffs.

"I'll do what I want!"

"Is that it? It seems that you're up to something."

Karin gave him scrutinizing eyes, which forced Ganju to release a small groan.

"My older brother...he was betrayed by his Shinigami partner, and was killed. Because I was so young, I never got to understand why he didn't speak about the Shinigami in a negative way, why didn't he speak out about them? If I go with you guys...maybe I'll be seeing what you told me about Karin Kurosaki, about these so-called kind Shinigami. I need to see them with my own eyes, so I'm going to go with you guys."

Karin and the others didn't seem to have a problem with it.

Though Karin does make something a point.

"This isn't a revenge mission, got it?"

"A-Ah..."

"We're there purely on a rescue mission. Look, I get the feeling of wanting to understand what happened to a dearly departed one. Both Yuzu and I suffered the loss with our Mother, and wanted revenge, but it can go in a bad direction. So you better keep a level head in there, got it Ganju?"

Ganju ground his teeth, that's where Kukaku came into the conversation.

"She's right Ganju, don't become lost in your anger. And also, if you're going to go, I wont stop you. But it is going to be dangerous. So don't run away from the fights, and give it everything you have, understood?"

Ganju nods his head with a resolute face.

"You're right. I'll do my best."

Kukaku nods her head slowly, looking between each and everyone of them, before seeing that they looked ready to go.

"It's time to go then."

The others began getting closer, while Karin points a finger at Yoruichi.

"So, can you like...I don't know, create a cannonball?"

Karin wasn't so sure, while Yoruichi gave a questioning look.

"You do know that I was there when training Takumi, right?"

"Of course, I'm not an idiot, it's just I didn't see you firing off any energy blasts or anything so how am I meant to know?"

Yoruichi releases a chortle, and jumps on the sphere in Karin's hands. She then pours her power into the sphere and creates a cannonball with no effort, she was quite adept about doing that.

While Yoruichi did that, Kukaku turned to Ganju.

"Ganju, we'll be going with the Flower-crane cannon launch method number two. Can you handle that?"

Ganju bangs on his chest, showing pride with his expressions.

"Of course I can do that."

Kukaku seemed to be satisfied about what he said.

"Alright then, everyone get inside of the cannon. I'll launch you guys from there."

The members of the group began entering the cannon. Before Orihime could, Sora took her hand, and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Don't worry Sora, I'll be back soon."

"I know...now go and find Takumi-kun and give him my best."

"Hehe, of course~ Leave it to me!"

Orihime gave one final nod, before entering the cannon. They stood in a circle around, and Yoruichi was on the sphere itself in her form. Karin and Yuzu glanced at the other, before hearing Yuichi shout "Goodbye big sisters!" which made them smile. Giselle herself looked on with a goofy expression on her face.

"Now everyone, once we get in there, it is imperative that we stick together, and not take any unnecessary risks. If you encounter a Captain class Shinigami, then you run away from them, and think about reuniting with Takumi, and finding Rukia. We aren't there for anything else."

"But, what if it comes to a place where we have to fight?"

Karin wondered to the cat who let out an exasperated sigh.

"I know where you're coming from, but this is a very dangerous place we're entering. If there's no other choice, if you can't run away anymore, then yes of course fight to defend yourself, but only when you have no choice."

Yoruichi's words rung within everyone's heads, and wondered if they truly would encounter Captains and if Takumi was fighting a Captain right now, and if he was, then they hoped that he was safe.

From outside, Kukaku began the launch procedure, as Yoruichi said "Combine your energy to produce a cannonball around us." which everyone began doing just that, forming a dome of energy around them.

Sora watches from the outside, seeing the top of the cannon come off, revealing the opening. Then Kukaku takes out her ribbon, which wraps around her forearm, which is ignited into flames, and she slams it down onto the ground.

"Watch this, they're about to go up in an explosion!"

Kukaku said to Yuichi who clapped his hands together.

The flames travel towards the cannon, and unleash a mass of smoke, before the cannon releases the cannonball into the sky in a strong explosion, Sora watched the sphere go high into the sky, and sighed deeply.

"Orihime...please be careful."

Kukaku could see that Sora was saddened that Orihime chose to go, so placed a hand on his back.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"Y-Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just I haven't seen her in so long, and now she's going to a place I can't protect her...but I'll be fine….she'll be fine. With Takumi-kun, she'll be fine, he promised to always keep her safe...but, Kukaku-san, tell me straight. Do you think they can do it?"

Kukaku looks on with a complicated expression on her face.

"I don't know. That's how I honestly feel. I don't know, but I do know that they're determined...I hope that determination is going to get them through this." Kukaku's eyes watch the sphere go higher into the air, and smiled gently. "I guess that's it Ganju, good luck, and be careful."

Showing some of her vulnerable side, Sora placed a hand on her shoulder, which Kukaku grabbed with her hand, and held onto it, as they disappeared into the sky.

* * *

Nanao was on a mission.

She could move around without anyone really noticing her at all.

She moved quickly, wanting to get ahead of this situation.

She pondered where though…

Where could she look?

Where was Takumi going to be?

She had to find him for her Captain.

She knew it would be dangerous, but she wasn't going to stop looking for him.

While she was doing that, her Captain was doing something else entirely.

She moved through the Seireitei as quickly, and efficiently as she could. Going off every little bit of information she could pick up, likely movement patterns, based on what Shunsui had told her, and also, based on how she knew Takumi personally.

He might have lost his memories, but from what she saw, he was still the same Takumi, with or without memories.

She didn't draw attention to herself however, and was checking on various posted Shinigami through the Seireitei. Because it was so vast, she began near her own Squad Barracks, and moved from there, expanding outwards and hoped for the best.

Then she came across two Shinigami that seemed to be slacking off in their duties.

"Madarame, and Ayasegawa, what do you think you're doing?"

Ikkaku, a bald man with a sword over his shoulder, and Yumichika, a flamboyant looking man stiffened at their names being called.

Turning towards Nanao, she gave a no nonsense stare.

"A-Ah, Lieutenant Ise, what are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you this myself. What are you doing here? I know your post wasn't here this morning, so please explain yourself immediately."

Usually, these two men would be quite strong and would defend what they were doing.

But, with Nanao before them...they were afraid by what was happening.

She was a scary woman.

Especially due to the fact that Nanao's eyes were burning on their forms.

"Y-You see, we decided to take a break. That's all~"

Yumichika tried to smooth it over with Nanao, but she wasn't having any of it.

"So, you are saying you've abandoned your post?"

"N-No, that's not it!"

Yumichika tried to reason, but once more Nanao wasn't quite thrilled with this either.

"For skipping duties like this, I will have to make a report."

Yumichika and Ikkaku weren't thrilled with that idea.

They didn't think their Captain would say anything to them, but others might and they didn't have time to be bothered with getting any punishments or anything of the sort.

But then from the sky, a huge explosion catches them all off guard, Nanao's eyes going up towards it and thought about what was happening, and more importantly, if Takumi was apart of it, and if he was, what she was going to do next.

* * *

Back with Takumi, he continued running through the area, well aware that he was being followed, though he could only guess at who it was. He believed it to be either Aizen, Gin, or Mayuri. He didn't think that any of the others would try and hide in the shadows like this, and honestly it was something that irritated him.

He wanted to fight this person, but he didn't know exactly where they were, and one false move, and he knew that he was going to be done. This person was being extra careful as to keep themselves hidden from plain sight.

However, Takumi wasn't going to allow this person to get the better of him.

"Bakudo 27: Kyokko."

Using the bending light technique, Takumi's body was hidden away from the vision of Mayuri, who smirked.

"_Simple Kido, so he wants me to be baited. Alright then boy, have this._"

Mayuri took out what seemed to be missiles, and pressed a few buttons on a controller he had. The missiles fired off from different locations, trying to throw off the location of where Mayuri actually was, and had the area look like ground zero from how many explosions were going off.

Mayuri wasn't fooled, he knew that wasn't going to take out Takumi, so he flicked what seemed to be some liquid in a tube, which was released into the air, and went around the area, seemingly being attracted to something, following it towards the desired location.

"_With that bacteria designed to follow after electrical signatures, this will soon find that damn boy, and when I do, he'll be skewered, and he'll be killed out of this world. Sorry who want this boy alive, I simply can't let him live. That damn Urahara, and his brat Urahara kid, they both deserve to die._"

Mayuri watched as the bacteria headed for the far right hand side, which made Mayuri smirk, and bring out what seems to be a new drug, which Mayuri threw at the desired location.

"What's going on?!"

Mayuri grinned devilishly at the voice, and charged forward, his blade being withdrawn, cutting through the smoke, and pierced what seemed to be Takumi's form.

"Hahaha! Do you like my nerve freezing agent!? You wont be able to move now boy! You're..." As the smoke cleared, he realized that it wasn't Takumi, it wasn't even a Gigai, it was electricity shaped in his form. "No, it can't be! You couldn't have set that up so quickly!"

Mayuri seemed to be in a daze.

He could hardly believe what was happening.

It seemed insane to someone like him.

But he didn't know where Takumi was, if this lightning clone thing was left in his place.

"What do you think I've been doing the whole time you've been following me asshole?!"

Takumi appeared up above, and swung down his blade, releasing a large bolt of electricity for Mayuri's form. Mayuri's eyes narrowed, but then he smirked, bringing out what seems to be some kind of drug once more.

"And do you think I've not prepared for you, boy?" He threw the drug above him, which seemed to block off the electricity all together, absorbing it into the liquid. "I know all about your electrical attacks, I have planned for your lightning based abilities. So don't even try and do that with me you neophyte! Shall I tell you what a neophyte actually is boy?!"

"I already know what a neophyte is. Shall I tell you what a sadist is? Because that's what you are. Also, you're arrogant. You say you've prepared for me, but I'm not going to just sit back, and watch my demise."

Mayuri began laughing as if he had found this to be a funny joke.

"Alright boy, don't try and think you're better than I am."

"I never said anything like that. But I think that you have a major superiority complex."

Mayuri pulled closer, so Takumi began moving backwards.

"Afraid of me?"

"Not of you, you messed up clown creature."

Mayuri pondered being called a clown creature, and found it rather amusing.

"Funny, I can't remember you being this funny. But that doesn't matter. What does is, aren't you curious about how I was able to find you?"

Takumi showed a sly smile on his face, showing that he wasn't afraid at all.

"I'd guess a few ways you could have found me. You probably realized the Gigai I had only had a limited signal range, so I couldn't of been all the way back at the gates and sent it off towards that location. So you already had a range limit in mind, then either you heard the screams of others, or you managed to track down my residual energy left behind from when I used Flash Step a few times. How am I? In the ball park?"

Mayuri, rather than be surprised, he began laughing.

"Hahaha, you're right! But even if you knew that, then why would you...unless you were wanting to lure me in, is that it boy?" Takumi shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I can't be surprised to say the least. It would be something you'd do. Though I do hate you, I have to admit that you aren't an idiot unlike the majority of people around here. Though I'm clearly superior in every way."

Takumi rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe someone could be so arrogant.

"Heh, you like hearing yourself speak all the damn time, don't you?"

Mayuri's eyes grew more and more with his anger.

"You dare..."

Takumi rolled his eyes, and pulled his sword backwards.

"I dare alright. I know what you are. You can't even be called a Shinigami with what you do to people."

Mayuri released a loud chortle that even made the most hardened people be frightened. Though Takumi didn't seem to be all that worried. In fact, he seemed to wish to take on Mayuri himself.

"Does it matter?! The intelligent thrive, and the idiots fall! It is the basics when it comes to how the world works! You don't see idiots like Kenpachi Zaraki running the Seireitei! Though Yamamoto isn't much better, he's completely stupid in the ways that he acts, and reacts. He is a senile old man that's on his last legs!"

"Do you just disrespect everyone around you?"

Takumi had to question that.

He wasn't even respecting his Captain Commander.

He knew that disagreeing could happen, but someone of such status, he thought that he was being very rude to Yamamoto when Takumi, while not agreeing with everything that Yamamoto was saying, could see that he had earned his place, so he respected that title.

"I respect the intelligent, the people that actually have a standing in this world. Not the weak minded fools that this world seems to love dishing out. But enough of that now, if you're good, I'll keep you alive for...lets say twenty minutes? I do love playing with my new experiments!"

Takumi held a hand to his sword as Mayuri held his own blade.

He raised it to his chin, pressing his chin against the blade, and showed a dirty grin on his face.

"Now, it's time to activate my-"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kenpachi came bursting through the wall, swinging his blade for Takumi, who grimaces, jumping backwards avoiding the heavy blade which dug into the ground all together, slicing it up, while Yachiru appears on Kenpachi's back.

"Yahoooooooooooo! Well done Ken-chan! That was amazing!"

Kenpachi's lone eye gleamed as he looked towards Takumi. Takumi almost froze under the eye of Kenpachi, who seemed to be ready to fight there and then. Though Takumi briefly wondered how Kenpachi had found him, he guessed it was because of the explosions that Mayuri had set off, which lured Kenpachi to that location.

"There you are..."

"H-Hey Kenpachi-san, what's going on?"

Takumi chuckled nervously.

He only had one Captain before.

But now that there were two Captain's stood around him, he did feel afraid.

"You know what I want. So take out your sword, and lets fight right now."

Takumi gave an awkward smile on his face.

He wasn't exactly thrilled about fighting Kenpachi at that moment in time.

"W-Well you see, that's not really something that we could do right now Kenpachi-san...perhaps, if you help me, I'll fight you-"

"No, we need to fight immediately."

Takumi cringed at the words that he had used.

"But, Kenpachi-san, be reasonable."

"No, lets fight right now."

Mayuri looked increasingly pissed off as Takumi stood between them at the same time.

Looking at the eyes before him, Takumi could see that the pair were getting ridiculously angry.

That's when Mayuri exploded upon Kenpachi with his angry expression that went on for miles.

"Oi! Zaraki! Don't start this shit again!"

Mayuri complained while Takumi glanced at the Captain with a crazy appearance.

"Kurotsuchi, you are becoming increasingly annoying! Why do you keep getting in my way?!"

"Tch, for an arrogant fool such as yourself, you should know the reason why, so don't get in my way, and piss me off either. Now leave, this is a battle of the minds, something that you couldn't hope to become apart of, understand that?"

Kenpachi became ticked off, and squared up to Mayuri who did the same.

The pressure around them grew intense while Takumi stared between them.

But then he felt something hop onto his shoulder, and looked to see that it was Yachiru, perching herself on his shoulder.

"Hey there!"

Takumi gave a soft smile.

"Hey yourself, it's nice to meet you."

Takumi replied warmly, as Kenpachi yelled "Bastard!" at Mayuri, while Mayuri called him "Imbecile!" while continuing their argument. It looked like they were going to come to blows, and Takumi hoped that Kenpachi was going to beat Mayuri as out of the two of them, he liked Kenpachi marginally better.

"So, are you going to fight Ken-chan soon? Please say yes, Ken-chan really wishes to do battle with you!"

"Aah...well, that's a hard question to answer. I need to do something's before I fight...Kenpachi-san."

Yachiru becomes excited, pulls closer to Takumi's face, and gives a childishly big grin.

"Really?! You'll really fight with Ken-chan?! He's super excited! He hasn't talked about anything other than his fight with you Taku!"

"Taku...seems a lot of people call me that. Heeeeh, say...erm, pink haired girl, you wouldn't know where Shunsui Kyoraku-sans location would be, would you?"

Yachiru tilted her head.

"Hmmm? Why do you want to go there?"

"Because...I wish to ask him a few questions and have some allies. Some friends."

"Ooh! Become Ken-chan's friend! Ken-chan likes strong people!"

Takumi didn't know if that was a good, or bad thing at all.

"Y-Yeah, that sounds great...but I still need to do a few things, and your Captain seems super strong. I don't want to let him down."

"Ooh he's the strongest ever! And don't be silly Taku! You wouldn't let him down!"

Takumi chuckled awkwardly, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do…

But then an explosion happened behind him, startling not only him, but the others that are around.

His eyes turned back to see in the sky, a bright flash had appeared, and scorched the sky with a brilliant light, and if Takumi was right...then help had arrived.

* * *

As that was happening, in mid-air just outside of the Seireitei, Karin and the others sailed rather fast towards the Seireitei, and could see the beautiful city as it was, and comparing it to the Rukongai, it wasn't even a contest.

"For a city that's supposed to be corrupt, it's really beautiful."

Yuzu's comment made Giselle give a weird smile.

"I know what you mean, it's quite nice. But don't forget, we're supposed to be storming this place...ugh, I feel as if we're going to be dealing with something scary rather soon...ooh! Maybe we're going to see a Captain!"

"Don't joke about it, it might happen."

Karin said it while hoping that they didn't come across any Captains anytime soon.

She also wondered what was happening with Takumi right now.

If he was fighting or if he was doing something else entirely.

Ganju pulls out what seems to be some parchment, and overlooks it as quickly as he could.

"Alright then, I'm going to start the second part. Everyone, adjust your spiritual energies to match my own."

They began doing just that, while Karin was having some trouble. Since she had so much energy, she couldn't keep it as low as that so easily.

"Karin, try and keep your power lower. I can't match that level of energy."

Yuzu expressed while Orihime nodded.

"It's too strong. Karin-chan, please keep trying."

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

Karin complained, exhaling but because she was so strong, she wasn't able to fully match the power that Ganju was using. They also became closer towards the large barrier before them, Giselle giggled out awkwardly.

"Maybe we should have sorted this out before we set off on how to balance out our powers."

"You be quiet! I didn't know that this was going to happen! I'm not used to lowering my power to match Ganju's!"

"Are you saying I'm weak?!"

Karin wondered how she was going to word her next sentence, as they clashed into the barrier that was surrounding the Seireitei. And as soon as they hit the barrier, their bodies float around in the air, a vortex beginning to surround their bodies, Yoruichi grimaced before looking to the others.

"Ooh no, because we couldn't match it...we have to stay together! Everyone, grab the person nearest to you!"

Immediately, Karin grabbed Yuzu, and holds onto her tightly.

"Are you alright Yuzu? I've got you."

"Y-Yeah, I'm good, thank you Karin!"

Yoruichi landed on Orihime's shoulder who smiles awkwardly towards her.

"I'll just sit here if it is all the same."

"Of course!"

Ganju's body began floating away from them, and he let out a cry.

"Oh no! No! No! No! No! No!"

Because of the whirlwind being whipped up around them, Ganju's body was being blown away.

"Hehe, seems like he's going along~ Well, I'll get him~"

Giselle begins moving forward, Orihime's eyes widening.

"Wait Giselle-san, it's too dangerous!"

"But, I'm more likely to survive on my own than Ganju is." Ganju looked offended. "No offence Ganju, but we're...yeah, sorry about that. If you want additional power, I'll Zombie you."

"I don't know what that means, but I'm scared!"

"It's nothing to be scared of, it will make you apart of the Zombie family. Together, forever~"

Ganju began crying at the thoughts of being a Zombie and how that was going to affect him mentally.

But Giselle didn't seem to care, and winked.

"It's going to be awesome, can't you tell~?"

Ganju put a hand to his mouth, and continued crying, knowing that something was wrong with Giselle.

Giselle swims forward, and grabs onto his body. Ganju freaks out, as she throws him towards Karin and the others, but she herself is pulled backwards away from the others, Yuzu looked on with a very worried expression on her face, before all of them are separated because of the high density winds around them.

* * *

Seeing the explosion in the sky, Nemu who walked along with Hanataro, pondered what was happening and where they should go towards.

Knowing that it probably was Karin and the rest, Nemu's eyes drifted towards the nervous looking Hanataro.

"L-Lieutenant, what do you think that explosion was in the sky?"

"I suspect that it will be the Ryoka."

Hanataro's eyes widened with worry.

"T-The Ryoka?! But that will be dangerous, right!?"

"Yes, it will be dangerous for them if we do not make a move soon. Now, that they have arrived, Takumi Urahara shall be revealing himself rather soon, so we should also begin making our moves. But, which one should we be going towards?"

"I-I don't know, but this is rather worrying!"

Nemu glanced at the boy who seemed to be showcasing a worrying expression on his face.

"Let us go immediately..." Nemu paused however when she felt something happening. "...Actually, maybe we should go somewhere else instead..."

"H-Have you felt something?"

Nemu didn't know how to reply to that.

She wasn't sure what she was feeling.

All she did know was that she'd have to do something.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rukia sits alone within her cell, looking through the window which seemed so small to her.

She felt as if something was happening.

Something that she couldn't control.

Peering at the sky, she saw a flash of light, and it looked as if it had opened to her.

"What the hell…?"

Rukia pondered what was happening right now.

It didn't make sense as to what was going on.

"Is that Takumi…? Or is it something else? I wish I could sense what was happening beyond these walls...I just can't seem to think straight right now...Takumi, or whoever that is, please make sure that you're safe."

Rukia prayed that would be the case.

She didn't want anyone to die because of her.

But that was becoming a serious problem that they would be doing something like that.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi watched on as the others seemed dumbfounded by what was happening. He saw that the explosion had split off in different directions, and different energy signatures were going in the different directions.

Takumi knew that his friends might have been split up, and he worried that one of them was on their own, and if that was Orihime or Yuzu, then they would be in trouble on their own.

He believed Karin, Yoruichi, and Giselle could handle themselves against most threats, and Yuzu certainly could take Seated Officers he believed, even Orihime could, but if they came up against a Lieutenant or worse, a Captain, then they were going to be in danger, and he couldn't have that happen, he had to protect them somehow.

But he didn't know how he was going to do that with two Captains right beside him.

"_These Captain's are dangerous, but there are other Captains out there. I need to make sure that the girls are protected. Especially the likes of Orihime-chan and Yuzu-chan. But, if these guys follow me...no, I have to take the chance to protect the girls just in case. Though Karin if she's separate from Yuzu, she's going to follow after her sister no matter what. So Orihime-chan might be in danger...damn it, I'll have to make a break for it before these two can get me into a drawn fight..._" His eyes looked to the Captains who seemed to be looking at the sky, one with intrigue but also a psychotic expression in his eyes, and the other with a battle crazy grin across his scarred face. "_Though it seems that they are preoccupied with what's happened to pay attention to me, which I'm glad for._"

Mayuri and Kenpachi continued to stare at the explosion in the sky, and both had some...interesting reactions to the explosion.

"What the hell is that? Something for me to experiment on? Hmmm, I hope they aren't weaklings that die from a single experimentation."

"I don't care, can it be strong fighters?"

"Is that all you ever think about?"

Mayuri dead panned Kenpachi who scowled towards him.

"I've had just about enough of you. Do you want to fight me? Or are you going to hide in your lab like always?"

Mayuri developed a tick mark above his head.

"You dare say that to me?! Who do you think you are you maggot?! I could take you any day of the week! You are a brute who relies on pure power! People with intellect can actually battle with the minds, don't you understand that you oaf!?"

Kenpachi truly didn't like Mayuri.

And for good reason.

Takumi thought that while they were fighting, he would take off.

But as he tried running, Yachiru clung to his back.

"L-Let go please."

He whispered so the other Captains didn't hear.

"Nope, I have to make sure you fight Ken-chan. If I'm with you, Ken-chan will find us again after he's killed clowny back there."

Takumi thought 'clowny' fit Mayuri quite well with how eccentric he dressed.

"E-Even then, I have to go now..."

"Then I have to go with you Taku! Lets keep going forward!"

"But, wont your Captain be worried if you go off on your own?"

"Naaaaah, I'm with his enemy and future best friend!"

Takumi gave her a quizzing look, but continued running after the area that he thought Orihime would be.

"Okay, so I guess we'll be partners for a little while."

"Yup, so go that way!"

Yachiru points left, but Takumi points right.

"I'm pretty sure it is that way though."

"But, I know it is this way!"

Takumi could see the young girls determination, so he sighed.

"You seem to know the area better than I do."

"Yup, yup! Trust me, I know a short cut!"

"I hope so..."

Takumi was led in the direction that Yachiru was giving him, and hoped that it would be the right way.

Kenpachi and Mayuri continued to throw their insults with one another, but as they were…

Kenpachi was the first to notice that Takumi wasn't there.

"Crap, he's disappeared. Look what you've down now you messed up clown!"

"Don't put this on me! If you had just left us alone, I'd be fighting him and killing him as we speak!"

"As if I would, he's my prey, and I wont give him up to someone like you!"

The Captains had another stare off, glaring and raising their powers as high as they could do.

* * *

Giselle came sailing down to the ground, and used her Quincy powers to form an arrow, and shoot it off, allowing her to ride onto it, using her abilities to change the direction of the arrow, so it would sail down to the ground, at a good pace, allowing her to land perfectly.

"Ta-da!" Giselle bowed her head, seeing that there were a number of Shinigami stationed around her. "Oh my, it seems that we've come face to face with the evil ones~"

"W-Wait, who the hell are you?!"

One Shinigami snapped at Giselle who remained calm, twirling her hair around.

"I don't know about that. But, please don't attack me, I wont be able to take it!"

Giselle freaked out, scrunching her hands together adorably.

The Shinigami around her were perplexed.

She didn't want to get attacked?

It seemed obvious.

But why was she acting strange?

That's what they didn't know.

"Heh, this is a Ryoka! We should take her down now! We could get rewards!"

Giselle watched as the Shinigami charged for her, and slashed at her, cutting her arm, which released some blood from her body. The blood splattered across the man's face, which began making his eyes twist around in a very weird manner.

"Ooh, you cut me, I'm bleeding. What am I going to do about that now~?"

Giselle pondered playfully as the other Shinigami watched the blood that hit the Shinigami began to change him. His eyes whitened out, and his body slunk down, hunching over as if he was about to fall down to his feet.

"H-Hey man, are you okay?"

One of the comrades of the Shinigami asked him, only for his eyes to turn back, his face looked docile, but he was growling, and his whitened out eyes looked so terrifying that the Shinigami jumped back.

"W-What the hell?!"

"Did she do something to him?!"

"I-I'm scared! Keep her away!"

Giselle watched as the Shinigami's began moving backwards, Giselle showed a disturbing smile that could frighten most, and muttered "Who wants to become my Zombie?" before pulling forward with her wicked smile being shown brightly.

* * *

Orihime and Yoruichi had managed to land on the ground safely.

Orihime used her Santen Kesshun ability to stop the impact of the ground hurting her, and sat down on the ground, looking left and right, seeing small storage areas.

"Ooh my, we've been separated from everyone Yoruichi-san. What are we going to do?"

"Yes, that's quite the conundrum. We should search for our allies. But it is going to be difficult with all the Shinigami now going to be on high alert for us specifically. Even then, I think we should hide for the moment, gain our bearings before going back out there and trying to find our comrades."

Orihime nodded slowly, but her eyes seemed to be distant.

"Taku-chan...everyone, be safe."

"Don't worry, they're resourceful people, they can survive until we find them."

Orihime knew that Yoruichi was speaking the truth.

But it didn't make her feel any better about being separate from the others, and wished them luck before taking off with Yoruichi.

* * *

In the meantime, Karin, Yuzu and Ganju plummeted down to the ground, while screaming about what was going to happen.

"Ooh God, how are we going to stop our fall huh?!"

Karin yelled while Yuzu grimaced.

"I don't know Karin! Can't you do that net Kido technique that you Shinigami have?!"

Karin showed an uneven smile on her face.

"Y-Yeah, I'm not so good with Kido, so I don't know how to deal with that yet..."

"B-But, what are we going to do?!"

Yuzu cried out, as Ganju, wanting to do something, so he swung his palm in a circular motion, and thrusted his hand down to the ground as they came closer and closer to the ground, yelling "Turn to sand, Seppa!" which released red energy, and turned the ground below them into a sandpit, saving them from terrible damage.

Yuzu comes out of the sand first, coughing from the sand that she had been thrusted into.

"*Cough* *Cough* T-That was rough..."

Karin popped her head out of the sand, her eyes heading for Yuzu who gave a soft smile.

"You okay Yuzu?"

Yuzu scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"Hehe, I think I'm okay...wow, it really saved us. Thank you Ganju-san..." She looked around, but couldn't see Ganju. "G-Ganju-san?"

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

She heard a moaning coming from underneath her, so she moved backwards, then Ganju came shooting out of the sand, coughing violently.

"Ooh, are you okay?"

Yuzu gently asked, only for Ganju to turn to her with anger.

"Hey! You almost drowned me! What is it with you people and stepping on me like that?!"

"I-I didn't mean too..."

"Don't you yell at her!"

Karin snapped at Ganju who grimaced.

"A-Ah, sorry didn't mean to yell. Almost drowned in sand, that's not so bad I guess..."

Karin rolled her eyes, pulling her body out of the sandpit, looking around the area, the street that they had landed on.

"Great, though we managed to land, we don't know where the others are. We'll have to meet up with them."

"This wasn't in our plans, huh Karin."

Karin nodded at Yuzu.

"Right...well, either way..." Karin, Yuzu and Ganju felt chills going down their spines, looking up the wall nearby, and saw three Shinigami stood there. "...I guess that we wont have a chance to search for anyone."

Yuzu pulled backwards, getting out of the sand as did Ganju.

"Karin...there's three of them, and their spiritual pressure is strong..."

The three that appeared before them, was Nanao, Ikkaku and finally, it was Yumichika. Ikkaku steps forward with a blood thirsty grin on his face, his eyes landing on the young woman before, Karin, and grinned even more.

"So, our opponents are girls, and a guy huh? Heeeh, it feels like the girls are stronger than the guy though."

"Hey! I resent that!"

Ganju complains while Karin murmured "It's true though." before touching her sword.

"Look, we don't want to fight, but we will if we have to."

"That's too bad because we do want to fight."

Karin didn't want it, but she knew, and the others did too, that they would have to battle this enemy before them. They would have to fight, and win their matches against these strong Shinigami that were before them.

* * *

Yachiru ended up taking Takumi somewhere else. He went through some man made tunnels, he guessed that Yachiru probably had made them. He also was slightly curious about why she seemed okay to help him out like this, though he took a guess it was because of her Captain and him fighting at some point.

"So, where are you taking me anyway Yachiru-san?"

"Follow me! These tunnels come out right where we need to go!"

"I hope so..."

He murmurs while Takumi was led by Yachiru continued leading Takumi somewhere. He hoped that she'd take him somewhere nice, but knowing his luck, he was going to end up somewhere that he didn't like at all.

Yachiru made it to a wooden door, opening it and stepped into a rather fancy looking corridor.

"Here we are! Bya-kun's house!"

"Bya….a-as in Byakuya!?"

Yachiru threw her hands up happily.

"Yup! This is his house!"

"You took me to his house!? W-Why?!"

"Because you want to get closer to the explosions! We are super close now! Follow me!"

Takumi grimaced, and quickly sensed around him...but couldn't find anyone nearby. He didn't feel any strong spiritual pressures, that he would have some trouble with anyway.

Yachiru then grabbed Takumi's hand, and began leading him away.

However, while walking down the fancy corridors, he caught the sight of a picture...and the girl looked like Rukia. It looked like a shrine to Rukia, while Yachiru pulled Takumi's hand even more.

"Come on Taku!"

"Y-Yeah...but, that picture. It's Rukia-chan, right?"

"No, that's not Rukia Kuchiki!"

Takumi gave Yachiru a strange look.

"But, it looks like her...erm, so if it isn't Rukia-chan, who is it?"

Yachiru went to answer, when they heard noises coming from behind them,

"No time, lets go!"

Takumi agreed with Yachiru, grabbing her, and threw her on his shoulder. He dashed through the corridors, and saw how fancy it truly was, Takumi thought "_Damn, he lives in style, as expected of a noble._" but something else came to him.

Something about this place seemed…

Familiar.

He seemed to recognize some of the more noticeable things that couldn't have been changed.

When shooting outside, he saw that there was seemingly a river flowing through the courtyard before him, and some fish were swimming through the water around. Yachiru's eyes widened happily, and dragged Takumi over to the large body of water.

"See these Taku? I set them free sometimes!"

"That's...erm, sweet...I think?"

Takumi pondered that since it seemed to be Byakuya's personal fish, and if she did 'free' them then that meant she stole them from Byakuya, and if he saw it, he'd probably have to stop her as while Byakuya wasn't his favourite person in the world, he didn't think that Yachiru should steal from him.

But then Takumi's eyes shot left, having felt a pressure.

He was surprised, he didn't think that Yachiru would actually get him this close.

But she did, and he mentally thanked her.

"Orihime-chan...she's close."

"Hmmm? Did you say something Taku?"

Takumi grabbed Yachiru and threw her on his back.

"Come on, we're leaving!"

"Awwww! But I wanted to play with the fishy some more!"

"We can play later! Remember, I have to fight Kenpachi-san!"

"Ooh yeah! Then lets get going!"

Takumi rushed forward out of the gates, or that was his plan when a bunch of guards appeared.

"Thinking you can invade the Soul Society!"

"More importantly, the Kuchiki residence!"

"That warrants death!"

The guards withdrew their blades, but Takumi could feel that they didn't have spiritual powers that even met Orihime's own, so he pulled out his blade, and murmured "Sorry about this." and did the technique that Gin did to the other when they first met, increasing his spiritual pressure, which began to overtake the guards bodies.

Chills ran down their spines, their eyes began to water, and foam formed at their mouths, collapsing down to the ground, falling to their knees, and some fell flat on their faces.

Because of Takumi's spiritual pressure, they couldn't take it, and fell unconscious because of the intense pressure Takumi was releasing. Yachiru seemed to be quite fine, she was swaying side to side on Takumi's back.

"Wow Taku! You knocked them out! Ken-chan is going to like that!"

Takumi gave a timid expression, he didn't want to deal with Kenpachi.

"That's...wonderful. Now we should be going."

Takumi pushed open the gates, and ran forward at high speeds. Takumi dashed through the streets, sensing Orihime's pressure, and also sensed Yoruichi's pressure with her, so she was glad about that at least.

However, as he made it closer, and closer, coming out into a big wide space, with some white stairs before them, Takumi could feel Orihime's pressure a bit further up the stairs, but when he tried getting closer, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blade heading for him, so he took out his sword, and clashed with the blade, sparks going off between their blades, before Takumi pushed it back, taking a stance with Yachiru sitting on his shoulder.

"My, it's Red Monkey! Hi Red Monkey!"

The one who appeared was Renji, who looked on baffled that Yachiru was sat on Takumi's shoulder, waving towards him.

"L-Lieutenant Kusajishi, w-what are you doing here?!"

"I'm here for Ken-chan! He is going to fight Taku here, so I have to make sure Taku doesn't die until then!"

"I-I see..." His eyes went towards Takumi who narrowed his eyes. "So, you did come to the Soul Society."

"I did yeah, I'm intending to rescue Rukia-chan."

Renji placed a hand on his own sword.

"You think that you can do it?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to try at least. So, what are you going to do exactly? Are you going to stop me?"

Renji clutched his sword tightly.

"If you are delivered to the Central 46, then Rukia could be rescued, right?"

"I don't know."

Takumi didn't deny or confirm it.

He genuinely didn't have the answer.

"What do you mean, you don't know?! You have to know! This is because of you in the first place! If you didn't...then Rukia wouldn't be in this situation! I have to take you back, and they'll let her go! That's all I can do!"

Takumi knew now that Renji was going through something.

His head was muddled, he wasn't able to think clearly.

He didn't know what he could do to lend assistance.

He didn't even think he'd be able to help out at all.

"I don't have any answers to the questions inside of you. Even during the first time I saw you, it seemed like you were torn about taking Rukia-chan, and I get it, you're a Shinigami, and you don't want to defy Soul Society. But I am also sorry that if you get in my way, then I'll have to become serious in fighting you Renji."

Renji narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"Is that so? Last time in the human world, my powers were restricted. This time, I wont falter, and will fight you, and bring you back to the Captains, and Central 46!"

Takumi took Yachiru, placing her down onto the ground.

"Yachiru-san, step back, okay? I don't want you to become hurt."

"Okay! Get him Taku! Don't lose until you fight Ken-chan!"

Takumi chuckled lightly.

"Right, don't worry I don't intend to lose here." Takumi swung his blade forward, and pointed it at Renji. "Sorry Renji, I will have to go through you to save Rukia-chan. You might think taking me in will save her, but I'm almost positive that it wouldn't do anything to help Rukia-chan at all. In fact, I think that it would make it worse."

Renji didn't quite know what he meant.

But he had to do something to save Rukia, and this was the only way that he could do.

He had to bring Takumi in so he could save Rukia, no matter what.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So we've gotten into the thick of things now! Takumi's been confronted by Mayuri, and Kenpachi, narrowly managing to get away from them, with Yachiru tagging along so Takumi would fight Kenpachi after doing what he was doing. At the same time, it seems that Shunsui has sent Nanao to do something for him, we'll learn more about that rather soon. Speaking of Nanao, she, along with Ikakku, and Yumichika, have confronted Karin, Yuzu, and Ganju, so they're going to have a battle with one another, as is Renji who's confronted Takumi, believing that bringing him in is what is going to save Rukia.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	20. The Shinigami's Confrontation!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, it's gonna be quite something. He'll do a variation of the dance. Nanao is gonna fight, she wont bring that out yet, but she will use it more than that one fight she had with it in canon, and yeah I liked her Zanpakuto as well. Yup, Takumi vs Renji's gonna be quite the fight! Haha, Giselle's on the hunt for more Zombies for her army~ Soi Fon vs Giselle would be quite an interesting fight. I could see Yachiru doing that.**

**Derek 23; I'll try my best!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He surely can't no, he's going through quite a bit it seems. Yeah, he gets the insane Captains after him. Yachiru's along for the ride for a little while, she'll be helping in her own way. But yeah, now Takumi's gotta fight off Renji. Karin saw the chance, and she had to take it. I could see Karin doing that.**

**Skull Flame; It surely is yeah, quite explosive. She is yeah, Nemu's beginning to see herself as a person and not merely as Mayuri's tool. It was more like he didn't care for Mayuri trying to take a fight away from him as he wished to fight against Takumi, and Mayuri being Mayuri likes bringing people down. That's Yachiru for you, she says weird stuff. She's just making sure that Kenpachi fights him, and she's curious herself about how strong he is. We'll find out the matches in this chapter.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, around that age, Takumi might look young for his age. He at least did missions with Kyoraku, if he was actually apart of Squad 8 will be revealed eventually. He did yeah, Renji's gonna be going through some stuff. It's always fun when Kenpachi, and Yachiru are around. Nanao and Kyoraku are on his side it seems. Nemu's recruiting! He could yeah, he's been trained by Kisuke and Yoruichi so he's able to pick up small clues like that. They have seen her in the training chapter in her normal form. Nanao's glare can even silence Squad 11's more rambunctious members. He was yeah, Mayuri just doesn't care about things like that here. He wasn't really afraid, he was more concerned about fighting two powerful Captains. Yachiru's quite the fun character huh~? Giselle just deadpans it and yet still makes it goofy. Giselle's got her army going on. We'll see how the fights get on yeah~ She did yeah, Yachiru's using her tunnels to help out Takumi, and yeah eventually he would have, he just didn't have much time to look. We'll see what happens in their fight. He might do yeah. I guess there could be. Either that or retired or something. At least we know the name of Isane's Shikai, that's more than can be said for Iba. They'll meet eventually. Kinhime will yeah. That would be some funny scenes. Yeah, they talk off screen. We could do, she might use it in this arc, who knows~? I do have plans for that, if Orihime is or isn't captured, I do have some ideas for that. He could do yeah, sounds great to me! Yeah he could have a hand in making them. That would be funny. Yeah he could do something like restore Seizo's powers with work. Yeah, I could see that happening with Takumi. Yeah, during the Quincy war Takumi's got things to do! It would be funny if they fought about who could fight Takumi first. Yeah, it would be sweet if he gave something like that to Aura. That would be a cool scene huh~?**

**Andrew123456; To be honest, I haven't watched it.**

**Unzueta; He'd be quite a good opponent for Karin to fight, and yeah I'd consider him as one of the stronger Lieutenant's.**

**a fan; I haven't played that game in years, so I'd have to go back and play it before I said yes or no.**

**Terrariuz; Thanks very much! Nemu's beginning to see that she deserves more than what she receives from Mayuri. Giselle can be freaky, but she's fun and lovable in a certain kind of way. Yup, Takumi vs Renji happens in this chapter! Oh yeah, it would be a mix between excited and scary for those two to meet. Isane would be pretty cool, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Absolute Mirage; Hello! Yeah, still producing stories haha. Giselle is quite the character, and she'll be doing a number of things this chapter. Thank you very much!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The Shinigami's Confrontation!**

_When he found the time to do so, Takumi had visited Rukia, and Renji within the Rukongai._

_They honestly didn't know when he found the time to do so. He always seemed to be so busy, yet he managed to come and see them often, and he'd always give them tips about becoming a Shinigami, and how to wield a sword, and how to use Kido._

_Renji, eager eyed, and bright eyed, leaned forward._

"_Hey Sensei! I can do it! Like this!" Renji placed his hands outwards, and began gathering red energy in his palm. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"_

_He attempted to use a Shakkaho, but it exploded right in his face, covering his face in dirt, which made Rukia begin to laugh a little bit._

"_Geez Renji, was that supposed to be Kido?"_

"_H-Hey! I tried my best alright?! It isn't my fault the damn Kido didn't work that way!"_

"_You should have said the entire incantation." Takumi spoke up, lifting up his finger. "You see, it allows you to channel your power, and shape it. As you grow, you'll be able to use Kido a bit better. It can be unpredictable tough." Takumi's hand went left, and summoned his power. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"_

_From his hand, a red energy blast erupted forward, the sphere slamming against a nearby target, and destroyed it by hitting it head on. Rukia and Renji were both in awe at seeing Takumi do something like that._

"_W-Whoa, it's amazing that you can do that."_

_Rukia complimented, but Takumi waved his hand side to side._

"_Not really, I just trained hard to achieve it. My friend Nanao-chan is better at Kido than I am, and she's around my age." His eyes went towards Rukia, and gave her head a pet. "But you Rukia-chan, you seem to have a fine control over your spiritual powers."_

"_I've just been practicing."_

_Renji seemed to be downtrodden about what was being said, so Takumi turned towards him kindly._

"_And you Renji, your skills at using a blade are quite fantastic. By the time you enter the academy, you'll be quite strong, you know? I'm sure you'll be one of the most skilled swordsman in the academy."_

_Renji smiled at the praise._

"_Hey, Sensei."_

"_Yes?"_

_Renji gave a childlike grin._

"_You'll...be there to welcome us to the Seireitei when we become Shinigami, right? Because I want to fight you to become even stronger!"_

"_Hmmmm, then I can hardly wait Renji, become strong so we can have an amazing fight!"_

_Renji gave a beaming smile, as Rukia let out small laughs._

_It did seem like those times, could last forever..._

* * *

Rukia's eyes shot open, placing a hand to her forehead.

"A dream..."

She recalled what had just happened, within her dream.

Remembering her time with Takumi, and the others.

"These clashes..."

She murmured to herself, going towards the window and looked out.

She hadn't been asleep long.

She couldn't sleep long.

Because she had been up all night worrying about what was happening with Takumi, she stayed awake until she had to sleep, but now that she was awake, she could feel clashes of spiritual power within the city down below.

She knew one of them was Takumi.

She just felt it.

She couldn't pinpoint which one it was, but she definitely knew that they were having a fight down there.

She also sensed Renji's spiritual energy.

The tower she was in mostly cut off spiritual pressure, so she found it rather difficult for her to feel it.

But, she knew it was happening, and wondered how it came to be that they were fighting one another.

"_Takumi...the first time I met you...even back then, you were quite odd. And now...you're fighting to rescue me...you must be insane. Whatever happens...please just stay alive. Don't die Takumi...Renji...please just...don't do anything foolish, please Renji..._"

Rukia couldn't do anything as she was.

However, it didn't stop her from worrying about the situations that were happening down below.

All she could do now was wait for the spiritual energies clashing to cease, and then hopefully, she'd be able to finally understand what was happening.

* * *

Karin, Yuzu, and Ganju looked on as the three Shinigami came surrounding them. With Nanao, Ikkaku, and Yumichika being there, Karin knew that they were in a bind, and the fight itself wasn't going to be easy.

Karin withdrew her sword first, aiming it at the enemies before them, while Yuzu revealed her Quincy bow. Ganju's hands shook while placing a hand on his forehead.

"H-Hey girls, I don't want to be a let down, but how are we going to fight all three of them off at once?"

"We're not."

Karin replied, to the confusion of Ganju.

"What do you mean?"

Karin let out a small breath, she didn't like how she had to explain this to Ganju.

"I mean, we're splitting them up to take them down on our own. And whoever finishes first, will go and help out the others."

"What kind of crazy plan is that?!"

Ganju snapped at Karin who held a tick mark by her forehead, while the Shinigami watched curiously, Yuzu gave an awkward laugh, she really didn't want to be involved in the arguments between Karin and Ganju.

"What did you just say?"

"Your plan! It makes no sense!"

Karin exhaled deeply.

"Yes it does, and here's way-"

"I'm not crazy strong like you guys! What do you think this 'plan' of yours is actually going to accomplish?! Your plan isn't going to work!"

"Yes it will Ganju! They know one another more than we do, they might have team work that can beat us! By splitting them up, we can make sure at least that the battle is even between us, and we only have to deal with a single enemy in front of us! It is basics in strategic planning of fights!"

Ganju looked surprised that Karin had yelled at him like that, and felt worry coming over his form.

Yuzu placed a hand on her forehead, while Nanao gave them curious looks.

"So, does this happen a lot?"

Nanao asked Yuzu who gave an uneven chuckle.

"I...I'm...I'm kind of worried for their mental health at this point. They seem to fight and make up rather quickly, it's rather unhealthy."

Nanao sweat drops while Ganju gets in Karin's face.

"I'm starting to think you don't know what you're doing!"

"Of course I know what I'm doing! I'm the leader according to Jidanbo!"

"That doesn't mean a thing! If we split up, because unlike you girls, I might die!"

"That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make for the greater good!"

Ganju backed away with a cry while Yuzu berated Karin.

"Karin, that's not nice."

"S-Sorry, sometimes I get too heated, I don't want you to get hurt Ganju, really."

Karin bowed her head apologetically, while Ganju nodded again and again.

"So, which one of you beautiful girls are going to be my opponent?"

Yumichika gave a flamboyant flick of his hair, while Karin let out a sigh.

"Alright, which one of you is the weakest?"

Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Nanao looked between them with confusion.

"Eh...why does that matter?"

Nanao dared to question what was happening.

Karin gave a strong look.

"Because whoever is, is Ganju's opponent."

"Hey!"

Ganju yelled, Karin cocked her head towards him.

"You said that you could die, I'm helping you out here by pitting you against the weakest. I'm not being mean, I'm being tactile right now. The strongest of our group, fight against the strongest of their group, and so on and so forth. We have to think about match ups Ganju."

Ganju huffed while Nanao exhaled deeply.

"Yumichika, you're the lowest rank here, so you shall be this man's opponent."

"But, he's so ugly! I don't want to deal with him!"

Yumichika complained while Ganju's eyes widened angrily.

"What is this?! Pick on Ganju day?!"

Karin glanced at Ganju, and by this point, she didn't know if she should feel sorry for him or not.

Nanao ignored him, and looked at Yuzu.

"I'll fight this girl, Madarame-san, you handle this girl with the big blade."

"Heeeeh, she's who I want. She seems to be the strongest here, so yippe for me!" Karin tilted her neck as the man tip toed, seemingly singing and dancing around. "Lucky for me~ Lucky for me to fight the strongest one here~ Captain Zaraki will be jealous~"

Karin felt like crying, Yumichika on the other hand couldn't take it. Because he thought that Ganju was rather, ugly, so he didn't want to have to fight him, and would prefer to fight one of the girls as he did find them pretty.

Ganju looked at Yuzu pleadingly.

"Ganju-san? Don't worry about what's happening, just do your best, okay?"

Yuzu said with a kind expression on her face, Yumichika didn't look pleased at all.

"Yuzu, do it."

Karin glanced at Yuzu, who nodded, and stuck out her bow, while Karin thrusted her sword at Yuzu, overlaying it on her bow, which grew the bow into a larger, and larger bow that dwarfed Yuzu easily.

"D-Damn, that's some power she has."

Ikkaku sweated slightly, seeing how Karin's energy was empowering Yuzu's bow. Yuzu pulled back her arrow, showcasing a very large arrow indeed. Nanao's eyes scrunched together, as Yuzu fired off the powerful arrow for the enemies before them.

They jumped away as the arrow smashed through the street wall, creating devastation in her path, as Karin yelled "Ganju, run left! Don't worry, we will come for you, just stay alive until then!" Ganju tightened his eyes, and nodded, running off, as Yumichika furrowed his eyes at the escaping Ganju, bowing his head, and took off running for the man himself.

Yuzu turned to Karin with slight worry on her face.

Knowing that this was going to be her first major battle, it was going to be tough.

Yuzu wasn't sure if she was going to let people down or not.

"Don't worry Yuzu, I know you can hold on until I come. Even if I don't, you can still win. Just think what would that idiot Takumi do. What would Giselle do. They both had trust in us to help them here, we trained so hard to become strong, so lets show them why we're not to be messed with."

"R-Right Karin, be safe!"

Karin nodded, and lunged forward. Her target was Ikkaku, who grinned wildly, pulling out his blade and swung it for Karin. However, Karin grabbed the cloth on her handle, and threw her sword right for Ikkaku, forcing Ikkaku to block with his own blade, Karin flicking up her wrist and brought her blade upwards, as her foot came for Ikkaku's body.

"Hah! So it was the bait and switch, was it!?"

Ikkaku anticipated Karin doing that, using his sheathe to block Karin's powerful kick. But Ikkaku was surprised when the foot managed to release a lot of air pressure around him, shattering the ground below him, and his hand trembled with the strength that Karin was releasing at that moment.

"How did you guess huh?"

Karin pushed harder with her foot, while Ikkaku stood his ground with the heavy kick that he was releasing.

"Sorry, but I'm the Third Seat of the infamous Squad 11! Ikkaku Madarame, that doesn't mean much though as you'll end as of today!"

"Never heard of you!"

Karin's blade came downwards, Karin pulling it by its cloth, gripping it with her hand when it fully came down, catching the blade, and swung it downwards towards Karin who grimaced, using his blade to block it, only for Karin to release her pent up power, releasing the energy wave right in his face, knocking him away a good distance, cutting into his body slightly, before Ikkaku managed to deflect the blast away from him.

Karin gave chase, while Yuzu glanced at Nanao.

The elder woman moved closer, and closer, while thinking about what her objective was.

With Ikkaku and Yumichika around, she simply couldn't do anything out of the ordinary just in case.

"So, we're going to be fighting huh?"

Yuzu looked nervous.

She didn't want to fight against her.

She couldn't tell if Nanao was going to be a difficult opponent or not.

But Nanao pushed up her glasses.

"Lieutenant of Squad 8, Nanao Ise, is your opponent."

"O-Oh...erm...yeah, my name is Yuzu Kurosaki, and...I've not really got a squad or anything so...erm, I'm apart of the Takumi-kun group, and we're here to save Rukia Kuchiki-san...yes, that's right, pleased to make your acquaintance."

Nanao's expression didn't change, but she understood about the situation at hand.

"I see. Admitting that is rather worrisome. You do realize that name is something that will cause trouble for you?"

"But, Takumi-kun is a nice person, so I don't see why it would!"

Nanao didn't reveal any emotions, but she felt like smiling.

"I see then we will have to have a duel."

Nanao got into a fighting position, while Yuzu did the same thing with a timid expression on her face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin and Ikkaku meet up with one another. Ikkaku looks down at his wounded shoulder, from Karin's spiritual energy attack. Her eyes met his own, while he boisterously stood up, shaking his sword side to side.

"You have more guts than I thought that you would be capable of showing."

Karin raises a brow.

"And why's that exactly?"

Ikkaku showed a grin on his face, aiming his blade at Karin.

"Because it just seemed that being in a new place, you'd run away from the first sign of danger."

"Heeeeeh, I don't think so." Karin pulled out her blade. "Say, what's your name again? Ikki something?"

Ikkaku develops a tick mark by his forehead.

"Ikkaku, that's my name! Not Ikki something!" He looks down at his wound. "Aaah! Oh my God! I'm bleeding!"

"You only just realized that?"

Ikkaku's eyes slit themselves onto Karin's body.

"S-Shut up! Hold on!" Ikkaku pauses, and opens up the butt on his sword, which reveals some septic cream for him. He runs the cream across his chest, stopping the bleeding, while Karin nodded slowly. "What are you nodding at exactly?"

"It's just handy to have that within your sword in case you get cut."

Ikkaku shows a dirty smile on his face.

"It's the last time I'm going to get cut girl!"

Ikkaku spins his blade around, and thrusts it for Karin, who raises her blade, and blocks with the sword, sparks dancing between them, while Karin growled, putting more strength into her blade, and forced it backwards, Ikkaku's eyes widening, as Karin tightens the grip on her sword, and channels her spiritual energy into the blade.

"Try this!"

Karin unleashed a spiritual wave from her sword, Ikkaku was forced to jump away as the energy destroyed half of the wall that was behind Ikkaku, Ikkaku's eyes widening slightly at the power that Karin had within her.

"You have quite a bit of power, I'm surprised by it."

"I don't know about my power, I'm just doing my best to unleash it correctly."

Ikkaku raises a brow.

"Why couldn't you do that normally?"

"My Zanpakuto doesn't exactly like giving me the answers from the get go."

Ikkaku didn't quite understand that, so he just rushed her, and came from the right hand side with his sheathe, so Karin blocked with her large blade, while Ikkaku raises up his other hand, and comes down with his sword, Karin narrows her eyes, twisting her blade so it would catch his own blade with hers, but the blades strength behind it was enough to force Karin backwards slightly with the impressive strength, sparks erupted from their blades.

"I don't quite understand that, but you've got some skills to block both my sheathe and my sword with your large one. So, is that your Shikai? I haven't seen a Shikai like that before."

"I think it's my Shikai, my Zanpakuto is kind of annoying about the details. She calls it Shikai anyway."

"Haha, you're very weird with your sword!"

"Says the guy who was dancing before."

Karin joked, Ikkaku slit his eyebrows, and leaps over Karin. Karin watches as he stabs from up above, so she blocks with her own blade. However, while she was blocking, Ikkaku sent his sheathe downwards towards her face, forcing her backwards, only for Ikkaku to land, and dash at high speeds for her body.

"My dancing is cool damn it!"

Ikkaku rushes at Karin, stabbing for her shoulder, so she quickly grabs the cloth of her Zanpakuto, and whips it around Ikkaku's arm, which Ikkaku furrowed his eyebrows at, and then flicks his wrist towards the right hand side, just enough for Karin's blade to lunge forward to pierce Ikkaku in his own shoulder.

Gritting his teeth, Ikkaku thrusts his sheathe in front of him, but Karin's blade pierces the sheathe, digging in deeply, and almost splits it in half with the power behind her strikes, he couldn't deny that Karin had some strength behind her movements.

Ikkaku, pulling his sheathe backwards, looks at the damage before looking at Karin with narrowing eyes.

"You're strong, and your spiritual pressure is fantastic, but I've got to ask, who the hell taught you how to fight? Who is your Master?"

"Master? Heh, I wouldn't call this idiot my Master. Both of them idiots actually."

Ikkaku raised a brow.

"So, who is it?"

"The ones who taught me are Takumi, and Kisuke Urahara."

Ikkaku's eyes widen at the name.

Recognizing it, and understanding what this meant, Ikkaku became more serious than before. He slams his sword, and sheathe together, holding them out in one big line. Karin became intrigued by what was happening, and rather than interfere, she watched as his eyes met with her own.

"Since your Masters are some people who I want to fight, especially Takumi Urahara-"

"Before you continue, is he like some bad ass here?"

"Haha! He's such a bad ass that my Captain wont stop until he's found him! Now, Grow! Hozukimaru!"

Karin watched as the weapon seemingly merged together, and became what seemed to be like a wooden spear, that also had some lines running across them as if they'd be able to split apart. With a blade at the end, and red tassel on the other hand, Karin knew that this was his Shikai.

"Nice Shikai."

"I'm glad that you like it. It wont save you though!"

Ikkaku spins his blade around, and rushes Karin who narrows her eyes, getting ready for the continuing battle.

* * *

As that was happening, Renji came face to face with Takumi who aimed his sword towards the red haired man.

Yachiru swayed side to side, as she had moved back on request from Takumi.

Though Takumi thought that Yachiru probably could handle herself quite well, she still looked like a little girl so he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

His eyes met with the red haired man's.

Tension was thick within the area.

It felt like even a slightest movement was going to begin a large scale battle.

The grip on his sword was so tight, Takumi thought that Renji's knuckles would be whiter than they were at that moment.

Renji took a step forward, as Takumi grasped his blade tightly.

In that moment, Renji gave a hesitation stare.

It wasn't all that long, but it was a very real and powerful expression that was on his face.

"So, you're going to truly stay in my way are you?"

Takumi began the conversation.

By the look in Renji's eyes, he didn't seem like he could be reasoned with.

"I have to! For Rukia's sake! When you came back here, I thought that...it has to be...you have to go in to save Rukia! This is all I can do! I can't save Rukia on my own! I want to...damn it I want to save Rukia! But, I'm...I'm not strong enough for it! I have to do something, and this is it!"

Takumi truly did feel the emotional weight that was behind what was happening with Renji right now.

How he was torn between duty and his friendship with Rukia.

He also had to admit that Renji had guts to admit that he wasn't strong enough to beat the higher grouped members of the Soul Society.

"You're close to Rukia-chan, huh."

That's what Takumi took away from the conversation.

But Renji's face dipped down as if he was thinking about something deeply.

"Yeah...no...we used to be. But now...heh, I haven't spoken to her in a while. She became a noble...and I'm just a commoner."

"Rukia-chan wouldn't see you as a simple commoner."

That's what Takumi thought, but that seemed to enrage Renji.

"You don't know that! You can't even remember the past!"

Takumi knew that to be true.

He didn't remember what Renji did, but right now, Takumi didn't seem to care all that much.

"Maybe not, but I trust the memories I do have of Rukia-chan, and she might be a noble in name. In practice...yeah she's not exactly a noble, and that's great as she's a normal girl like I thought she was. Kinda hung up on Chappy though. I don't see the appeal myself, it kind of gives me the creeps when staring into its eyes, it looks like it's gonna kill you."

Renji held a bemused smirk on his face.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rukia in her cell, suddenly felt a wave of annoyance come over her.

Her eyes went out of the window, a storm within her threatening to escape from her body.

She just knew it.

Someone was talking about Chappy, in a negative way.

"Did someone just badmouth Chappy…? I bet it was that damn Takumi, he always badmouths Chappy even though Chappy is the best thing to happen since slice bread and juice cartons. Chappy is life Takumi...you better learn that."

Rukia exhaled deeply, while mumbling what she mumbled.

* * *

Back with Renji and Takumi, Takumi twitched his neck.

"I have a feeling she just said "Chappy is life." or something to that effect. She always seems to know when someone is talking about Chappy. I had to accuse her of having a sixth sense for this stuff, it's really weird."

Renji imagined Rukia doing that, and could feel his head tilting downwards.

"That sounds like Rukia...you don't know the half of it."

He sweat dropped, while Takumi glanced around.

"Why didn't you come with anyone else?"

"What do you mean?"

Renji demanded only for Takumi to point to himself.

"You want to take me in so badly, you come on your own? That just doesn't make sense to me. Why didn't you come with your Captain Kuchiki? He is a monster in a fight, and you with him together, I'd definitely not win. So why…? I don't understand, enlighten me."

Takumi had an idea, contrary to what he said.

But he didn't want Renji to know that, and wanted Renji to speak honestly before revealing his own hand.

"I don't need Captain Kuchiki to take you down! This will be different to the time in the human world! Don't look sad now Takumi, it wont hurt much!"

Takumi sensed the bravado that was rolling off of Renji right now.

It was so forced that Takumi noticed that his body was quivering.

But he didn't seem afraid.

It seemed as if something in his mind was unsure of everything happening.

"Renji, I don't want to fight you. I'm sure Rukia-chan right now would be telling me that it's dangerous or stupid or something. She always worried about things like that. But, if you don't move, I will have to fight you."

"Slice him down Taku! Don't make Ken-chan wait!"

Renji gave a scared expression to Yachiru who just watches on with a grin on her face.

"What are you saying!?"

"I want Taku to beat you!"

Renji continued looking on with fear.

Yachiru surely was a scary girl when she wanted something for Kenpachi.

He shakes his head, turning back to Takumi who gives a resolved look.

"You can say that, but it's the only thing I can do! You know, I admired you back then! Everything you did! You look at me as if we're complete strangers! Did Rukia ever mention anything about the past at all?!"

Takumi was taken back by what Renji just admitted.

"No, I didn't know that. She didn't say anything. She didn't tell me anything until the end, and I didn't exactly have time to sit down and chat with her, since I was being attacked by you and your Captain Kuchiki. By the way, he's a freaking scary guy."

"Heh...Captain Kuchiki, I honestly don't know what to think of him. I want to surpass him, but my power is...that doesn't matter. It seems that if you can't remember me, I will have a chance to fight against you, alright!?"

Takumi bowed his neck.

"If that's what you have to do, then I will have to retaliate against you. I'm sorry Renji, I truly am sorry."

Renji's grip on his sword tightened, and with a battle cry, he rushed forward, running faster than he did back in the human world.

However, Takumi was able to follow Renji with his eyes, and raised his blade, blocking Renji's sword with his own, sparks dancing between their blades, as Takumi forced the young man back with his increased strength thanks to Yoruichi's training, Renji was baffled by the strength that Takumi unleashed, Renji jumped backwards, and landed on the ground…

But Takumi was already on him, his blade swinging upwards to slice Renji down without seriously injuring him to a point he couldn't recover.

"S-Shit!"

Just in time, Renji managed to move his blade in the way, blocking Takumi's own blade, who batted Renji's sword to the side, and tightened his fist.

"Eat this!"

Takumi thrusted it for Renji's body who grimaced, lunging backwards but the pressure of the air around his fist was so hard that the air itself came at Renji in a highly dense pressure wave that forced Renji's body backwards heavily, shocking Renji quite a bit.

Renji couldn't beat the pressure, being forced to land on the ground, as Takumi dashed before him, twirling his blade, and thrusted it for Renji's body, Renji's eyes widening in shock, and pulled his head backwards as Takumi's blade came downwards, Renji narrowly dodged the sword, but the white headband on his forehead were sliced clean in half, along with a gash that dripped blood down Renji's forehead.

Renji grimaced at the feeling of the cut, but didn't have time to stop as Takumi stabbed his blade for his shoulder, forcing Renji to parry the blade with his own, only for Takumi to spin into him, his elbow being sent towards Renji's face, Renji back flipped back several times, while Takumi twirled his blade around, stabbing the ground with his blade, which forced the ground up into chunks with the spiritual pressure that Takumi released.

"Hado 57: Daichi Tenyo!"

From the rubble that Takumi had made, the objects lifted up akin to telekinesis, throwing them towards Renji with such a precise movement that it looked like a sea of dancing earth that headed for him.

"_D-Damn it, his skills at Kido are still as great as ever, he's precise in his timing._"

Renji took his blade, and swung it out again and again in front of him, slicing up the rubble that came for his body.

But while doing that, Takumi got before him, slipping into his hand, and raised his hand to Renji's upper body.

"W-Wait, hold on!"

Renji panicked, seeing blue energy coming from Takumi's hand, knowing what technique he was going to use next.

"Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

Renji's eyes widened as the blue energy came shooting out. Renji didn't have time to block with his blade, and took the full force of Takumi's Kido spell right in the chest area, blasting him away from Takumi, smashing him against the wall directly before them, going all the way across the large battle field, a good amount of dust began to rise up from the ground.

Takumi exhaled slowly while keeping a tight hold on his sword.

Yachiru raised her hand into the sky, and cheered.

"Yahoo Taku! You did it! Red Monkey didn't even see that coming!"

Takumi gave a sideways smile.

"I don't think it's that simple Yachiru-san."

"Hmmmm? But Red Monkey went bye bye~ Is he going to be alive?"

Takumi looked to the area that Renji was blasted into.

"I can say that we should count on it. Besides, I don't want to kill Renji. He's just doing what he believes is right."

Takumi thought that would be true.

He did believe Renji would be able to survive that.

He was a Lieutenant class member of the Gotei 13, so he shouldn't go down with that blast.

Renji, having some blood dripping out of the wound on his chest from Takumi's Kido, pulled himself out of the hole from the wall, his eyes heading towards Takumi who looked on with a relaxed expression on his face.

"So...you've improved since Karakura town, have you?"

Takumi nodded slowly.

"I've been training to save Rukia-chan. You also managed to take that blast head on. I didn't even hold back, that shows you've got some incredible durability Renji."

Renji panted, pulling his blade further and further.

"What do you think you're going to do? Even if you get past me, you've got Captains, and Lieutenant's to fight against. You can't take them all down by yourself."

Renji thought that was true.

How could Takumi take them all down?

It just didn't make sense to him.

"I'm not alone." Takumi informed Renji. "I have comrades beside me, I have people that I can rely on. And even if I didn't, I can't simply back down and do nothing. Rukia-chan is waiting for me to save her, she's in a horrible situation. I know that you blame me for what's happened to her, and I also blame myself...if she didn't meet me, if we hadn't of met back in the human world, she wouldn't be in this predicament. I have to save her, I have to keep her safe."

Renji pulled backwards in slight wonder.

"You don't remember her...you've only known her for a short time...and yet, you feel that much responsibility?"

"I don't know what it is either. Of course even if I didn't feel anything for her, I'd still try and save her if I was involved somehow. Heck, even if I wasn't involved, if I knew of a situation which I thought was morally wrong, I'd try and change that. This fight with you, is something that I cannot say I want to do. This is a situation that no one in the end is going to get what they want."

Renji exhaled more and more, but then places his hand outwards.

Red energy began to form in his palm, while Takumi lifted an eyebrow.

"Let me give you a history lesson Takumi Urahara, you were the first Sensei I ever had."

"Is that so?"

Takumi was surprised.

He didn't know that.

Renji nodded, his passion growing higher and higher.

"You taught me about Kido, and swordsmanship! I learned about it from you! And this Kido is the first one that you ever taught me! I might not be a master like Rukia, or you, but I can still show you what a hundred years does to someone who trains hard!" The red energy gained more and more power. "Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

"It's Shakkaho, huh? Alright then, Shakkaho!"

The red energy sphere came shooting towards Takumi, who raised his own hand, and shot off a matching Shakkaho, exploding upon contact, and created a decent size cloud of smoke around them, blanketing the area.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

Takumi heard Renji call out, and a second later the whip sword came swinging towards him at high speeds. However, before the blade could reach him, Takumi slashed his blade left, forcing Renji's blade away from his body, but Renji manipulated the whip sword to change direction in mid air, and come crashing down towards Takumi.

Having no choice, Takumi flashed backwards as the blade slammed down into the ground, creating a sizable hole in the ground, while the smoke began to clear, revealing Renji who was looking on with a hard expression on his face.

"You even dodged that. You're as amazing as ever, Takumi."

"And you're stronger than in the human world, Renji. So without the limiter, this is your full power."

Renji cocked his head to the side, while bringing in his sword once more.

"You're right, since we're not in the human world, I can show you my full power. This is me at one hundred percent! If you don't go full power, then you wont be able to beat me, you know?! I'll be able to take you back in and take you away to the Central 46!"

Yachiru placed her hands on her chin, as she swayed side to side.

"_Does he think that he's going to win? His hand is trembling. He doesn't even want to fight Taku right now, yet he's showing this weird energy to fight Taku. And Taku seems to be keeping his power back as well, he doesn't want to truly hurt Red Monkey. But, Taku is strong, Ken-chan is going to be so happy!_"

Yachiru let out a small squeal through her mouth, catching the attention of Takumi.

"You okay Yachiru-san?"

"Yup! I'm okay! Keep going Taku! Finish him off quickly! I can feel Ken-chan is beginning to feel mad about not being able to fight you!"

"I see, then keep watching Yachiru-san."

"Yes!"

Takumi turned back towards Renji who wiped the blood from his chest.

Renji then swings his blade upwards above his head, going faster and faster, making it look like a buzz saw in the air.

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what he was going to do next, and how he could end this without killing Renji.

* * *

Elsewhere, Momo was worried about Renji. Because he left his badge, and how he had been asking questions about Takumi, she wondered if Renji was going to try and confront him...no, she knew for almost a certainty that she was going to be fighting him.

She had to go and see someone about it, so she walked over to Izuru, who was stationed within the Lieutenant's room as well, pulling him to one side.

"Izuru-kun, Renji-sans gone."

"Gone?" He echoed. "What do you mean he's gone?"

Momo went into her outfit, pulling out his badge, and showed it to Izuru himself.

"He left this in the Squad 6's barracks. He was talking a lot about that boy, Takumi Urahara, you don't think that he's gone to go and fight Takumi Urahara-san, right?"

Izuru displays shock on his face.

"I-Is he stupid?! Why would he go out on his own?!"

"I don't know...but, I'm worried about him Izuru-kun, what are we going to do?"

"Have you told your Captain?"

Momo shook her head with a worried expression on her face.

"I thought about telling Captain Aizen, but I didn't want Renji-san to get into trouble either." Izuru raised his eyebrows, so Momo quickly added onto it. "I don't think that Captain Aizen wouldn't be unfair to Renji-san or anything like that."

Izuru slowly nodded his head.

"I know that Hinamori. Don't worry. I'll go and find him, and I wont tell my Captain."

"But Izuru-kun, if he is fighting Takumi Urahara-san...are we sure he's going to be alive?"

"I..." Izuru hesitated, he wasn't sure honestly. "I don't know Hinamori, but I do know that he's acting reckless. He can't go off on his own, especially in times like this. If he dies...then I wont ever forgive him."

"Take the Squad 4 members Izuru-kun."

"Good thinking."

Izuru quickly took off through the doors, while Momo cupped her hands together with worry.

She thought about if Renji was fighting Takumi, and if he was, would she be dead by now?

She honestly didn't know.

But when she confronted Takumi…

He was nice to her.

But with Renji, and how he was reacting to Takumi, she honestly didn't know.

* * *

Back with Karin, Ikkaku came in with a sharp jab for her upper body, so she leapt into the air, and charged up her power.

"Your Shikai might be cool, but I can't lose here!"

Allowing the energy to gather at the base of her blade, she swung it downwards, releasing the energy for Ikkaku, who grit his teeth, back flipping as the energy came crashing downwards, destroying a good portion of the street, and a large cloud of smoke rose up between them, as Karin landed on the ground.

Ikkaku used this chance to slash through the smoke for Karin's face, who pulls backwards, believing that she had avoided the slash all together, but what she saw next shocked her.

The blade seemed to come apart from the spear…

No, a section of the spear split apart, once Ikkaku announced "Split, Hozukimaru!" and reached her face, cutting her face deeply, blood splurted out of her face, running down her face, as Ikkaku whipped his blade towards her once more in an attempt to cut her upper body, however Karin swung her blade upwards, clashing with Ikkaku's spear like blade, and then charged for Ikkaku himself.

"Is that the first time you've been cut like that?!"

Ikkaku demanded, but Karin shook her head.

"No, I've been cut before, so this doesn't bother me!"

Karin came slashing down with her blade, forcing Ikkaku backwards. But Karin smirked, and saw that the end of the blade was still retracting backwards to Ikkaku's own, so she thrusted her sword towards the chain that connected the segments, catching it, and yanked it forward, bringing Ikkaku's unwilling body forward as well.

"Have this!"

Karin dislodged her blade from Ikkaku's own chains, and charged up her spiritual energy.

Ikkaku became slightly nervous as she unleashed the energy for his body in a side ways slice.

Ikkaku thrusted the lower part of his weapon downwards, using it as a stepping stone to launch himself upwards, but by the time that Ikkaku pulled his three part staff upwards, Karin's energy encompassed the end section of the blade, and cut it off from the other sections of the staff.

"S-Shit!"

Ikkaku's eyes widening in shock, as Karin thrusts her blade upwards for Ikkaku's descending body, so he's forced to use his remaining two part spear, clashing with his blade and using her incredible strength, she forced him backwards into a wall, smashing through that wall, and through the wall behind that wall, creating two holes within the walls themselves.

Karin exhaled slowly.

"_Using my energy like that is reckless. I don't have a good grasp on using it in consecutive bursts yet._"

"_Don't worry Karin, I'll help you along if you're a good girl._"

Karin's eyes widened at the voice.

It was her inner Hollow.

Even now, she couldn't escape it.

"G-Go away..."

She spoke aloud, but then felt a chill down her spine.

It felt like arms had suddenly wrapped around her upper body, a cold breath brushing against her neck.

"_Shhh now Karin, don't worry about it. Just let me help you. I'll slay this bastard, then we can go and help precious Yuzu~_"

Karin's body shivered at the tone, the touch, the feelings inside of her.

Her breathing became more rapid by the second.

The Hollows hold on her felt tight.

It felt constricting.

She felt as if she was going to die...

"Oi! You cut my weapon apart!"

Ikkaku's voice brought her back to reality, as he pulled closer with his damaged weapon.

She allowed her breathing to grow less rapid, and more steady.

"What's wrong with you? You're the one who is attacking me!"

"Sorry, but I'm going to have to fight you with everything I have!"

She spoke to two people then.

One was Ikkaku before her.

But the other was her inner Hollow.

She couldn't be taken over.

She looked to Ikkaku who had some wounds on his body from Karin's attack.

"I have to admit that you're quite strong. Your ability to fight is great, and your strength is top notch. However, you attack too directly."

"It seems to be working against you."

"Well, I'm also a direct type of attacker. There are more trickier people than me in the Seireitei filled with Shinigami. Your tricks are working against me, but you might have more difficulty against the stronger members. Though you don't have to worry about that."

Karin showed confusion on her face.

"What do you mean?"

Ikkaku showed a wicked grin on his face.

"Because I'm going to defeat you nooooooooooooooooooow!"

Ikkaku's movements became more aggressive, crossing the distance within a few seconds. Karin was used to seeing Takumi and Kisuke moving fast, so she could see his movements, but reacting to them was a different story.

Seeing his blade twisting towards her right hand, Karin flicked her cloth in the way from her sword, which became like a shield for Karin, as the spears head came forward, and stabbed into it, leaving a hole within the cloth, but it allowed Karin to bend her body and swing her foot outwards for Ikkaku's upper body.

Ikkaku however allowed his weapon to split apart, and caught the middle section of the staff, but while catching her foot, the wood itself was splitting apart with Karin's strength alone, Karin furrowing her eyebrows.

"So, your weapon truly is like that, is it?"

Ikkaku cocked his head, pulling backwards.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, your weapon is versatile, but it is still wood. And it can still break with enough force. I thought something similar with my energy cutting off the chain before. But my kick managed to splinter the wood with my strength alone."

Ikkaku's eyes narrowed dangerously at the young girl before.

"Heh, maybe it's because you're freakishly strong. I have to admit I didn't think I'd have this much trouble against you! But I wont stop either! I will defeat you Karin!"

Ikkaku launches himself forward at Karin, who exhales slowly.

Seeing how Ikkaku was now moving faster than her, she had to do something.

She had to break through.

She had to make sacrifices.

Wrapping the cloth around her hand from her sword, she thrusts it outwards, as Ikkaku swings for her upper body.

The blade enters Karin's hand, she winces at the feeling from her hand being sliced, but she grips the blade tightly, which surprises Ikkaku.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"Perhaps you're right about tactics. It isn't my thing right now, but I'm still learning Ikkaku! And I'll show you something about me! You don't piss me off, and also, I never give up, is that clear!?" Karin holds her Zanpakuto tightly. "Now, this is the final blooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!"

Karin swings her sword downwards. Ikkaku tried to pull his weapon back to defend himself, but he couldn't at the end, due to Karin holding onto it.

"L-Let go of me!"

"Sorry! Can't do that!"

The blade of Karin dug deeply into the upper body of Ikkaku's. Slicing across his right shoulder, and ran down to his left hip, blood shot out of his upper body. Ikkaku's eyes widened, as Karin shoulder barged Ikkaku in the upper body, forcing Ikkaku backwards, skidding across the ground.

Karin looked down at her hand, seeing that it had a nasty gash in her hand.

"It's over Ikkaku, you can't fight with a wound like that."

Ikkaku looks down at his wounds, and then to Karin's body.

Seeing how she only had a few wounds compared to him…

He couldn't help but be astonished by everything that was before him.

Meeting this kind of opponent, it was fantastic.

"Do you think that will end me Karin?! I will show you the extent of my powers! I'm no coward that surrenders to escape death! As a member of Squad 11, we always fight until our dying breath! So I wont stop now!"

With what was left of his weapon, Ikkaku moved at Karin.

However, this time his movements were slower, and therefore Karin could follow them with ease, which allowed her to get a good grasp on what she was going to do.

Karin dashes forward, getting low, and aims her sword high.

"You fool!"

Karin launches her power upwards, catching Ikkaku up in it. The explosion of energy hits Ikkaku like a wrecking ball, blood shooting out of his body, and flung him away from Karin's body, who let out small pants, as Ikkaku's body smashes against a wall that was on the right hand side, bouncing off of the broken parts, and hit the ground, unconscious from the blow.

Karin slowly exhaled.

"Sorry Ikkaku, but that's how it had to end."

Regretting what happened, Karin noticed his sword turn back to normal, so she walked forward, grabbing the end of it, and revealed the septic, applying it to Ikkaku's wounds, as well as her own, though she ended up using it all in the process.

Karin let out a small breath, and quickly writes a small note in the wall with her sword, before leaving to go and find Yuzu.

* * *

Back with the fight with Renji and Takumi, Renji whipped his sword down again and again, his sword slashing apart the ground before him, but Takumi expertly dodged the attacks again and again, showing how fast he truly was.

"_He's faster than I remember. Then again, he always was fast thanks to being trained by the former Squad 2 Captain, and now seeing him, he definitely is a very speedy opponent. But, why isn't he striking me down? And why hasn't he even released his sword yet? Is he taking it easy on me?_"

Renji wondered these things, and more when he thought about Takumi taking it easy on him.

As he was fighting him, Nemu arrived with Hanataro in tow.

"Oh, Boobies, you're here too~"

Yachiru greeted, Hanataro gave a freaked out expression on his face.

"Lieutenant, I wasn't aware you also would be here."

Nemu greeted in her usual way.

Yachiru thrusted her small hand to the sky.

"I want to stay with Taku before he fights Ken-chan!"

"F-Fights Captain Zaraki?!"

Hanataro let out a shrill cry, Yachiru cocked her head.

"Who are you?"

Hanataro face faulted while Nemu watched the fight at hand, seeing Takumi continued to dodge Renji's movements with his body, watching the ground being sliced apart by Renji's expert whipping techniques.

"L-Lieutenant Abarai isn't able to hit that boy!?"

"It is understandable." Nemu retorted as Takumi got close to Renji. "Takumi Urahara-sama is a strong individual, however I can see that the man he is fighting, also seems to be going through something akin to emotional distress. Takumi Urahara-sama is a kind individual, he knows of the torment that Renji Abarai is going through at this moment. Also, I believe you refer to him as Red Monkey President."

Referring to Yachiru, who nodded again and again.

"Yes, he's Red Monkey! And Taku is so fun to watch! Ken-chan is going to have so much fun!"

Nemu slowly nodded, while Takumi twirled around, batting Renji's blade away, thrusting his blade towards Renji's body.

"The time you have where you can move your sword is three times. Consecutive attacks I should say, before you have to return your blade to your person."

Takumi got close, while Renji attempted to slash him down by flicking the blade of his to whirl around but Takumi saw it coming, so he thrusted his sword backwards, diverting the path of the blade so it stabbed into the ground, slicing apart the ground itself, as Renji used that as a distraction, grabbing Takumi's upper body with his free hand, and began gathering energy in his palm.

"I fooled you! Now, I'm going to explode you!"

Takumi exhaled slowly, and went to get out of the grasp of Renji when Renji's sword came whirling around them, wrapping them both up in his whip sword, binding them together.

"Are you trying to be a suicidal technique or something?"

That's how Takumi saw it anyway.

Renji would be caught up in the blast as well.

He didn't know what Renji was thinking about right now.

Was he that determined he'd also risk injuring himself beyond normal to win the fight?

"I can see that your skills are better than mine, so this is the only move that I can take to stop you! You haven't even revealed your Shikai yet! Am I not worthy enough of your Shikai?!"

Renji felt insulted.

Something Takumi didn't want to do.

He was saving it for other reasons.

"I was saving power, it wasn't ever about being worthy or not. For the record, I do believe you are powerful Renji, but I can't simply lose because of this. If you want my Shikai, then I'll have to finish this off quickly."

Takumi held his blade tightly as Renji unleashed a Shakkaho at point blank range.

Takumi received the blast, forcing him backwards with a gash across his hand were he had diverted the blast at the last second, and his blood dripped down onto the ground, coating the ground below him in his blood.

"I'm bleeding huh. That was a strong Kido spell. You put a lot of power into that, I had used a barrier, seems like it wasn't enough to stop the attack all together."

Renji hadn't come off as well as Takumi, and his body was burned by his own Kido spell.

His blood dripped onto the ground like rain.

Nemu looked on while Hanataro tilted his head.

"S-So, I don't understand...why isn't Urahara-san being ruthless…?"

"Because you shouldn't believe everything you hear."

Nemu replied to the bewildered Hanataro, while Takumi directed his eyes to Renji.

"Renji, it isn't too late to stop the fight. As my next blow will finish you off."

"You're that confident?!"

Takumi shook his head.

"No, it's because you've done yourself in with the way you've fought until now."

Renji developed a question mark.

"What are you talking about?"

"It has to do with the fact that you're being reckless in how you fight. Your whip sword is an advantage over me, you could fight from a distance, which you've been doing, but you're also allowing your anger for Rukia-chan to cloud your better judgement. In all honesty, you're skilled, you're more skilled than I had thought, and it can be dangerous with a weapon like yours. Running Kido through your blade, would be great for you."

"D-Don't stand there and lecture me! You gave up that right when you disappeared over a 100 years ago!"

Renji yelled, as his eyes began to shed a few tears.

Takumi saw him breaking down, and that felt heart breaking for the young boy.

"Renji-"

"No! I'm going to take you back to Central 46! I'm going to save Rukia! Even if I have to take back your broken body!"

Renji thrust his sword towards Takumi at the highest speed that he could.

But Takumi exhaled slowly.

"Sorry Renji. I truly am sorry." Takumi raised his sword into the sky. "Ravage, Kinhime!"

A bolt of lightning rips down from the air, and surrounds Takumi's blade, turning it into the zigzagged bolt blade, which catches Renji's own sword, blocking it with sparks going off around Takumi's body.

"You blocked it...I moved so fast but still..."

Takumi bows his head to Renji as his energy increases larger and larger.

Renji was baffled by the energy output that Takumi was giving.

It was incredible.

"Sorry about this." Takumi's Zanpakuto begins to blow brightly with electricity, Renji's eyes widening. "Lightning Rupture!"

Takumi swings his sword right for Renji and travels at the speeds of lightning. Renji attempts to use his sword to block Takumi's electrical shock, but the electricity rips right through the sections of the blade that hadn't come together yet, due to the speed Takumi was using his powers, and pierced Renji's body, sending a mass of electricity through his system, burns erupting over Renji's body, while the others watched with different expressions.

"The fight has been decided."

"L-Lieutenant Abarai! I-Is he going to die?!"

"Yay! Taku won the fight! Now he can fight against Ken-chan!"

Nemu held her normal expressions, but she was glad that Takumi managed to win the fight.

Hanataro was panicking about if Renji was dead or not.

Yachiru on the other hand was very excited for when he would fight Kenpachi, and how much fun they were going to have.

Renji's body is blown backwards, falling in slow motion in his perspective.

"_In the end...I couldn't beat him. I was kidding myself...I couldn't beat Captain Kuchiki...I couldn't even keep up with him...while Takumi was able to do that for a little while...I never could...Takumi, what are you really thinking right now…? When you look at me...do you hate the person I've become…? I promised I'd always be there for Rukia...and I failed...I'm sorry..._"

Renji's body hit the ground, with sparks of electricity surrounding his burned flesh.

Takumi exhaled slowly, showing that he had to put in a good deal of power to land that attack on Renji.

* * *

Takumi bowed his head to the young man, as he turned back to the others.

Mildly surprised to see Nemu there, he saw Hanataro beside her with a medical kit.

"Hey...erm, excuse me." Hanataro pointed to himself, seeing Takumi's eyes on him. "Yes, you. Do you have medical knowledge by chance?"

"A-Ah yes, that's right."

"Then could you give Renji here some first aid quickly?"

Hanataro was surprised that Takumi didn't even order him to take care of his hand.

But seeing that Renji indeed did need help, Hanataro rushed to Renji's side, while Nemu and Yachiru jumped down to meet Takumi.

"Reunion Nemu-san!"

"Yes, it seems we have been reunited, and it feels so good."

"Ooh Nemu-san, are you referencing songs now?"

Takumi teased while Yachiru hopped onto his shoulder.

"I have been broadening my interests and have come across a few songs that I deem worthy enough for me to consider liking." Takumi chuckled happily that Nemu was still growing. "Also, I have come to provide assistance Takumi Urahara-sama."

"But, if you do Nemu-san, you could be placed into a dangerous situation. You could be prosecuted for being involved with me."

Nemu pulled forward, showcasing an expression that Takumi was surprised to see.

It was something akin to happiness, but not true happiness, not yet.

"I understand this. However, Takumi-sama, you taught me many things within the human world. I have begun developing more interests, I am exploring more of who I am as an individual, and because of that, I have realized something Takumi-sama."

"And what's that Nemu-san?"

Nemu pulled forward, showcasing a hint of...self worth.

"I, do not like how Mayuri-sama treats me."

Takumi allowed a smile on his face.

"I see, then you can come with me if you want Nemu-san. I just want you to be sure that you're doing this for your own sake, you know all of the risks."

"I understand. I also enlisted this boy to be of assistance. He also knows Rukia Kuchiki-san and wishes to help save her, though he himself is rather weak and useless in combating enemies, in healing his skills are noteworthy."

Hanataro let out a small cry.

"I-I'm right here…"

Takumi chuckled lightly, bending down to Hanataro, and gently petted his head.

"Glad to have you on the team."

Hanataro's cheeks turned red with shyness, Takumi wasn't how he was expecting at all.

Yachiru thrusted her hand to the sky.

"I'm on team Taku!"

"Haha, you surely are Yachiru-san."

Takumi smiled out to the smaller girl, looking towards Renji.

He exhaled slowly, and bent down towards him.

"Renji, I'm sorry I had to injure you like this. I hope you understand why I had to do that..."

Renji's face turns noticeably more down than before.

However, it wasn't because he lost the fight.

It was because, he felt as if he had let down Rukia.

"I'm...I'm just a ruffian from the Rukongai, barking at the stars...but I've never been able to jump and grab them...but, you're different. Takumi...you looking at me...as if you don't know me...hurts me so much." Renji began to shed more tears, as his hand reached up for Takumi's outfit. "...I respected you so much...you were so kind to us...you came with food often...you trained us...you befriended us nobodies without a second thought..."

Takumi could feel the heart felt words Renji used.

The way that he was crying, it was real.

He truly did feel like this, and for Takumi at least, he thought Renji was showing his true colours now.

It was never about hating Takumi.

It wasn't about killing Takumi.

It was about feeling lonely without them.

"Renji..."

"...Hahaha, back then,...I always called you Sensei...because that's who you were to me...I'd come to you when I needed advice...you'd always smile at me...but then you went away...you disappeared...and we didn't know what happened...why did you go…?"

Takumi's eyes lowered, controlling his own emotions.

"I don't remember the exact reasons behind it, but when I get my memories back...I'll tell you. Until then...just know that whatever happened, I didn't leave you intentionally. Me with, or without memories wouldn't abandon someone I care for. I'm sorry I caused you heart ache Renji, I know that wasn't ever an intention I'd have."

Renji broke down in tears while Hanataro looked towards Takumi with renewed understanding.

It wasn't a false pretense as far as he could tell, it was being kind to Renji.

Renji's hand reached upwards, so Takumi grasped his hand, and held onto it tightly.

"Takum...please...I can't save her...but you can...right?"

Takumi exhaled slowly.

"I'm going to do my best Renji. You just be careful, there's some members of the Soul Society that are up to no good."

Renji thrusts his head backwards, whispering "Thank you..." and began falling unconscious. Takumi watched as Hanataro wrapped some of Renji's wounds, and used some healing Kido.

Takumi sensed for Orihime…

But she was way gone by that time.

It was understandable, he knew that it would be rather dangerous for her to stick around.

Takumi looked at his hand, and began using rudimentary healing Kido that he learned from Tessai, but it wasn't on near the same level as Hanataro, and Orihime's own special healing abilities. Nemu looked on at the hand, and then at Takumi himself.

"Takumi-sama, what are you planning to do now?"

"I need to gain some allies, but also meet up with some other's that came to the Seiretei as well. Orihime-chan is with Yoruichi-san so I'm not so worried. Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan are on their own, and as for Giselle-san...I'm sure that she'll be able to use her abilities to keep herself safe. I was on my way to Captain Kyoraku since he seems to be on my side. I also need to go and visit Captain Unohana at the earliest time."

"C-Captain Unohana? Why her?"

Hanataro pipped up.

"She can help me with something, if she isn't going to kill me."

"B-But, what about Rukia-san? Aren't we trying to save her?"

That's what Hanataro thought, and Takumi agreed.

"You're right, and this is to help Rukia-chan out as well. Because I'm trying to save not only Rukia-chan, but the entire Soul Society as a whole." Takumi's eyes went left and right. "But, there's many enemies coming to this location. We need to get off the street first of all."

"O-Oh, if it is moving around inconspicuously, then maybe I-I can help with that."

Hanataro volunteered, Takumi raised his brows.

"Is Renji going to live?"

"I-I've treated his major injuries, the medical squad should be able to take care of the rest, he'll survive until they get here."

"Great, then lets go."

"But, Taku! Ken-chan!"

Takumi turned his eyes to Yachiru kindly.

"I'll fight him, don't worry. Can you continue assisting me until then Yachiru-san?"

"Okay! Then lets go!"

Takumi, Nemu, Yachiru and Hanataro moved out from the area, leaving Renji mostly patched up, so they could get away before the enemies came, so they could fight another day, that's what they had to achieve now.

* * *

Ikkaku's eyes shoot open, blinking rapidly.

Remembering the fight with Karin, he thought that he was dead.

That she had killed him.

But no.

That didn't seem to happen at all.

He looked down at his wounds, and saw that his septic had been applied.

He rolled his head around, and saw the message Karin had left him.

[Sorry, used your septic on my wounds as well, and it ran out. Got to find my sister, that was a good fight, you're a strong opponent. To me, you're like a miniboss, and I managed to beat you so I'm progressing further.]

That made Ikkaku laugh.

"What a weird girl she is!"

Ikkaku continued to laugh.

He was sure that someone was going to find him soon so he took this chance to relax…

But then someone did come.

Standing over him, was Giselle.

"W-Who are you?"

"My name is Giselle."

Ikkaku gave a fearful look when Giselle gained a happy grin on her face.

"W-Why are you here exactly Giselle?"

"Hehe, because I want you in my army."

Ikkaku became confused as Giselle bent down towards him, revealing a number of Shinigami behind her, all having whitened out eyes, under her thrall, as the Zombie Master.

"W-Wait! What does that mean?! Why are their eyes white like that?! What happened to their pupils exactly?!"

Giselle twirled her hair with a girly expression on her face.

"Hehe, don't worry about that, they're just my cute Zombie's~ Though I don't go for your type, you'll do. You're about to join my lovely family~ What's your name?"

Ikkaku felt more fear burning into his system.

He was deeply afraid of this girl.

The way she looked at him.

The way her eyes would dance on his form.

It terrified him more than anything else in this world.

"L-Leave me alone! I'm not telling you anything! Go away right now you freaky girl!"

"That's not nice, I'm only trying to be a polite girl~ Masaki-chan would be so angry if I wasn't a good girl before doing this~ But don't worry, you'll only be here temporary, not permanently, promise~" Giselle bent closer and closer, her hair brushing against Ikkaku's terrified face. "I'm going to take care of you now, my Zombie-kun~"

Giselle's face turned more and more scary as she began making him her Zombie.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

That was the last thing Ikkaku did before he was fully converted into one of her Zombies.

Giselle, now had Ikkaku in her Zombie army.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So we got the fight between Takumi and Renji, revealing a little more of their past together, the conflict Renji felt about attacking someone he saw as a Sensei, and a friend, while trying to help Rukia, at the same time Karin, Yuzu, and Ganju had their own enemies to deal with, with Yuzu's and Ganju's being explored more next chapter. Karin fought the best that she could, and edged out a victory, while her inner Hollow reminded her that she was still there, giving her some worry. Takumi managed to beat Renji after releasing his Shikai, while Nemu and Hanataro joined up with them, and watched the fight. Nemu seems to come more out of her shell with Takumi, and has decided to stay with him, despite knowing it could lead to trouble for herself. Then finally, Giselle app****ears at the end, and has added Ikkaku to her army. Though she wont keep him forever as a Zombie, Takumi will help her with that.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	21. The maidens growth!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Dark King Marcel; Don't worry, it isn't permanent. Thanks very much!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! Yeah, Yuzu's gonna hold her own, she might not be able to beat Nanao, but she'll put up a good fight against her. Ooh a scene like that might play out later on. We'll see them doing stuff as the arc goes~ Renji eventually will join the rescue yeah~ We will yeah, we'll see a big Orihime moment this chapter. Haha, Giselle's got her army building~ I could see Orihime guessing things like that lol.**

**Oblivious IJ; Yup, Giselle acquired a Zombie! Yeah, we're getting more and more hints to his past, and we'll see some more in the future. It surely is. It seems that it does yeah~**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Yeah, quite emotional between the two men. Yeah, Karin's got a long way to go for that, and Ikkaku's in Giselle's army. They are yeah, lets see if they can get some more people on side.**

**Mystery889; In this, Giselle's just a girl. Karin has Zangetsu, if you know the manga, then you'll know why it is Hollow rather than old man.**

**Guest 1; That sounds like a great idea, and pretty fun for some situations as well. I could see that happening, thanks for the suggestion!**

**Skull Flame; Yeah, Yachiru surely can be funny. Haha, don't bad mouth Chappy, Rukia can sense that and will put a stop to it somehow. I could see that happening. Some interesting things thrown in there. He is yeah, Giselle's got a Zombie with some power on her side. For now it seems to be less worrisome.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, he helped train them a little. Maybe they will do~ Rukia's got that knowledge alright~ Karin got too heated. Yup, Yuzu and Nanao are going to face off. I wont be focusing on Ganju's stuff, it's the same as canon. Yeah, they will be eventually. Yeah, he held back because he didn't want to kill Renji, or hurt Rukia by hurting her friend, but knew he'd have to do something and he did. We'll be seeing more of Momo in the future. Yachiru's just so much fun~ Yeah, it seems that he has a good rapport with Nemu, Yachiru, and even Hanataro. Not this chapter, but he's going to be meeting a Kenpachi this chapter. Yeah, Giselle's making them Zombies~ Being Headmaster of the academy would be cool for Jushiro. We'll delve into that in the future. I don't think Takumi would allow Orihime to be put in danger after realizing her abilities, he would know Aizen would find them interesting. She could do that yeah, it would be good~ Haha yeah~ Sounds great to me! Maybe she will yeah. I could see that happening. I'd say Nanao's more skilled in Kido but Takumi's got more power behind his Kido. I had heard of Genbu, she seems interesting. Yeah, the Fallen Angel idea looks great. Yeah, he could fight them both, it would be a highly difficult battle. Maybe he could have made some, and yeah that looks great. They might do in the future. Heh, that would be great for Aura.**

**Guest 2; I'm gonna be honest, I haven't watched much of Jojo's, and only know a few things about it. But once I do watch the series, I'll know if I do a story on it or not. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**Andrew123456; Actually I have thought about doing a story on Last Airbender, I do like Azula, she's my second favourite female after Ty Lee though the difference between my like for them isn't that much so I do like both of them quite a lot. That would be pretty cool, and yeah, blue flames are pretty cool, I do like how Azula's are like that.**

**a fan; A Star Wars story huh. I haven't really thought about it, I like most of the movies, some of the new ones are...ehehe, yeah. So yeah, I'd probably be up for a story about Star Wars, just need an idea about it.**

**Guest 3; Yeah, I do like Future Diary, so I might do a story for it in the future. Being partners with her is quite interesting to say the least, it would be quite a good partnership. That kind of dynamic between the oc and Tsubaki would be rather interesting to explore, thanks for the suggestions.**

**Guest 4; Yeah, Fates a good series, I've not watched all of it before, but I know enough about the characters you're talking about to understand who they are, so yeah, it looks like a good idea to me! Thanks for the suggestion!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**The maidens growth!**

Yuzu and Nanao faced off against one another.

Their eyes locked, while Yuzu felt nervous about this, since it was her first fight, she didn't want to mess it up. She didn't want to lose either, but knew that it was a possibility due to how the situation was turning out.

Her first fight, without Karin to back her up. Without Takumi to save her. Without Giselle to help protect her.

She was completely alone.

She felt her hand trembling slightly, while Nanao herself expressed a slight concern on her face.

"E-Erm, perhaps instead of fighting, we could sit down and have some tea to discuss our problems or something…?"

Yuzu tried to deflect from the situation at hand.

Nanao could see the girls obvious nervousness.

"Have you...never done this before?"

Yuzu waved her hands in front of her face.

"N-No, I have done this before!" Yuzu denied Nanao's worries. "I just...ehehe, fighting Hollows, and Shinigami are different things...you know?"

Nanao nodded slowly.

"I can understand that. This is my first time in facing a Quincy."

"Hehe, I see...then I guess I'll try my best to make this as good as I can...though this is going to be a battle...I'll try my best to make it as good as I can!"

Nanao gave curious looks at the young woman.

Yuzu's stance wasn't so bad.

It was a stance that was above a novice level stance, so the fight wouldn't be over so quickly either.

But she was also intrigued on how she was going to deal with the fights ahead.

Tensions filled the air.

Neither made a move for over a minute.

A bead of sweat rolled down Yuzu's cheek, while Nanao didn't make a move, in case that was Yuzu's thoughts, leading her into a trap, which Nanao didn't want, she didn't want to be trapped by Yuzu, nor did she want to fall for any traps.

Yuzu herself was in a worrying situation.

She always thought about fighting enemies like this.

But now that she was, she couldn't deny that she was slightly worried about what was happening.

"_Come on Yuzu, you have to do something. Her spiritual power is high, perhaps it is above mine. However, Karin is fighting right now...Takumi-kun is also fighting. I can also fight. It isn't always about who is strongest. I can still stand in this woman's presence, so our powers can't be that far from each other. I remember Takumi-kun's lessons about fights between enemies here, is a fight between spiritual powers, but also can be about a tactical fight, and who can outsmart the opponent. I shall use my knowledge that I have acquired from Takumi-kun, how Giselle-san taught me, and also how Karin would act...yes, I wont lose here. I still have to meet up with Karin and the others. She's counting on me to survive, so I'll survive until then._"

Having made up her mind, Yuzu exhaled slowly, while Nanao raised an eyebrow, seeing a small change within Yuzu.

Yuzu was the first to make a move, pulling back her bow, and fired off an arrow for the young woman. Nanao used flash step to avoid the arrow, which stabbed into the wall, only for Yuzu to appear behind her, with an arrow pointed towards her, shooting it off in a single burst.

"You are quite quick. But not quick enough to beat me."

Nanao stuck out her hand, and summoned a barrier, blocking the arrow all together to the astonishment of Yuzu.

"You...blocked my arrow..."

Yuzu looked on as Nanao remained collected, and confident.

"Yes, that is correct. It will take more than that to shoot me down."

Yuzu bowed her head.

"I see...then I shall have to take it up a notch!"

Nanao raised an eyebrow, seeing Yuzu channelling her powers.

The arrow began to grow, but also split apart, which caused Nanao to raise an eyebrow.

"Five arrow burst!"

Yuzu announced, and fired off five arrows at once, surprising Nanao who kept up her barrier, but with each arrow hitting it in a five attack style, the arrows shook the barrier slightly, Nanao narrowing her eyes at the sight.

"_Though she split them up in five sets, the power behind them didn't lose much from her single arrow shot. It seems that she isn't so weak, and the lack of confidence that she displayed before is slowly disappearing. I guess she is fighting it down to keep herself going._"

Nanao watched as more and more five arrows shot came at the barrier, and didn't seem to let up either, hitting the barrier, and causing it to shake more and more, until a crack appeared within the barrier.

Yuzu saw the crack, and concentrated her fire there, shooting all five arrows at that crack, opening it up enough for Yuzu to fire an arrow off through the hole towards Nanao's body, who widened her eyes slightly, but she used her flash step to avoid the attack.

She turned her hand towards the location she thought Yuzu was in, while readying a Shakkaho to fire off…

When she saw that Yuzu wasn't there.

Nanao seemed more surprised by the second, but then heard a noise behind her, turning to see Yuzu already firing off an arrow towards her in a single shot that travelled rather quickly, so Nanao shot off her Shakkaho, clashing with the arrow, and forced it to be destroyed by the power of her Kido, continuing her attack right for Yuzu's body, who gasped, and dodged out of the way.

"Hado 4: Byakurai."

Nanao extended her fingers, shooting off the pale lightning blast towards the rolling Yuzu, who grimaced at the sight, and seemingly the lightning blast hit against Yuzu's body, creating an explosion around her.

Nanao bowed her head.

"I am sorry. But I also needed too..."

Nanao saw the smoke clearing, and that there were a fence of arrows before Yuzu's body, acting as a shield from Nanao's Kido spell.

It immensely surprised Nanao that Yuzu managed to use her arrows in such a way.

"_Seeing a pure Quincy in action...to think she was able to make a makeshift shield out of arrows. She's good. She's very good. She's smart, and I am sure that she's got some more tricks up her sleeve._"

"I said before, I am not done yet Nanao Ise-san!"

Nanao was impressed with Yuzu's resolve, and couldn't deny that it was rather interesting to see what Yuzu was going to do next.

"I see, then allow me to take it up a notch."

Nanao said it seriously, increasing her energies around her body, while Yuzu also did the same thing, ready to continue their fight.

* * *

Once escaping the streets of the Shinigami world, Takumi, Hanataro, Nemu, and Yachiru ended up in the sewer system of all places. Walking across a quite large pathway with the sludge water flowing right next to him.

"It was a good idea to stay down here."

"Though it smells Taku!"

Yachiru complained about the situation at hand, even Takumi had to agree about the smell being bad.

But Nemu seemed completely okay with it, as if she didn't even care that the smell was entering her nostrils.

"S-Sorry about that...but, since we in Squad Four only know about these tunnels...I thought it would be the best way to move around..."

"No, no. it was a great idea Hanataro-san." Hanataro smiled slightly at the praise. "But, if I may ask...why is it only Squad Four know of these tunnels? Is it because you need to know how to avoid battle and get people to safety in case of attacks like this?"

Hanataro scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Actually, that makes it sound better than the actual reason."

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"So, what's the actual reason then?"

Hanataro looked on with a sheepish smile, when Nemu explained.

"Squad Four is tasked with keeping the system down here as clean as possible. So, they would have knowledge of these passageways."

Takumi sweat dropped.

"Oh...so, you're like janitors."

"Hehehehe...it sounds like we are only there to clean up messes."

"But, you're also, the medics, right?"

Hanataro nodded.

"Y-Yes that's right. Though right now I'm only seventh seat..."

"Hey, seventh seat isn't that bad." Takumi replied to gain a curious look from Hanataro. "It means that you're the at least seventh best medic in the entire squad, right?"

Hanataro thought about what Takumi had said, and it made sense.

He was the seventh best one in the squad, that made him feel a little better about his current position.

"I...I've never thought about it that way...y-yes, that's right! Though I am aiming for sixth seat!"

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it." Takumi encouraged to the bewilderment of Hanataro. "Now, we have a few things to discuss, and make decisions about."

"Is it about Ken-chan Taku?"

Takumi gave a slight nod.

"Yes, he also is apart of this." Yachiru beamed. "First of all, I need to find the others. Preferably starting with Orihime-chan. Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan are going to be able to keep themselves safe, Karin-chan is very powerful in her own right, and Yuzu-chan's smart, she will be able to help Karin-chan in those areas, and make plans. As for Giselle-san...she'll be able to keep herself safe. But, if someone finds Orihime-chan first, then she could be in danger. I know she's with Yoruichi-chan, but it's dangerous leaving them alone for the moment."

"So, our objective is to find Orihime Inoue Takumi-sama?"

Takumi nodded.

"Yes. After that, we'll have to make a decision about going towards either Captain Kyoraku, or Captain Unohana. Though I'm more leaning towards Captain Kyoraku...speaking of, Nemu-chan, could you inform me about what's the current state of the Shinigami's forces as you know them."

"Of course."

Nemu then began explaining while Takumi got into deep thought.

Yachiru looked at Hanataro, and saw his meek expressions.

"Don't worry, Ken-chan isn't interested in fighting you."

"Hehehe...I-I don't want to fight Ken-chan...eeh! C-Captain Zaraki! Please don't tell him I called him Ken-chan!"

Yachiru gave a mischievous smile on her lips, while Hanataro panicked.

Nemu then finished what she was speaking about to Takumi.

"...And that is the current state as I am aware Takumi-sama."

"I see, so Captain Kyoraku actually did send the request...it just confirms for me that he's definitely on side."

"E-Excuse me...b-before, you said that you were going to save Rukia-san...and also...that there's something going on in the Soul Society...something bad...c-could I ask what that is sir…?"

Hanataro bravely (for him) asked about the situation, Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"Since you've decided to help, then I don't see why I shouldn't say anything since you're also risking your life, you deserve to know. To boil it down, there is at least one person in the Soul Society planning something bad for the Soul Society, and human world. We're not sure what yet...but, we need to be careful about every move we make. The enemies aren't idiots, so we have to one up them at every chance that we get."

"I-I see...so, saving Rukia-san also saves the Soul Society?"

Hanataro thought it would be like that.

But when Takumi looked towards him, he wasn't so sure by the expression on Takumi's face, the unsure look within his eyes.

"I can't answer yes or no to that question. Because honestly, I am not sure how involved Rukia-chan is with this, if she is apart of this man's plans, or a mere distraction for us." Takumi replied truthfully to the astonishment of Hanataro. "However, I wont allow Rukia-chan to die. But we have to remember who we're dealing with. That old man Yamamoto guy is very powerful, I sensed his pressure. He even would make the traitor nervous so he wouldn't act so quickly, then there's the other Captains, going all out might cause losses on both our and their side, and we can't lose anyone here. We also have to discern who is working with him."

"O-Other traitors?"

Nemu this time nodded.

"Takumi-sama, I am not fully aware of who else is with the traitor you speak of. However, I am confident that you are correct about there being more than one. No single person can pull this off. However, who could be with him?"

"There are a few possibilities, even people we might not suspect either. But, we still have to continue on. So, shall we go and find Orihime-chan everyone?"

They agreed, besides Yachiru who showed an unsure pout.

"But Taku...Ken-chan..."

"Hehe, don't worry, I haven't forgotten. If we run into him, I'll definitely fight him, okay?"

Yachiru thrusts her fists up to the air.

"Alright then Taku! Lets get going!"

Takumi gave a slight smile as she hopped onto his shoulder, and then they began walking forward, following where Takumi felt Orihime's spiritual pressure coming from.

* * *

Having arrived at the area that Takumi and the others had been, Mayuri looked annoyed.

Takumi wasn't there anymore, and only Renji laid on the ground, unconscious from his assault from Takumi's attacks.

Kenpachi also had arrived, unwillingly going with Mayuri after their little argument from before, and sensing the pressure clashing of Takumi with Renji.

"Damn it!" Kenpachi snapped, slamming his foot down onto the tiles, smashing some apart. "Because of you clown, I couldn't fight Takumi Urahara!"

"Is that all you think about idiot?" Mayuri gave a condescending look towards Kenpachi. "Never mind that he's beaten someone else, and now has moved away. If you hadn't of distracted me, then I could have been killing that boy as we speak. But no, I'm stuck with an idiot that lost that annoying pink haired brat to the enemy. At least I treat the people below me as pawns, it makes it much easier for when they die."

Kenpachi's long eye went towards Mayuri.

He badmouthed Yachiru….and he wouldn't allow that to happen.

His spiritual pressure increased, moving closer to Mayuri who thought about where Takumi and the others could have gone, unaware that Nemu was giving them assistance right now.

"Did you just say something about Yachiru?"

Mayuri's eyes snapped upon Kenpachi, and saw his blade resting well in his hand.

Swallowing the saliva he didn't know he was holding, Mayuri's eyes snapped back upon Kenpachi.

"Don't even try anything with me. I'm not in the mood for your games."

Kenpachi didn't look pleased with what Mayuri had said.

"Well, get in the mood. Better yet, how about I do everyone a favour and shut your annoying little mouth permanently?"

Mayuri could feel the killing intent rolling off of Kenpachi.

It wasn't a joke.

Even someone like Mayuri had to admit he felt a little shaken by the power that was being released.

"Hmph, if you tried, then you'd be punished for it. Raising arms against another member of the Gotei 13. Are you that insane that you'd actually attempt to do something like that?"

Kenpachi leaned forward and went to say something, when a groan came from Renji.

Moving quickly, Mayuri moved to the left hand side of Renji, and bent down towards him.

His eyes went into Renji's who kept slipping in and out of consciousness it seemed.

"You, red headed boy. Tell me, which direction did Takumi go in?"

Renji groaned, looking between Kenpachi and Mayuri.

"I...I don't know..."

"Don't fool around with me boy!" Mayuri snapped, grabbing Renji's torn blood soaked shirt. "I am not amused at all! Tell me where he went, right now!"

"I...I said...I don't know..."

Mayuri let out an annoyed breath.

"Seriously, are you trying to protect him now?"

"Why would he bother when he's lost in battle?"

Kenpachi demanded, while Mayuri just gave him a glare without answering.

Kenpachi rolled his single eye, looking around the area for any sign of Yachiru.

"_Yachiru….you're with that boy, aren't you? Keeping track of him...heh, don't worry Yachiru, I'll soon be there, so I can finally have a fight with Takumi Urahara._"

Kenpachi already had decided what he needed to do, so he took off, leaving behind a bewildered Mayuri.

"Where is he off to? The freaky bastard."

Mayuri shook his head, and looked towards Renji.

Thoughts about what to do with him flew through his mind.

He thought about killing him.

Renji to him wasn't really a threat, but he also got annoyed by Renji.

So he took out a blade, beginning to move closer towards Renji to finish him off…

"Renji-kun! Renji-kun!"

Izuru called out, as he came running in with some Squad Four medics. Mayuri scowled, and took off, looking for Takumi himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, Orihime and Yoruichi had managed to escape a group of Shinigami attempting to fight them, by going towards a large building and staying on top of it.

Orihime releases a small breath out of her mouth, turning towards the direction that Takumi was in.

"It seems calmer now...Taku-chan's spiritual pressure has returned to normal."

"You can sense the fight has stopped?"

Orihime nodded, placing a hand over her heart, and got a deep expression on her face.

"I can't explain it...but, I can always feel when Taku-chan is fighting, or relaxing...it's grown stronger since my powers were released back in the human world."

"It's because you love him."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Orihime let out a cute cry, waving her hands dramatically in front of her face. "W-What are you saying Yoruichi-chan?!"

Yoruichi gained a calm expression on her kitty face.

"I didn't mean to blind side you. But it's true, you're able to sense his spiritual pressure due to your emotions for Takumi. I'm sure he's the same with you. Knowing him, he'll probably be on his way towards us right now."

Orihime wondered if that was true.

What Takumi was doing right now.

But she sensed that he was okay.

He wasn't killed, he wasn't in distress…

She was glad about that.

"Hey, Yoruichi-chan, should we try and go to Taku-chan's location?"

Orihime suggested, believing that would be the best course of action right now.

Yoruichi thought about it for a few moments, before nodding her head in agreement.

"It couldn't hurt, we should really meet up with everyone else. And Takumi would be the most logical choice at the moment. Say, how about using the device of Takumi's to contact him with?"

Orihime giggled awkwardly, and showed the device, seeing that it wasn't working.

"I-It broke during impact."

Yoruichi sweat dropped.

"Of course it did, that would make this too easy. Either way, we should really begin moving. I can sense strong pressures running around, like that Zaraki, we need to avoid him as much as we can, and if he comes close, we need to run away."

Orihime nodded, dusting off her clothes, and pointed towards the direction she felt Takumi.

"Then we should go that way!"

Yoruichi looked towards the location that Orihime was pointing…

But then she felt a spike in pressure towards Orihime, turning to see a large man was behind her, with his Zanpakuto stood there, about to swing his sword downwards towards her, Yoruichi quickly used her speed to slam against the man's body, his eyes popping out of his head, and sent him flying across the roof they were on, nearly tumbling over to the tiled section of the roof.

Orihime gasps, looking towards the location of the man himself, seeing that he looked winded from Yoruichi's attack, the man glancing at the cat, before looking towards Orihime.

"That's one fast cat you've got. But it wont save you, you wont live for much longer."

Orihime pulled backwards, while Yoruichi thought about the situation.

"_If memory serves, this is Jirobo, the brother of Jidanbo. His spiritual power wouldn't be a problem for people such as Karin or Takumi. But for Inoue...should I transform to fight this opponent? To keep her safe, that's what I have to..._" Yoruichi's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Orihime moving forward. "H-Hey, what are you doing?"

Orihime, despite feeling a little worried, knew what she would have to do.

"Thank you very much for saving me, I didn't even see him until the last second...but, it comes down to me, Yoruichi-chan."

"But, I could simply take him down..."

When she said that, Orihime noticed that a number of Shinigami had come and were beginning to make their way towards them.

"But we already have a Shinigami problem down there, Yoruichi-chan." Orihime countered, surprising Yoruichi by her boldness. "I know what I have to do Yoruichi-chan...I know that I am not as powerful as the others, but I have to also pull my own weight...I can't wait to be rescued, and I also need to fight...I need to also get strong to stand beside Taku-chan, I can't burden anyone with me around."

"Inoue..."

Yoruichi was strangely proud of the girl.

It seemed that despite knowing it would be tough for her, she also thought about the others, and how strong potential enemies could be, and that she would have to fight, as Yoruichi already had a number of enemies to deal with.

Of course the enemies wouldn't prove much trouble for Yoruichi, but Orihime wished to prove her strength, and fight the enemy before her, she didn't want to be a burden, she wished to fight beside the others. Even if she wasn't as strong, she wanted to be strong.

"Please take care of the other opponents Yoruichi-chan, I will find a way to win."

Yoruichi looked down at the enemies coming up. They were some foot soldiers, but she also could see that they were coming in good waves. It seemed that Jirobo had brought them along with him, and knew Orihime wouldn't be able to fight off all of them, they didn't have a chance to run either.

"...I see, then I will take care of them, I'll leave this man to you."

Yoruichi placed her trust within Orihime, and jumped down to deal with the coming forces, while Orihime looked towards Jirobo, seeing that his face was curling upwards into a smirking one, something that she didn't like to see.

"Hahaha! So, your cat left you alone! And you're going to fight me? With what exactly!?"

"I'll fight you with my powers!"

Orihime stated boldly, recalling how Tatsuki also fought despite being outmatched by the Hollow back in the human world.

"I see. Then I'll give you to the count of ten to run away!"

Orihime watched as the behemoth began counting down from ten.

She knew her powers couldn't take down Lieutenant's or Captains, but she could feel this man's power was close to Jidanbo's, and that she could fight this enemy as hard as she could.

* * *

Elsewhere, Momo came rushing towards the location that Renji was in, and could see some Squad Four fixing up some of Renji's wounds. She also saw Izuru stood nearby, looking on towards his worried friend.

"Hinamori, what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sit back and wait for whatever was happening here. I needed to come and see if I could help."

"I see...Squad Four are taking care of it. But thanks for coming, I appreciate it."

Momo slowly nodded, looking around the battlefield, seeing the damage to the ground, and the walls. To her, it felt like he had gone through quite the battle, and if that was the case, then she was pleased that he was alive at least.

"Izuru-kun, did you see who did this? Was it, Takumi Urahara-san?"

Izuru hung his head downwards.

"I don't know, but who else could it have been…? I should have been here, I should have noticed the signs...like you did..."

Momo gave a sympathetic look towards Izuru, and saw Renji's wounds having been bandaged already.

"Amazing, Squad Four already managed to get Renji-san this far along..."

"No, he was already bandaged up by the time we got here."

Momo wore surprise on her face.

"He was? Then if he was fighting Takumi Urahara-san…."

"He probably did it...this is crazy. Why would an enemy do that? Beat Renji...then he would wrap his wounds?"

Momo also wondered that.

She began to think that the rumours about Takumi weren't right at all.

Someone that was a ruthless killer wouldn't try and help someone they had attacked.

It just didn't make sense to her.

She also remembered what Takumi had said to her during their brief meeting.

About how there could be something wrong with the Soul Society.

"_What he said back then...what did he mean? He must know something...and the fact that he spared Renji-sans life...he truly must either be doing this to throw us off, or he genuinely wishes to help people out...I don't know which is the true one, but I want to say that the true one is that he does care about others feelings, and doesn't want anyone to die._"

As Momo thought about it, she was interrupted in her thoughts by Byakuya. The man stood there with a calm expression on his face, his eyes going towards Renji while Momo and Izuru both give him curious looks back.

"What happened here?"

He spoke in that soft tone that Byakuya was known for.

That sent shivers down their spines, Izuru however stepped forward and spoke.

"We believe that he had an encounter with one of the Ryoka, possibly Takumi Urahara."

Byakuya's eyes slit for a brief second.

But then returned to normal, sending a cold look to Renji.

"And what he doing stationed here?" Neither Momo nor Izuru could answer. "Then he came here of his own accord, and lost to the Ryoka. Throw him in a cell. Defeat is not an option once more, I do not have a use for a fool like Renji."

Momo couldn't believe what he was saying.

His own Captain seemed to turn on him.

"But Captain, his wounds..."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at her, so Izuru cut into the conversation, bowing his head.

"I'm sorry Captain Kuchiki, she's just worried about our friend. Please forgive her."

Momo didn't really see what she had done wrong, but she bowed her head in apology.

"I...I am sorry for speaking out of term."

Byakuya blankly stares at them, before having Renji moved by some members of the squad he brought he with him. Momo felt worried, as although Renji had his injuries treated, he wasn't out of the woods yet, and still needed to receive some care.

After Byakuya leaves, seemingly from the shadows, Gin comes forward, putting a hand to his chin.

"My oh my, what a bloody scene. Seems like Abarai had a hard battle here."

"C-Captain Ichimaru! I didn't know you were there..."

Gin lets off a creepy grin that looked like a snakes ready to attack, moving forward.

"So sorry for keeping myself hidden. Captain Kuchiki is a scary man, I didn't want to incur his wrath either." Gin pulls forward towards them both, glancing at Momo's worried face. "Do not worry, I will make sure that the Fourth Division finish off with recovering Abarai from his injuries. Now Kira-kun, come with me, there's a few things we need to do."

"Yes, Captain."

Izuru bows his head, and begins walking off with Gin.

"Thank you Captain Ichimaru."

Momo spoke while bowing her head, Gin shows a small smile as he disappears with Izuru.

But then, Momo felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Momo screams out loud, becoming a shivering mess as a result. "Takumi-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Momo assumed it was, remembering when he had done that last time. But then she turned, she saw it was just Toshiro. "Shiro-chan! Don't sneak up on me like that! I thought it was Takumi-san again!"

Momo felt her heart racing in her chest, while trying to calm down.

"Hinamori, what a reaction."

"W-Well, I've had a few people touch my shoulder recently, it gave me a fright, that's all!" Momo pointed at her with tilting eyes. "How do you Captains do that anyway?"

"Do what?"

Momo sweat dropped.

"E-Either way, why are you here?" Momo glanced around, and saw that Rangiku wasn't with Toshiro. "And where is Rangiku-san anyway?"

"I heard about the commotion and came to check out the situation, and just saw Abarai's wounds. It seemed that he suffered a hard battle. But, I didn't come specifically for that. I also came to warn you Hinamori."

"Warn me…? About what?"

Momo wondered, while Toshiro bows her neck.

"Be careful."

"O-Of Takumi-san?"

Toshiro, to her surprise, shook her head.

"No...not of him. I think he's the least of our problems right now. Be careful, of Gin Ichimaru."

Momo's eyes widening, recalling Takumi also telling her about the situation of the Soul Society briefly, and how it was dangerous…

* * *

"Yuzu! Yuzu!"

Karin yelled, running through the streets of the Seireitei, looking for Yuzu.

She wasn't that good at sensing, so it was more on a basis that she was hoping she was going in the direction that Yuzu would be in.

But as minutes rolled by, she was becoming increasingly concerned that Yuzu was going to be caught, or killed, and she couldn't have that happen, no matter what else was going to happen.

She exhaled slowly, placing a hand over her heart.

"Yuzu...I don't know where you are..."

Karin exhaled slowly, and rather than run around, she jumped onto a building, running up it quickly, and looked around the highish building.

She looked left and right, and despite now having great sensing abilities, she did feel clashes of spiritual energy.

"What do I do…?" She asked herself, placing a worried hand over her mouth. "What would that idiot Takumi would do…? He'd be able to sense the way that she would be...but I can't do that...come on, what can I do…? What can I….no, I need to start thinking."

Karin began thinking about what she could do to save her sister.

To find her.

Even though she was a Quincy, she still was her sister so she worried…

But then some realization came over her.

"_Ooh yeah! Spirit ribbons! Takumi once taught me about them...Shinigami's are red, and humans are white...Yuzu, Inoue and Giselle are the only humans here...so one in three chances I'd be able to find Yuzu…okay, I need to concentrate. I remember...closing my eyes, and concentrating, feeling the ribbons around me...yes, I can do this..._"

Karin closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Focusing on what she had learned.

She knew that she might not have the sensing abilities of the others, but she had to do something to save her sister, anything to help her out.

Concentration wrote itself across her face, exhaling deeply out of her nose.

For a minute or so, nothing seemed to happen, and Karin was growing with her frustrations.

But then she heard a voice.

"_Hey Karin, trying to find Yuzu huh?_"

It was in her inner Hollow once more, Karin's face contorted to worry.

"I-I don't have time for you...I need to find Yuzu..."

She replied aloud, trying to banish the Hollow from her mind.

"_Hehe, I know that. Hey, if you ask nicely, I'll give you a hint._"

"For a price no doubt."

"_No, I'll give you this one for free._"

Karin raised an eyebrow.

"And why would you do that exactly?"

"_Call it the goodness of my heart. Besides, if it leads to more fights, I'm all for that._"

"So you can take me over, right?"

Karin demanded, while the Hollow laughed deep within her mind.

"_Perhaps. Anyway, the hint is, your mind is working too much. You keep thinking about different possibilities, you need to clear your mind. Forget about anything else around you, just sense, don't think. That's the trick to it._"

Karin didn't like taking advice from her Hollow, but she thought that it would be for the best right now to help out the young girl.

So that's what she did.

She cleared her mind while trying her best not to think about the situation at hand.

Inhaling and exhaling at a two second interval, Karin's mind slowly began to clear, until she felt something brush her hand.

Opening her eyes, she saw different ribbons around her, mostly red ones fluttering in the wind.

"These must be the spirit ribbons...heh, I did it..."

"_What do you say?_"

Karin grimaced at her inner Hollow's playful voice.

"...Thanks."

"_Good girl. Now go and find a fight. I'm itching for one._"

Karin lowered her eyes, looking for any white ribbon.

But she was drawn towards the left, so she looked that way, and saw a single white ribbon fluttering around in the wind, so she reached for it, grabbing it tightly, and it felt like a pulse went through it, it felt as if she was right next to Yuzu.

"This is it! Don't worry Yuzu, I'm coming!"

Karin took off in the direction she hoped Yuzu would be in, hopping between the buildings as fast as she could.

* * *

Yuzu continued her fight with Nanao, who was watching with calm eyes, but she did feel as if Yuzu did have some talent, she was able to throw up a wall with her arrows, and was getting quite speedy. It wasn't Captain Level, nor would it be Lieutenant Level, but it still was a rather fast enemy that Nanao was dealing with.

Yuzu then walked forward, and pulled back her arrows, summoning a good deal of arrows from her bow, firing them at Nanao in several intervals at once, Nanao knowing that Yuzu was quite smart, so it wouldn't be her only plan.

So rather than try and shoot them down, Nanao placed her hands together.

"Would you like to tell you something?"

Nanao asked, while Yuzu's arrows neared her.

"W-What?"

"When I was in the Shinigami academy, the area I excelled in, was the usage of Kido. I got my Lieutenant's rank based solely on my Kido expertise."

Yuzu looked slightly worried as Nanao's energy came towards her hands.

"K-Kido expertise alone? Not your Zanpakuto?"

"Truth be told, I couldn't imprint on an Asauchi."

"S-So you don't have a Zanpakuto like Takumi-kun and the others?"

Nanao revealed a small smile.

"No, I do have one."

Yuzu seemed more confused than before.

"But, if you couldn't imprint...then how do you have one?"

"That's a family secret." Nanao released a pulse from her body, the spirit energy forced some of the arrows away from her body. "Only a few people in the Seireitei know the truth behind my Zanpakuto, and one of them, used to be Takumi-kun."

Yuzu's eyes widened slightly.

"T-Takumi-kun? So...you were friends?"

"Something like that. Now, allow me to show you a rapid fire version of the spell Byakurai."

Yuzu gulped at the sound of that.

"R-Rapid fire...ooh no..."

"I am sorry, but I am going to have to put a stop to you."

Nanao extended several of her fingers, and unleashed Byakurai's in three second intervals for Yuzu's body. Gasping, Yuzu dashed towards the right hand side, avoiding the first lightning blast, only for the second to come right for her body, so she quickly pushed off the ground with her feet, avoiding the second blast.

Nanao's fingers aimed for the sky, shooting off a third bolt of lightning for the young girl. Yuzu felt panic entering her heart, seeing the pale bolt of lightning heading for her system, so rather than take it, she charged up her arrow as much as she could, and fired it off for the incoming bolt of electricity, smashing against it, and created an explosion.

Nanao saw the smoke rise between them, blanketing the area, so even she couldn't see that well.

But she could sense Yuzu's presence, so she aimed her finger in that direction, and announced her Kido spell while drawing in the air with her fingers, a trail of yellow energy followed after her, drawing an inverted triangle with three smaller triangles at the corners.

"Bakudo 30: Shitotsu Sansen."

Announcing that the smaller triangles shot off through the smoke, and she heard it hit something, then it piercing a nearby wall.

Nanao bowed her head, while walking through the smoke towards what she assumed to be a pinned Yuzu.

"I am sorry that it had to end this way, but there was simply no..." As Nanao got through the smoke, she saw that in fact, it wasn't Yuzu that was pinned, nothing was pinned at all. "...w-what, how did she...but, I felt her presence..." Nanao's eyes widened when she felt a spike towards her left, turning to see Yuzu's presence, a semi large arrow in hand, and fired it off at a high speed for the young nearly unsuspecting woman. "Aaaah!"

Nanao cried out as she threw up a barrier, but it wasn't enough to block the entire power, and some of the energy rebounded back onto her, forcing her body to skid across the ground, while Yuzu panted a little.

"H-How about that?"

Nanao looked at her hand, and saw that she was bleeding a little bit.

She wasn't used to bleeding, she hadn't really ever bled before, and she could feel her heart rate increasing.

"H-How did you…?"

Nanao had to ask what the heck had just happened, Yuzu managed to trick her somehow.

Because of the thoughts of blood roaming her mind, it wasn't coming to her how Yuzu had done that.

Yuzu didn't reply, but she thought about the technique to herself.

"_It was a technique that Giselle-san taught me. Gathering the nearby Reishi, and infusing some of my own into it, it can fool senses to believing that it is them, that's how Ise-san got tricked just then, I'm glad I learned how to do that, it came in handy. Thank you Giselle-san. It allowed me to stop getting captured. But this woman is tough, I'm not sure I can beat her with my powers, but I will survive as long as I can Karin...I'll do my best to win._"

Yuzu released small pants as Nanao continued panicking about her damaged hand.

Twitching her fingers around, Nanao exhaled slowly, trying to regain her composure.

Remembering what she had to do for her Captain, and how she couldn't lose this fight, Nanao summoned inner strength that she didn't know that she was capable of using, and pressed forward.

"I have to admit...your technique is great. You make up for the lack of destructive power for the technique you possess, I am of a similar nature. But, because of that, I will have to end this fight now, so forgive me."

Yuzu backed away slowly while Nanao continued pressing forward towards her, seemingly ready to strike at her.

Nanao thrusted out her finger.

"Bakudo 1: Sai."

Yuzu's hands suddenly were locked behind her arms, as Nanao unleashed a Shakkaho towards Yuzu's body. Yuzu fought against the Sai binds, eventually being able to break out of them, and attempt to dodge the Shakkaho that Nanao unleashed, only for the energy to hit her side, and sent her spinning into a nearby wall, making her cry out.

Nanao bowed her neck, as she waved out her fingers.

"Bakudo 63: Sajo Sabaku."

Yuzu, suffering from the attack before, suddenly saw energy chains coming for her, so she flashed backwards, but the chains followed after her at a high speed, forcing her to fire off a few arrows to try and divert them away from her.

However, the chains thickness managed to break through Yuzu's arrows, and came closer and closer for her body.

But as Yuzu was going to be caught Karin came swinging in with her sword, unleashing her energy towards Nanao who gasped, and used her Kido to form a shield to tank the energy blast that Karin had used, but Nanao noticed the barrier had cracked in several places, showcasing the power of Karin, while Karin's sword also managed to cleave right through the chains that Nanao had unleashed.

"Yuzu! Are you alright?!"

"Y-Yes, I'm okay Karin!"

Karin looked relieved, freeing Yuzu from her binds, and turned towards Nanao with her sword extended outwards.

"Alright, that's enough, attacking my sister like that, did you think you'd be able to get away with it?"

Nanao furrowed her eyebrows.

"Honestly, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up."

"Of course I'd show up. Now you've got two on one."

Nanao furrowed her eyebrows, and went to answer, when they all heard fireworks exploding in the sky.

Nanao sharpened her eyes, feeling for Yumichika's energy, and felt it being on the low side, along with Ganju who was running around.

She then released a relieved breath.

"Okay, now it seems that we can talk."

"T-Talk? About what?"

Yuzu wondered as Nanao allowed a simple calm expression to appear.

"While Madarame-san and Ayasegawa-san were still around and fighting, I couldn't say anything in case they came back and overheard it or felt us not fighting which would lead to trouble for us both. But now it seems that they have been defeated, I can say what my true objective was when coming out here."

"And, what is this true objective exactly?"

Karin raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"It's to take you to my Captain." Karin and Yuzu stand side by side with their weapons on the ready. "It's not what you think. I don't want to harm you."

"You could have fooled me."

Karin said while extending her finger out.

"I understand how it must look, but for the sake of attempting to keep it secret, I had to pretend to fight while the others could still sense me. But now that they have been incapacitated, please come with me."

"I still don't know. How can we trust you?"

Yuzu brought up to Karin's relief that it wasn't just her feeling like this.

"My Captain said that this might happen, so look at this."

Nanao pulled out a picture, and showed it to both Karin and Yuzu.

It was a picture of a clearly younger Takumi, sitting on Shunsui's left shoulder, giving the peace sign towards the camera, while Nanao as a young girl sat on the right one, looking really embarrassed. The picture seemed to be quite old as well, but well preserved.

"That's...Takumi-kun."

"Yeah...damn, he was a cute kid, what happened?" Yuzu lightly jabbed Karin in the torso. "O-Ow, I was kidding."

Nanao gave a raised eyebrow, before exhaling slowly.

"That picture should prove it. My Captain and I, are on Takumi-kun's side. We never believed he truly could be capable of what has been said about him, and as we go deeper into this mystery...we're afraid that this is bigger than us, it involves the entire Soul Society, and also, possibly the people responsible, also framed Takumi-kun for a crime he didn't commit, and we wish to prove that. But we need to work together, my Captain might be being watched, so I was instructed to come and get you. Please follow me, it is important that we leave before anyone else comes."

Karin pulls Yuzu to the side, and converses with her, while watching Nanao carefully.

"You fought her, what do you think about her?"

"Honestly...she kinda scares me. But...when I see her speaking about Takumi-kun, it seems genuine. And if this is bigger than us, I think we should work together. Also, I think that she's right about us working together, if we can also help Takumi-kun...he must know about this man as well, so most likely, Takumi-kun will be going there. So we could get there and meet up."

"...Alright, I'll trust you, but lets keep our guard up just in case."

"I agree."

Yuzu finished, and walked back to Nanao, Karin folding her arms.

"Alright, we'll go with you. But we're watching you."

Nanao bowed her head.

"Okay then. Should we go and retrieve your friend?"

"Our friend?"

Karin seemed confused, while Yuzu giggles awkwardly.

"She's talking about Ganju-san."

Karin's eyes widen.

"Ooh crap! I forgot about Ganju! We better go and get him just in case he's...lets just go and get him."

Yuzu giggles nervously, wondering how Karin managed to forget about Ganju, but agreed nonetheless and decided to go and find him.

* * *

Back with Takumi and the others, they continued going through the sewer system together, at a good pace. Not too fast, so they could conserve energy for any fight that they would be coming up against in the future.

"Hey Taku! Tell us something good, okay?"

"Hmmm? Like what Yachiru-san?"

"I don't know~ Something fun!"

"Eeeh...something fun huh….erm, well I once fought something called an Arrancar. That was a pretty fun experience, I got to see something amazing."

Nemu raised her brows as Hanataro looked clueless.

"Arra...Arrancar? What's that Taku?"

"It's basically, a Hollow with Shinigami powers. That's how I had it explained to me anyway."

"Ooh! That seems interesting! I'm sure Ken-chan would love to fight someone with those powers!"

"Haha, I'm sure that he would."

"I-It seems that you've had quite the time being a Shinigami..."

Hanataro added, Takumi nodding slowly.

"I guess that I have yeah. Been quite a wild ride. From fighting Hollows, to exploding Quincy's, to Arrancar's, and now Shinigami's."

"Taku's life sounds really fun!"

Takumi chuckled at Yachiru's childlike nature.

"It's quite fun yes~ Though right now, I'm more focused on finding Rukia-chan and helping out the others."

"Hehehe, Taku's quite kind~ I like Taku~"

"I like you too Yachiru-san!"

Yachiru giddily swayed on Takumi's shoulder.

But as they moved forward, Takumi also felt something else with her.

A clash of her, and someone else's spiritual pressure.

"Shit...she's in a battle."

"A battle? You can tell?"

Hanataro was surprised that he could, when he couldn't tell at all.

"Yes...it's difficult to explain, but I can feel Orihime-chan being in distress right now. We need to pick it up."

"You heard the man!" Yachiru announced to Nemu and Hanataro. "We need to go faster, so double time everyone! Taku is like the Captain of the Taku Squad, I'm Lieutenant! Boobies, you can be Third Seat!"

"Ah, thank you very much Lieutenant. It would be my honour to be Third Seat of the Taku Squad."

Takumi gave Nemu a curious look while Hanataro pointed to himself.

"M-Me? What am I Lieutenant?"

"Erm….Tenth Seat!"

"B-But I'm Seventh Seat in Squad Four!"

Hanataro argued back, but Yachiru was absolute with what she wanted.

"But, if we get more members who are stronger for the Taku Squad, then I want room for them~ The Lieutenant has spoken!"

Hanataro began letting out small cries, so Takumi spoke up.

"Hanataro-san, you can be Third Seat with Nemu-san."

"Ooh thank you very much Urahara-san! You're very kind! Something I never thought I'd say!"

Takumi gave a bemused look, but then showed a serious face.

"With that out of the way, lets get going."

"B-But, I can't run as fast as you guys!"

Hanataro complained, when Nemu stoically grabbed the young man and hauled him over her shoulder, and began to run.

"There, you can be in my arms."

"T-That's not really a great solution! A-Also, if we go this way, then we'll be going through a populated area of the Soul Society's Squad 11's favourite hang outs! Isn't that dangerous Urahara-san?!"

"Is there an alternative route?"

Takumi asked while leaping over a body of sludge water to get to the other side.

"W-Well, yes but it would take several hours..."

Hanataro replied as Nemu did the same thing as Takumi, running right behind him.

"We don't have several hours. Even if it is populated, Orihime-chan's in danger, I don't have time to be cautious about this. We'll just have to go through them if necessary. Don't worry Hanataro-san, you just keep behind us."

"Y-Yes...though I'm sorry..."

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you sorry?"

Takumi didn't get what he was apologizing for exactly, it just didn't make sense to him.

"I...I'm leaving all of the fighting to you, and the others...I feel useless...I want to save Rukia-san as well, but I feel as if I'm dragging the others down..."

Takumi gained a soft look to his face, addressing Hanataro with that same soft, kind expression.

"There's different ways people can help during situations like this. Guides, fighters, healers, all important. I don't know my way around here, so without you guys, I'd be completely lost, beyond following Orihime-chan's pressure. In fact, I'd say healers are the most important thing on a battlefield."

"Y-Yes?"

"Yes, because if the healers go down, then so do the fighters eventually. Healers also save the lives of those who have fought tough battles. Don't count yourself short Hanataro-san, you are helping out. Leave the fighting to people like me, I'll leave the healing to you."

Nemu saw Hanataro's face curl upwards.

"Y-Yes! I will do my best!"

"Haha, that's good, I'll be counting on you."

Hanataro felt warm inside of his chest.

It felt good to hear kindness like this.

Usually, he didn't hear anything about his usefulness from anyone.

But Takumi was counting on him to be their healer, so he couldn't let anyone down.

"Y-Yes, leave it to me Urahara-san!"

"Just call me Takumi, or Taku which seems to be the norm now."

Hanataro nodded strongly.

"Yes, Takumi-san!"

Takumi gave a soft gaze, and then continued dashing through the area with the others.

* * *

Back with Orihime, she watched as Jirobo kept his eyes on her form, and she thought about how she was going to combat this enemy before her.

"Nine...eight..."

The man known as Jirobo continued the countdown.

Knowing he was dangerous, Orihime tilted her head, and thought about what Takumi would do in this kind of situation.

Imagining Takumi stood there, with sword in hand, an 'I Love Inventing' shirt on, and a cute expression on his face while holding a glowing box in the other hand.

"_Hey enemy, I will put a stop to you and protect my loved ones~ Perhaps it will be this new super cool invention that I have made~?_"

Imagining Takumi using a cutesy voice, Orihime smiled at the thought of Takumi doing that.

"Ooh, if I could invent something to get out of here, then that would be good..."

Orihime mumbled, Jirobo thought "_Is she talking to me?_" but then he growled, continuing the countdown, until he got to the end.

"I've reached the end of the line little girl. Your time to regret is over, I'll have to finish you off now."

Orihime's face became serious, seeing how he was holding onto his blade. He then came at her swiftly, so she dodged to the side, the blade slicing into the building before her, and she paused for a few moments.

Hurting someone isn't something she liked, even her enemy.

But she knew that she would have to do something against the enemy.

The enemy Jirobo turned towards her, and gave a disgusting smirk on his lips.

"You dodged my attack. But looking at you, there's no killing intent behind your eyes. You can't beat me without wanting to kill me."

Orihime's eyes lowered.

She knew he was right.

She couldn't bring herself to kill someone.

A Hollow was different, a Shinigami enemy, she thought about their family, their friends, among other things like that.

"_In the end...I can't do it...Taku-chan, I don't know how you do it...fighting someone...fighting with the intent to take their lives...to...to beat someone like that..._"

Orihime wallowed in her thoughts, while the Shinigami came closer towards her.

"Looks like you've given up. Alright then girl, if that's how you wish to play it, I'll fight you and kill you without much pain."

Orihime berated herself again and again as Jirobo came closer.

Running at a decent speed, his sword aimed true for her upper body while Orihime clutches her hands.

She thought about what Takumi would do, and how she could do it…

But then she remembered something about the time that they were in the human world, just before coming to the Soul Society, about the topic of fighting enemies.

* * *

_With the training having come to an end that day for invading the Soul Society, Orihime strolled over to a sweating Takumi who panted several times, brushing his forehead of his sweat, before Orihime sat down beside him, showcasing an unsure look on her face._

"_Orihime-chan, is something wrong?"_

"_Actually...I've been thinking about something Taku-chan."_

_Takumi raised an eyebrow._

"_Oh? What's that?"_

"_It's about...can I ask you something?" Takumi nodded. "How do you fight enemies? Not Hollows...but enemies like that Shinigami you fought? Weren't you...worried?"_

"_Worried about fighting him? Or worried about something else?"_

_He could see that there was some doubt within Orihime, and hoped to coax it out of her._

"_I'm just worried about...what if, at the time of being in the Soul Society, I freeze when fighting an enemy? I...I don't want to kill people Taku-chan...it must seem cowardly of me to say that...but, when I think about it, I think about the person and their families and..."_

"_You're a very kind woman Orihime-chan." Takumi soothed. "Even I find it difficult when thinking about it like that. And there is an answer to not killing someone."_

_Orihime became intrigued._

"_What's that?"_

"_You disable them."_

_It seemed so simple, but to Orihime it was mind blowing._

"_Disabling them…?"_

"_Yeah. Killing isn't in everyone, and it shouldn't have to be either. People like you Orihime-chan, you're so kind and gentle, I wouldn't ever ask you to kill anyone. When I fight, I fight to protect rather than hurt."_

"_Protect...rather than hurt."_

_Takumi showed a bright smile._

"_Right, that's how I fight when I have to. I think about who I need to protect, whether that be myself, or other people. If it comes down to it...I don't want to kill, but if it means keeping innocents safe, then I can do it. But I can also understand why you couldn't, and that's okay, killing is the last resort, if all other options have been exhausted, that's how I see it anyway."_

_Orihime gained a bright smile, and lightly kissed Takumi on the cheek._

"_Thank you, Taku-chan. Yes...I know what I have to do. I'll fight to protect, and disable my enemy, and I think you're right...killing should only be the last resort. But, even if Taku-chan does have to kill...I know that you're a very loving person and I'll always be here to support you."_

"_Me too, I'll always be in your corner Orihime-chan, supporting you."_

_Orihime's cheeks flushed while his hand overlaid with her own…_

* * *

Coming out of the memory, Orihime locked eyes with the enemy, and spoke up.

"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily. Santen Kesshun, I reject."

Orihime's triangular shield came out before her, blocking the sword swing of the enemy, the man's eyes widening in surprise.

"A shield...what a strange power you have." His eyes ran over Orihime, seeing a change within her. "What's changed? Before, you looked almost defeated, but now you look almost resolved...no, not almost. Your resolve to fight has grown even more. Yet I sense no killing intent. I don't understand girl, what has happened?"

Orihime pulled forward, tightening her hands.

"My killing intent hasn't changed, I do not wish to kill you."

"If that's the case, then you're not going to be able to fight me! Do you get it!? You need killing intent!"

Orihime shook her head.

"There's another way."

"Hah, as if little girl!"

Jirobo used his flash step to run around her shield, and come close to her body.

Yoruichi came back from her fight after defeating the enemies quite easily, and went to take on Jirobo...but stopped when seeing the determination on Orihime's face, so she kept back, and watched what Orihime was going to do.

Orihime looked at the man's hand, and then towards her hairpins, announcing "Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun, I reject!" and allowed Tsubaki to come out, shooting like an arrow for the man's hand, slicing across the hand and blood gushed out like a geyser.

"Aaaaaaaaaah! W-What the hell happened to not wanting to kill?!"

Orihime stayed calm as she faced down the Shinigami.

"I don't want to kill you, but I wont stand back and be a victim either. Disabling is different to killing. Taku-chan told me that...so, I will stop you!"

Jirobo, seeing more of the resolve within her eyes, backed away slightly.

But then his eyes tightened on her form.

"As if I am going to lose to you girl! You've stepped onto a battlefield! Speaking about not killing your enemy, it doesn't even make sense! You have to slay your enemy with all of your power! If you don't, then they're going to slay you! So die!"

The man rushed forward towards her at a high speed, so Orihime summoned her shield, and blocked several strikes from him, forcing her body backwards ever so slightly, but she kept her ground, and refused to move.

"Sorry, but I wont die! Tsubaki!"

She then summoned Tsubaki, and had him shoot for his shoulder, Jirobo was forced to jump backwards, but Orihime thought of what she could do, so she ordered "Cut through the roof on his side!" to Tsubaki, which he smirked at, nodding and cut right through half of the roof, Jirobo's eyes widening, seeing Tsubaki doing just that.

"W-What the hell are you doing!?"

The roof part he was standing on, began crumbling down under the intense cutting power of Tsubaki.

"I am trying to win the fight, I'm sorry if you get hurt!"

She apologized as the building continued to come down from his side of the building, leaving Orihime's side relatively safe.

Jirobo, seeing the state of the building, was forced to jump towards her, when Orihime had her shield fly forward like a battering ram, slamming against the man's body and sent him backwards while she used her hands to direct the shield itself, and the speed increased as the shield pushed the man away from Orihime's body.

"Stop!"

She ordered the shield, which it complied, forcing Jirobo's body to fly backwards at the intense speed that Saten Kesshun was going beforehand, sending him hurdling right down to the ground, smashing right through a roof of a nearby building, dropping him further and further into the building itself.

Orihime grimaced at the sight of Jirobo flying through a building like that.

But she thought that perhaps the fight would be over now, and released a small pant.

"_Thank you Taku-chan, you were right, I did my best and was able to defeat my enemy without killing them._"

Orihime panted from her battle with Jirobo, and thought that would be the end.

She was wrong, and Yoruichi knew as much, so watched what was going to happen next.

A minute later, as Orihime had managed to catch her breath, Jirobo came shooting out of the roof she was standing on, uprooting it, and caused Orihime to take a tumble, heading for the edge of the roof they were.

"Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"As if I would lose to you girl!"

Jirobo saw Orihime rolling to the edge of the building, so he took off running so he could take her down himself.

Orihime thought about what she should do as she unwillingly rolled off the side of the building, then she saw another building a small distance away, so rather than allow Jirobo the tactical advantage if she pulled herself up on the building she currently was on, she changed tactics, and rolled off the building herself.

"_What is she doing? She can't fly..._"

Jirobo thought that Orihime was mad.

Yoruichi grit her teeth, and was about to move to help her...

But then she saw that she had summoned her shield midair, and used it as a platform, jumping from the shield, to the nearby building unharmed, Jirobo's eyes turning to anger, while Yoruichi thought "_Clever use of your shield Inoue._" and nodded proudly at Orihime's quick thinking.

Landing on the building, Orihime lost her footing, and fell on her front, panting at the feeling of what she had just done.

But she didn't have long as Jirobo came shooting down towards her with sword in hand, so she summoned her shield, blocking off the sword swing, then summoned Tsubaki, sending him at Jirobo's shoulder once more, but he dodged it quite expertly, but Orihime jumped to her feet, remembering the training Tatsuki had given her, and delivered a swift kick to Jirobo's upper body where she had wounded him before, hitting so hard that he was forced backwards.

"Aah...f-for a human, you are quite annoying."

"I-I can't quit yet!"

Orihime announced, as the man chuckled.

"Funny, it seems that we both use projectile weapons."

Orihime drew a clueless face.

"Projectiles?"

"That's right. Here, I'll show you." He places his hand at the tip of his sword. "Flap Away, Tsunzakigarasu!"

Thrusting his hand down the blade, they turned into countless flying curved blades that danced around him.

Orihime's eyes transfixed on the blades themselves, and wondered how she was going to get out of this one.

"The true form of my Zanpakuto. I'm called wind scythe because of the speed and mastery of projectile weapons. No one has ever seen my blades and lived to tell the tale of them. Sorry little girl, but you're not going to be able to beat me."

Orihime pulled backwards, and thought about what she would do…

No, she thought about what Takumi would do.

If she used a shield, then they might have a chance to get around the shield, and survive the attack all together.

If she used Tsubaki, then some might get through.

Even if she used both together, some might still get through.

So she had to do something against them.

"_Taku-chan, you'd think of something….you'd know what to do...I can't let you down Taku-chan. I can get out of this...I just have to think like Taku-chan...how would he get out of this situation…? He'd do something...he'd probably attempt to slash them down at once with a wide range attack...but I can't do that...but maybe I can do something, something that Hiyori-san thought I could do...I could try it here but..._"

Orihime thought about it as Jirobo continued to boast about his abilities being better than Orihime's.

Orihime ignored him, and continued thinking of ways to get through and fight off the enemy as much as she could.

"Don't worry Orihime, we will support you."

One of her spirits spoke to her, as her face turned upwards.

"Yeah, we'll stand beside you."

"Anything you need."

More and more support came to her, and she couldn't help but be relieved.

Then she realized what she might be able to do.

"Now, enough of this, it is time to perish!"

He went to move his hand to force the curved blades to attack Orihime, when Orihime announced "Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!" and thrust the spirit outwards, at the same time, she sent out her other spirits secretly.

However, what surprised Jirobo was rather than attack with Tsubaki, Tsubaki flew around in the air, both in front and behind her, above her, all around her, creating what seemed to be a net of Koten Zanshun's power, something that she put all her power to keep around, and as the flying curved blades hit the net, they began to be broken down due to the left behind energy of Orihime's attack. It wasn't as strong as Orihime's direct attack. But it was enough for the bladed attacks themselves.

Yoruichi continued watching Orihime taking on Jirobo using inventive ways, and wondered how much Takumi had influenced Orihime, it definitely would be something Takumi would do, and in turn, it seemed Orihime followed example, and created a move all her own to combat difficult enemies.

Orihime on the other hand, was quite pleased, seeing the flying blades being torn asunder by her technique.

"_I remember Taku-chan using a skill called Lightning Field in his fight with Tier-san, where the area was able to stop different attacks and damage at the same time like a net, this is like that. Though it doesn't seem to last long, the residual energy that Tsubaki is leaving behind to create the net of energy is dissipating, so I need to act quickly, I'm also becoming increasingly tired. But I wont give up, Taku-chan wouldn't give up, and neither will I. I'll have to thank Hiyori-san for helping me use Tsubaki like this...I'm glad it seems to be working._"

While she thought it, Jirobo was in disbelief.

His blades were being destroyed by Orihime's attack.

He couldn't get through what was happening, Orihime's move became quite incredible.

"W-What are you girl!? What is that strange technique!?"

"I...I am following Taku-chan's way of thinking!"

"W-Who's Taku-chan?!"

Orihime smiled brightly.

"He's the man I love. Now, Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily. Saten Kesshun, I reject."

As she said it, a shield that she sent out before of Saten Kesshun slammed behind him, propelling his body forward with the shield forever behind him, pushing him forward towards her body.

"W-Wait! You're going to cut me down?!"

"Please forgive me!"

"N-No! It can't end!"

Jirobo yelled, and brought his remaining blades back to his handle, as Orihime while panting prepared Tsubaki.

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

Orihime sent off her spirit towards Jirobo, but not with the intent to kill.

No, this was the intent to disable, which also fuelled her convictions, allowing Tsubaki's power to grow more and more.

Yoruichi watched on as the spirit came closer and closer to Jirobo.

"_It seems, despite being an innocent girl, she can fight when she knows it wont lead to death, and I think it's better this way, at least for right now. She might not be able to take on Captains, or Lieutenant's, but she's growing stronger, and she's coming up with some interesting techniques. I thought that I'd have to step in...but she proved me wrong, she can do it. I'm sure you'd be proud to see her Takumi, she's really coming into her own._"

As Yoruichi thought it, Jirobo swings his blade outwards, but because of the cut Orihime dealt to him before, his hand was unsteady as Orihime's attack came full force, slicing against the blade of Jirobo's.

"N-No! It can't end here! I can't lose to you!"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Orihime poured her energy into the attack, allowing it to increase, and therefore, sliced right through the blade, and cut deeply into the man's body while Orihime held sadness on her face.

Even if she had disabled him, she didn't like hurting people.

She knew though that sometimes, it was necessary and this time it was necessary.

But she had used quite a bit of energy, so she collapsed onto the ground, while Jirobo fell down, unconscious from Orihime's attack.

"I...I did it...Taku-chan..."

Orihime continued to pant as Yoruichi landed on the roof.

"Inoue, you managed to win against him."

"Y-Yes...I remembered, what Taku-chan said. I don't...I don't have to kill my opponents, I can disable them. I know sometimes...you have to kill your enemy, even Taku-chan said that...but if at all possible, I don't want to do that, only when it comes down to the last resort."

"Heh...yes, that you can. I think that's the best way for you to fight, Inoue, I'm sure Takumi would say the same, and I am sure he'll be proud that you won, like I am."

Orihime smiled softly, glad that she managed to win the fight as she did.

* * *

After his fight with Ganju, Yumichika was licking his wounds. Though he was stronger than Ganju, Ganju managed to outsmart him, and use fireworks to his advantage, so now he had a hairstyle that stuck his hair upwards, something that he didn't particularly like.

However, while he was attempting to make sense of what had just happened, stepping out of the shadows, was Giselle.

"Hello there."

"Aaah!" Yumichika jumped at the voice, turning to see Giselle with her hands behind her back. "Y-You, who are you?"

"My name is Giselle."

"Oh...what do you want Giselle? Though you are quite cute, don't look at me, I'm not perfect right now."

Giselle showed a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Yes, I'm sure that you're feeling weird since you lost to Ganju."

"I did not lose to him! He caught me off guard! Ugly bastard, trying to stand in the light of true beauty!"

Giselle continued to smile, pulling forward.

"What's your name?"

"...Yumichika, why?"

"Ooh, so you're Yumichika then? Hehe, I think I have a friend of yours~"

Giselle snapped her fingers, and from the shadows, Ikkaku stepped out, with a vacant look on his face, and a reddish hue to his skin, his eyes white without pupils. Yumichika's eyes widened in pure shock.

"W-What the hell Ikkaku?! What's happened to you!?"

"Ooh, so his name is Ikkaku? Hehe, he didn't tell me before I turned him into my Zombie."

Yumichika felt scared when she said that.

"Z-Zombie…? Y-You turned him into a Zombie…?"

Giselle twirled her hair.

"Just for a little while, that's all."

"But, you can't...I-Ikkaku! Can you hear me!?"

"He can't hear you."

She replied while thumbing her long hair.

"Y-You..." He withdrew his blade as Giselle giggled slightly. "I will fight you!"

"But, you're in no state to fight me. Don't worry, it wont be for long. Just until we don't need your services anymore, alright? I treat my Zombie's with kindness and love~ Just ask Zombie Ikkaku, and Zombie Chizuru who seems to have developed something of her own back there~ You'll love being a Zombie."

Yumichika felt his heart race, pulling backwards across the street while still on the ground.

But then his back hit something, so he looked up, seeing more Zombified members of the Gotei 13, their eyes looking down at him.

"N-No! Stay away from me! Don't come closer!"

"Awwww...grab him."

The Zombie's nodded and grabbed Yumichika's body, as he struggled. Ikkaku also pounced on him, holding him down.

"No! Leave me alone! Don't do this!"

"Sorry, but you have to join my group now." Giselle got closer, placing a hand on his face, as he cringed. "Shhh, don't worry, you'll do, Zombie Yumichika~"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Yumichika screamed as Giselle did what she needed to do, turning Yumichika into her Zombie.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi and the others finally came to a ladder, Takumi glanced at Hanataro who nodded.

"This will bring us the closest to the pressure you're wanting to go to Takumi-san."

"Great, then we get up there, and get Orihime-chan and attempt to find the others. I can feel a few pressures up here, but we should be able to speed blitz them, they don't seem higher than normal Shinigami from what I can tell."

"Agreed, we should be able to bypass them quickly enough Takumi-sama."

Takumi nodded in agreement to what was being said.

"Yay, lets do this quickly!"

Yachiru cheered out, so Takumi lifted up the manhole cover, and quickly got out of the sewer, along with Yachiru on his shoulder, Nemu and Hanataro followed suit.

Takumi looked around a corner, and saw a bunch of Shinigami stood there, so he turned to the others.

"Nemu-san, you and I can speed these guys quickly, they wont know what's happened."

"Yes, I agree Takumi-sama. I shall back you up."

Takumi bowed his head, and before they could think, he dashed forward, using his hands to incapacitate them at breakneck speeds, the same for Nemu who followed behind, twirling around as she delivered many kicks to the enemies faces, forcing them into nearby walls, and breaking them down all together.

They were shell shocked, and because of the speed, they couldn't predict what was going to happen next.

They couldn't get passed the fast moving blurs, and ended up being taken down by a combination of Takumi, and Nemu.

Appearing on the other side, Takumi looked at the downed Shinigami, murmuring "Sorry." and then looked to the others.

"She's not that far from here, lets go."

The others nodded, and shot off for the location of Orihime.

They ran quickly, and managed to cover a good amount of distance.

However, Takumi felt as if something was behind him.

It felt like a Demon was slowly worming its way around his neck, and he was being strangled.

"_This feeling...I know it all too well. From the last time we met..._"

Takumi believed he knew what this was.

He just hoped that they'd be able to get away from it before it could catch him, and the others.

He glanced at the others, but saw that they looked normal, they didn't seem to figure out what was happening.

But Takumi just knew that this wasn't going to end well.

Nemu also noticed a chance within Takumi, raising an eyebrow.

"Takumi-sama, is something wrong?"

Takumi honestly didn't know how to answer that.

"I don't know yet...something is coming. I can sense it...I don't know why...but I can feel it, a Demon is coming..."

Hanataro gulped.

"A-A Demon!? W-What kind of Demon?!"

"A Demon that wishes for violence, one that wishes to fight. But, how did he find..."

Takumi didn't have an answer right now.

Though he had some ideas about how it happened.

His eyes went around the area, and saw a large white tower in the distance.

"_Don't worry Rukia-chan, I'll be there soon. I just have a few things I need to do. Wait for me._"

Takumi vowed within himself to get to Rukia quickly.

Even with all of this going on, he still wasn't going to leave Rukia behind no matter what came up against him.

Even if it was the so-called Demon Takumi thought was tailing them.

They came to a section of tall buildings surrounding them, they shot right through it.

But as they did, Takumi suddenly felt something wrap around him.

As if the stench of death hung in the air, a monster was coiling around his very being, threatening to take him whole.

He also noticed something else.

Hanataro began to sway side to side, while Nemu felt sweat coming to her forehead, even she felt it now.

Yachiru on the other hand was super excited about what was happening.

"Ooh my, he's finally found us! Taku, he's here!"

Takumi exhaled slowly, seeing Hanataro's eyes widening in shock, worry, and also fear.

As if the power had been drained out of him, Hanataro began falling forward, so Takumi caught the young man in his arms.

"Hanataro-san..."

He looked down at Hanataro, who couldn't speak.

He was white as a ghost, and for good reason as well.

"The spiritual pressure around here was too much for him to handle."

Takumi silently nodded at Nemu, knowing she was speaking the truth.

"As I was checking out some low time enemies battle, I happened to come across you, Takumi Urahara! Thinking you can escape me!"

Takumi gulped, feeling the presence above him.

Daring his eyes upwards, he caught the sight of Kenpachi stood on top of the building, his lone eye wandering down towards them.

"Ooooh! Ken-chan's here! Hi Ken-chan! I stayed with Taku to make sure he fights you! He said he really wants to fight you and become best friends!"

Takumi didn't recall ever saying he wanted to become best friends with Kenpachi, or that he was really wanting to fight him. All he recalled was that he would fight if he had to fight.

"I see, I had wondered why you wandered off again Yachiru. You did well."

Yachiru thrusts her hand to the sky, as Kenpachi jumps down towards them.

His mere presence nearly knocked Hanataro out, Nemu stayed relatively calm, and Takumi had slightly heavy eyes.

"Yes!" Yachiru turned to Takumi. "Taku, you said you'd fight him. You will, wont you?"

Takumi looked at Kenpachi who seemed to be an unmovable wall.

Then he looked at Hanataro who was either passed out, or close to it, Takumi couldn't honestly tell.

"Yes, I will Yachiru-san."

"Yay! I knew you'd keep your word Taku!"

Nemu, having heard what Takumi had said, raised an unsure eyebrow.

"Takumi-sama, he is Captain Kenpachi Zaraki, very blood thirsty, very deadly. He wont simply allow you to leave with your life if he can help it. He has decided you are his enemy, and as his enemy, he wishes to see your power, and to receive his own."

For Nemu, Takumi could hear the concern within her voice.

He was touched by her worry.

Even however minor others would think it is, Takumi knew different and knew she was worried for him, like he was for her, and the others.

He then looked towards Nemu.

"Nemu-san, I'm sorry to ask this, but can you take Hanataro-san and go towards Orihime-chan?"

Nemu was surprised that he had said something like that which was rare for Nemu since she wasn't one to surprise so easily.

"Takumi-sama, this man is very powerful. Do you believe you can win?"

Takumi honestly didn't know the answer to that.

"I don't know, even from here he seems like a monster. But, he's not going to let me go either way. So, I'll have to do something against him. And I don't want either of you to be caught up in it. Go towards Orihime-chan, I'll try and join you as soon as I can, and if not...then make sure that Orihime-chan is safe, as are the others, okay Nemu-san?"

Nemu bowed her head.

"Yes, Takumi-sama. As they say, good luck."

She hauled Hanataro over her shoulder, and shot out of the area.

Kenpachi didn't even attempt to stop them, he just watched them go.

Then he turned back to Takumi who slowly placed his hand on his sword.

"So, you're not going to attempt to run away?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Made a promise to Yachiru-san that I'd fight you as soon as we met up. Unfortunately, it happened sooner than I had planned. But, I am alright with that, Captain Zaraki."

Kenpachi showed a murderous expression on his face.

"And here I thought checking on some fights happening around here would be a waste of my time. Here you are, Takumi. I've been waiting for this fight."

Takumi looked at Yachiru who kept perched on his shoulder.

"Yachiru-san, you get to a safe distance, okay?"

"Ooh, Taku and Ken-chan are going serious from the start! Yay for Taku and Ken-chan! They're going to have the best fight! Don't worry Taku, I'll keep out of your and Ken-chan's ways! Ken-chan's so excited right now, he's tingling!"

"Haha, I see. Thank you Yachiru-san for helping me this far."

"No problem~ I'm Taku's Lieutenant of the Taku Squad after all~"

Takumi gave a soft smile while Kenpachi showed a question mark above his head.

"Yes, you're right. Now, Lieutenant Yachiru of the Taku Squad, your job is to watch over our fight and make sure it is just between me and Kenpachi-san, okay?"

Yachiru gave a cute salute.

"Yes sir! Leave it to me!"

Acting serious (as much as someone like Yachiru could) she hopped off of Takumi's shoulder, scaling a building, and then she laid down on her stomach, looking downwards over the two of them down below.

Kenpachi raised an eyebrow.

"It seems that she's taken a liking to you."

"We have a special kind of rapport with each other it seems."

Kenpachi cracked his neck, before his gleefully sadistic smile spread across his scarred face.

"Hahaha! I'm glad! It just means we'll have an amazing battle! You don't know how long I've waited to fight you! The rumours of you have been whispered into my ear again and again, and now coming face to face with you, it seems that you're ready to fight me!"

"I am, and I don't intend to lose Kenpachi-san."

Kenpachi continued to show his sadistic smile.

"That's good, then show me what you've got. I'll even let you have the first strike."

"You might come to regret that."

"Lets see, shall we?"

Kenpachi's murderous aura sprang around him, while Takumi focused his eyes on the man before him.

He might have felt like a Demon, but he still had a human body, and for Takumi, that meant he'd be able to go down.

The question was...could Takumi defeat Kenpachi in a fight?

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So Orihime and Yuzu got their spotlight this chapter, Yuzu held off well against Nanao, and managed to come up with some plans to detain her, even showing her fine control over Reishi, but in the end, Nanao was able to hold her own, and then Karin came to help out, but then Nanao once seeing that Yumichika got defeated (it happened the same in canon with Ganju) she explained the situation to the sisters, and after seeing a picture of her, Takumi and Shunsui, they decided to go with her, though are still cautious of her.**

**Orihime also stepped up, and managed to fight off Jirobo with everything that she could, and while she couldn't fight off a Lieutenant, she's still growing stronger, even Yoruichi thought that she did quite well, and despite being there, she didn't have to step in, showing some growth from Orihime, even using a new skill she worked on with Hiyori during the training period after witnessing Takumi do something similar.**

**At the same time, Takumi, Nemu, Hanataro, and Yachiru are making plans for what they need to do next, but that was interrupted by the untimely arrival of Kenpachi Zaraki who's challenged Takumi to a fight which is happening earlier than when it happened in the canon for reasons we'll see in the coming chapters, and as he agreed with Yachiru, he's going to be fighting Kenpachi next chapter!**

**Meanwhile, Momo's got growing suspicions about a few things along with Toshiro, Mayuri's more determined than ever to get Takumi, and Giselle's gaining some temporary Zombie partners (Takumi will be able to turn them back after this arc) to help her and the others.**

**So, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	22. Takumi vs Kenpachi!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Kenpachi's gonna be tough to handle, Takumi's gotta pull out all the stops against him. Takumi's also got something that can help him, something that he might have learned during his time with a certain girl. Yeah, Momo seems to be in the series to get stabbed, either by Aizen, or not by choice, Toshiro, when she had quite a good amount of potential. I could see that happening, I am thinking of having her join Takumi's Squad. Haha, it's gonna be fun when we get there~ Yeah, that would be a good moment for Mayuri. Yeah, he could do a scene like that.**

**Oblivious IJ; Haha, Yachiru's gonna have fun~**

**Skull Flame; Yeah, they managed to do quite well~ She probably could do yeah~ Yup, Takumi vs Kenpachi is gonna be quite the fight. Yeah, it surely was, Mayuri would have done something horrible if he wasn't saved.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! They did yeah, showing everything that they could do, Orihime managed to take down an enemy on her own. Nanao and Yuzu's fight was quite fun, showing their different skills, and yeah, now that she has explained herself, Nanao is going to do her best. Lets see if he can win or not. Giselle's getting more and more for her collection~**

**Foxxired; Yeah, it probably would attract her to Takumi. Well thank you very much! I'm glad that you enjoy my stories~**

**Guest 1; Attack on Titan, yeah maybe. It's not one of my favourites, but I do like Attack on Titan, so I'd be open to doing a story about it in the future. They'd be a cool pairing. Those ideas sounds awesome to me!**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, it wasn't really a battle to the death, but both showed their skills during the fight. She knows about it, so perhaps with encouragement from Takumi, he'll allow her to use her blade. Yeah, seems like he and Takumi are developing a nice connection between them. Kenpachi's ready and willing to fight! Yeah, it probably would be like that for other girls. Yeah, with Nemu and Yachiru there as well, it wouldn't have ended well for Izuru. Karin's still fighting with her Hollow, it seems. Even after all that time, she still carries that photo, shows that she cares about him. Haha, Giselle's scaring everyone it seems~ Glad you do yeah~ It's gonna be quite the fight, showing their powers to the other. Yeah, it seems cool, kinda wish it was explored in the series manga honestly. I could see Grimmjow like that. It would be quite difficult fighting both of them. Right now, I'd still say Nanao's more skilled, Takumi's got more raw power behind his Kido skills, he might even learn more from Nanao in the future. Perhaps there is a reason for that, maybe Lisa feels something that she can't express. Sure, she could be like that. Well, Ise's a humanoid Dragon with Great Red's flesh, so it would be similar to that if that's the way the characters gonna be. It's four Sacred Gear's, I think there's a lot of potential with them, more so than what's been shown in canon. They do, Sona's group is all technique when someone like Sona would make a mixture, but didn't in canon. Either of those would be cool for Zenki. He'd only have Vritra gears if he was in Sona's group. Yeah sure. Ophis could do yeah.**

**Guest 2; Yeah, I could see that happening with Issei, and the oc. That looks good to me, like the backstory as well.**

**Guest 3; Seeing Ichigo do it in canon, I think Takumi's got some ideas up his sleeve, and I don't think Takumi needs a Bankai to fight the current Kenpachi, when Kenpachi gains his own, or even his Shikai which he doesn't have right now, it would be rather dangerous for him to fight.**

**Andrew123456; Ice fire huh, it would be a different take on it, perhaps his parents are a water bender and fire bender or something mixed together. Sure, that would be cool to me. I didn't mind Mai and Zuko together and had some good moments between them, I can see why some wouldn't like them together though.**

**A fan; I'm gonna be honest, I've never watched it before.**

**Guest 4; When, I don't know yet. Sounds great.**

**Guest 5; Sure, that sounds great to me! And yeah, Akitsu could be like that, looking great to me!**

**Guest 6; Thanks for the votes! And thanks very much, I'm glad you like my stories!**

**Guest 7; Something like that.**

**Reviewer Requiem; Yeah, that looks pretty cool to me, I like One Punch Man, I think it's a fun series. That would be a cool ability to have. And that relationship with Tatsumaki would be pretty funny.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Takumi vs Kenpachi!**

Waiting within her cell, Rukia contemplated the match between Takumi and Renji, she just knew that it was between them, but it also made her feel worried about the outcome.

Though when she felt Renji's spiritual energy fall away into near nothingness, she knew that Takumi had come out on top, which gave her mixed emotions.

In one way, she was glad that Takumi had managed to win.

But also, it meant that it could prolong his suffering through the Seireitei, and she didn't want that to happen.

She couldn't have it happening with Takumi…

Losing him to the Soul Society.

She wished that she could do something more about this…

But then she paused, when she felt an overwhelming sensation come over her.

"W-What the hell is that?"

Rukia felt panic entering her body at the feeling she suddenly felt.

The spiritual pressure was insane.

It was stronger than she had felt from before, and she also could feel Takumi's presence nearby.

"Takumi...you're not facing this power...are you…?"

Rukia scurried to the lone window that faced in the direction she felt Takumi's pressure.

It made her feel sick from just that distance.

So for Takumi, she didn't even know what he was going to be feeling.

"Takumi...no, Takumi...you need to run away...don't...die...please don't die…."

Rukia pleaded.

Though she knew Takumi was resourceful, the power that she was sensing was insane, it was like feeling a monster that had claws and fangs.

Even though the tower she was in was supposed to block off signatures, and spiritual pressure, this one was so strong that even Rukia could feel, and that feeling, she just hoped that something would work out for Takumi, whatever that is.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mayuri who was searching for Takumi, through the area, suddenly felt a spike in pressure coming from a nearby area.

He was quite close, so he sensed the power more closely, trying to understand what the power was about…

Then Mayuri's face began falling down, when realizing who it actually was.

"_No...that damn Zaraki, he's found Takumi Urahara, he's taking away my kill...no..._"

Mayuri grit his teeth.

His anger was growing higher and higher at the same time.

He couldn't simply allow this.

He had to do something.

He had to take advantage of this somehow…

That's when an idea came to his mind.

Two enemies that he hated, Kenpachi, and Takumi, were fighting.

He definitely knew that he'd be able to take advantage of this now.

"Alright then Zaraki, you want to fight him, that's fine. But, you've made your last mistake, trying to take something away from me. I'm going to take something away from you….hahahahaha..."

Mayuri laughed to himself, tightening his hand.

His maniacal grin spread across his face.

His eyes became sharper.

* * *

Takumi came face to face with the Demon known as Kenpachi.

Takumi knew that this monster was going to be leagues stronger than Renji, so the shift was going to be difficult. But even then, Takumi could feel the pressure of Kenpachi, how overwhelming it could be.

But he still had things to do against him, so he didn't hold back for even a moment.

"Kenpachi-san, it seems that we're going to be opponents."

Kenpachi showed a devilish sneer on his face.

"I know, I'm excited. Don't disappoint Takumi Urahara, show me what it is that others say that made enemies run away."

Takumi stuck his sword up into the air.

"Ravage, Kinhime."

A lightning bolt shot from the sky, and overlaid with his sword, turning it into his Shikai state.

He didn't have the luxury of holding back, he had to go serious from the start.

"My, your sword looks beautiful."

"Are you going to go into your Shikai?"

Takumi wondered, but Kenpachi chuckled.

"Go into Shikai? Why would I want to do something like that?"

Takumi found that a little bit odd.

He thought that it was the normal to go into a Shikai state at least.

"Because, it's your sword, working together, becoming stronger together. Don't you have that bond with your sword? Can't you hear the cries of your sword? They're your partner, your friend. Working together in harmony, is what they wish to do...don't you do that?"

"I don't hear anything from my blade. Never have bothered. My sword is just a tool for me to use to hack up my opponents."

Takumi thought that was rather sad.

He knew that all the Zanpakuto's wished for, was company from their Shinigami, if his blade was anything to go by.

"I see, then I'm sorry Kenpachi-san."

Kenpachi allowed a confused expression to go over his scarred face.

"Sorry? For what?"

"You're missing out on your amazing potential if you don't open a dialogue with your blade. All it wants is to get to know you, work together with you. If you deny your Zanpakuto spirit, then it will push back against you and stop your amazing potential shining through."

"Hahahaha! I'm not sure what you're talking about! I don't need my sword for anything for other than slicing through anything before me!"

Takumi overlooked the blade, and saw how the blade was rigid.

Takumi then felt a hand on his back, turning to see his Zanpakuto spirit, Kinhime beside him.

Surprise came over him, since she hadn't done that before.

"Kinhime...what's going on? Is something wrong? I know Kenpachi-san is strong, but if we pull together...we can do something amazing."

"Yes, that's why I am here Takumi, to help you. His sword, and him, are clashing Takumi. He might be a monster with amazing power, but his disconnect with his blade will be an advantage to you. Lets show him the power that you and I can have, working as one." Kinhime's eyes went towards Yachiru, bowing her head, before overlaying her hand on top of Takumi's own. "It seems that this is going to be an important battle Takumi. Give him your all, you clever boy."

Takumi's lips curled upwards, giving a nod to Kinhime, while Kenpachi seemed to be confused about what the smile was about.

"What are you smiling for? Have you begun going crazy?"

Takumi, to his surprise, began laughing to himself.

"Haha, some people already say I'm nuts, Kenpachi-san."

"Hah, we have something that not many others have then! I'm proud of being crazed!"

"Oddly, so am I."

He exhaled and raised his sword into the sky, the electricity built up more and more. The power of the blade shone beautifully throughout the area, like a beacon, but also Kenpachi felt the hairs on his body were tingling from being in close proximity to the young man himself.

Kenpachi looked intrigued by the power that was building up, and shocking the area that was around Takumi, it seemed almost like a storm was localized around Takumi himself. The area was being drowned in so much electricity that any electrical equipment was being blown up from overload, the lights within the house filled with so much juice that they exploded from overload.

Kenpachi couldn't deny that this was very exciting.

The power that Takumi was unleashing was fantastic.

He was becoming more excited by the second.

"You said I could make the first move, right?"

"Right. Go ahead."

Kenpachi dared him.

Takumi wasn't going to give any leeway either, so he gathered more and more of the electrical power that he could.

"Alright then, here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Takumi charged all of the power to a single point, then he swung down the blade, unleashing a massive bolt of electricity. It dwarfed Kenpachi's form, as it smashed against his body, and caused a massive explosion around Kenpachi's form.

"Woooooooooooooooooooooooow! Look at Captain Taku unleashing the power against Ken-chan! Didn't know you had it in you Taku! Keep going Taku! Ken-chan! Show how strong you both are! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees!"

Yachiru praised, but saw the building she was on breaking away from the power Takumi unleashed, so she jumped away from the area, while Kenpachi stayed in the middle of the mass of electricity that fell upon him.

Takumi panted from the technique that he used against Kenpachi, he had poured in quite a bit of power into the technique, knowing that if he didn't go full power right away, then Kenpachi was going to be able to stand any weak bolt he was going to send out.

But what shocked Takumi next was what happened with Kenpachi.

As the electricity died down, Takumi saw the form of Kenpachi standing in the middle of the debris that Takumi's attack had caused, the crater sank down into the ground, with Kenpachi just stood there, with burns across his body.

He was covered in burns from the intense heat of the electricity, and his eye looked slightly surprised by the power that Takumi had released. He even had some wounds across his body from the attack Takumi released that were bleeding.

But still, Kenpachi was smiling despite that.

"Heeeeeeh, now that was an opening attack! You made me bleed! It takes someone special to make me bleed like this!" Takumi felt despair as Kenpachi waved a hand through his hair, peeling off the bells one by one. "Have a feeling I wont need these! You don't need any advantages at all!" Kenpachi tossed all the bells away, and withdrew his sword. "Amazing, you are definitely above Lieutenant level power with that kind of attack. I did pick the right person after all. You meant to truly kill me, didn't you?"

Takumi didn't even deny it.

He had to come with the intent to kill or it would be meaningless.

"If I didn't, then it wouldn't have been so effective. But you're a monster, with that durability. Your spiritual energy acts as an armour of sorts, getting through that is no easy feat, so damaging you is going to be quite difficult."

"You deduced that from a single attack?"

"My Father taught me how to deduce my enemies quickly. I felt a spike in your spiritual pressure when my attack connected. The energy around you formed another skin you could say, it fought through my electricity, it's why my attack didn't do more than it should have against you."

"Clever, people said you were intelligent, that just shows me that you're also a fighting genius, I'm very pleased!"

Takumi wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad about something like that.

"That attack was enough to cause my Father to be incapacitated for a short time with good deal wounds on him. But you...you tanked one of my strongest attacks. Even with that second skin of spiritual power, I thought my attack would do more to you than that, I guess that you do live up to the rep Yachiru-chan has told me about before."

"Heeeeh, and you yourself also live up to that expectation, I'm pleased!"

Kenpachi charged for Takumi, leaping out of the crater, and came down with his sword against Takumi's form. Takumi raised his blade, and blocked the strike, but the pressure of the swing shattered the ground around Takumi, and forced his body lower from intense power that Kenpachi had released.

"D-Damn, you're strong."

Takumi complimented, while Kenpachi grinned wickedly.

"Show me your power!"

Kenpachi raised his sword once more, and went to swing it downwards, when Takumi disappeared with incredible speed. Kenpachi whizzed around, and swung out his blade, Takumi appearing on top of the blade, in a similar style that Yoruichi would, aiming his sword forward towards Kenpachi himself.

"Have this! Lightning Daggers!"

Takumi swung out his blade, and swung out several electricity made short swords that pierced into Kenpachi's skin slightly. But the real damage was Takumi unleashing the electricity against Kenpachi's form.

But all Kenpachi did was grin wildly.

"Tingly."

Kenpachi grabbed Takumi by the throat, smashing his face into a nearby wall, and then began running, with his face being continuously dragged through a wall, bringing more and more injuries to his face, then Kenpachi tossed Takumi through several buildings, bringing them down with his body's impact alone.

Takumi flipped as he went sailing through the air, landing on the third building he was going to go through, returning to the ground, feeling the cuts on his face from the impact that Takumi had received from Kenpachi dragging him through the building.

"_He's definitely strong, he's a monster. But, I also feel like he's being held back._"

Takumi noted to himself, while Kenpachi came charging towards him like a stampede, so Takumi exhaled slowly, cupping his hand, and gathered some blue energy, while charging up his blades electrical energy that he could potentially release.

"I knew you could do it! Your first attack was incredible, show me more of your power Takumi Urahara!"

"Alright then! Have this!"

Takumi unleashed a Sokatsui and his swords electricity at the same time, allowing them to combine together into a beautiful display of blue and yellow, merged into a single blast that Kenpachi grinned at.

"Yes, this is it! This is it!"

Kenpachi became more and more excited, bringing out his sword and clashed with the blast of Takumi's. The blast of energy and sword pushed against one another, Kenpachi could see that Takumi was adding more and more energy into his attack, so he did the same thing, allowing his energy to form around him, albeit without truly controlling it well, it was running rampage around him.

Takumi could see that Kenpachi didn't have amazing control over the power he had, and that he was wasting energy as he was releasing it, but he still knew that the power that Kenpachi had was amazing, so even if he was wasting some energy, it still was more than what most would be capable of using.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kenpachi stomped onto the ground, and ended up slicing right through the energy of Takumi's, creating a mass of smoke around his form, that spread across half of the battlefield that they were on, covering the empty white buildings.

Kenpachi swung his sword outwards again and again, cleaving through the smoke, which then dispelled the smoke, but couldn't see Takumi's form, his lone eye growing more and more in annoyance.

"Takumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

"Yeah?!"

Kenpachi widened his eye, turning quickly to see that Takumi was coming down, with the electricity surrounding his strong blade, so Kenpachi swung his own sword upwards, clashing violently with the young boys blade, and created a massive shock wave from their swords meeting one another, obliterating several buildings around them with their powers alone.

"Hahahahaha! Is this the power you wield Takumi!?"

"I'm not done yet! I can't be beaten! I have to win Kenpachi-san!"

"Then draw out more power! Show me why you were feared! Show me why the First Kenpachi wished to fight you as well! Show me what made you strong!"

Their swords had sparks streaming off them as their clash continued more and more.

The powers built up around them more, shock waves continued to erupt from their presence. So much so that Yachiru could feel her building shaking, despite having moved to a mile away, wondering how much fun Kenpachi was having at that moment.

"Yes Taku, Ken-chan's feeling it. He's having so much fun. Thank you Taku, you're making Ken-chan so happy! And I am so happy! Thank you Ken-chan! You are amazing!"

Yachiru cheered out, being more happy than anything that this was happening.

Seeing the expression on Kenpachi's face.

He was having the time of his life.

And as for Takumi…

He couldn't deny that Kenpachi was a very impressive power, so he was going to do his best.

They continued going on, until their powers came to a head, and erupted them both backwards, flinging them away from each other, smashing up the ground as they went flying through the air, touching the ground in small timings, before both smashed into buildings, bringing them down on top of themselves.

Yachiru watched with a pregnant pause.

She looked between Takumi and Kenpachi, wondering which was going to come out on top.

"Ken-chan...Taku...come out now...I want to see more fighting..."

Takumi and Kenpachi erupted out of their buildings around the same time, having some blood dropping from the wounds they both received. Takumi looked down at the ground, seeing it being filled with his blood, and saw Kenpachi also having blood dripping down onto the ground like rain from the impact.

But still, he was smiling.

That same deranged grin that could send shivers through the spines of humans and Hollows alike.

"Now, that's what I call fun."

Kenpachi chuckled darkly, Takumi felt heat pooling inside of him, and was more worried than he thought that he would be.

He knew Kenpachi was going to be difficult, but each attack he came at him with, he was walking away from them.

This was the power of a Captain.

Kenpachi was no joke.

The difference between him and Renji was worlds apart.

And now, Takumi had to wonder, how he was going to come out of this fight, but he knew he'd definitely not be unscathed.

* * *

Karin, Yuzu, and Nanao were on track to head towards Ganju's location in an attempt to find him, but then they were stopped when suddenly feeling a very intense pressure coming from a far away distance.

"W-Whoa, what the hell is that?"

Karin wondered, while Yuzu looked like a ghost.

"...Karin, that power..."

"It's Kenpachi Zaraki."

Nanao informed, Karin cocked her head.

"Who the hell is that?"

"It's a man...no, I'm not sure that's accurate. He's a very powerful Captain, who is bloodthirsty, who will relentlessly pursue anything he deems worthy enough to fight, and slay them if he finds someone that's satisfying to fight. And for him to release his spiritual power now, must mean..."

"He's found his prey."

Karin finished off, Nanao inclining her neck in agreement.

"Yes, and according to my Captain when he was in the meeting, then the person he is after is..."

"T-Takumi-kun?"

Yuzu let out a panicked sound, Nanao placing a hand over her heart.

"Yes, unfortunately Captain Zaraki has his eyes set on Takumi-kun, because he was reported to be a genius when he was here the first time."

"He was considered a genius? In what aspect?"

Karin asked Nanao who looked in the direction of Kenpachi.

"A genius that's once a generation, like how the current Captain of Squad Ten is also considered a genius once a generation. Takumi-kun excelled in combat, his skills were great for his young age, he earned himself a ranked position quite early on in his career, and was trusted to even lead a squad despite being quite young."

"Damn, you make him sound more bad ass than he actually is." Yuzu poked Karin's side as she chuckled awkwardly. "You know I think he's able to handle himself. I think it's rather interesting to know more about him. Weird isn't it? He's like over a hundred years old Yuzu, does it make you feel anything different?"

Yuzu, to Karin's surprise, shook her head side to side.

"No, because Takumi-kun is still like us, teenagers. I don't think it matters, Shinigami age differently than humans like us do, so they'd still be like teenagers over a hundred years later."

"Yes, she's correct." Nanao confirmed, but then she felt a bunch of Shinigami coming towards their location. "It seems that a group of Shinigami are coming towards us. I suggest that we-"

"You hide, we'll take care of them."

Karin said, stepping forward.

Yuzu agreed.

"We can't afford to go around them, Ganju-san needs our help."

Nanao wasn't thrilled by it, but she agreed with it, and quickly sunk into the shadows as Yuzu raised her bow.

"Yuzu, I'll do my opening attack, you use your arrows to pin them to the wall. I can't sense anyone here that's going to give us trouble. But them combining their abilities might be trouble."

"Yes, I think you're right Karin. Lets do this!"

The girls watched as the sword wielding Shinigami came running forward.

Karin exhaled slowly, and gathered the energy she had towards her blade, allowing it to swim around her blade, as the enemies charged for Karin.

"Alright, here we goooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Karin leapt up into the air, going towards the ground, and then came down in the middle of them, stabbing her Zanpakuto into the ground, and unleashed her energy, which released an omni-directional wave of her energy all around her, shattering apart the street to Nanao's bewilderment.

"_W-Whoa, she doesn't hold back. She has quite the level of power. At least Lieutenant class. Perhaps if she refined it more, she'd eventually get towards Captain class. She has much potential for power. While her sister on the other hand..._"

"Now Yuzu!"

"Yes, I've got it!"

Nanao watched as Yuzu released precise arrows towards the Shinigami, stabbing into their clothes, and pinned them down to the ground, to the shattered pieces of the wall, among other places that Yuzu could get them pinned.

"_...Her sisters skills are quite top notch as well. She isn't a powerhouse, but her precise spiritual energy control is quite amazing to see. Even for a Quincy, it seems that she has a talent for precise movements with her arrows._"

Karin, upon seeing that they were pinned, rushed forward and knocked them out one by one, them being unable to fight back due to how Yuzu had blocked off their movements with her arrows. Nanao continued to watch with intrigue at the abilities of the sisters, and how they effortlessly took down a good sized number of Shinigami with their quick wit, and great teamwork.

With the enemies subdued, Nanao came out of the shadows, giving them nods.

"Great teamwork."

"Haha, we're sister so we're used to working together." Karin chuckled out, but then glanced in the direction of Kenpachi once more. "...By the way Yuzu, I know you're worried about the other presence over there, Takumi, but we have to keep going for Ganju. Unlike Ganju, Takumi can handle himself."

Yuzu placed her hands together.

"I know you're right. But that amazing power, I haven't felt anything like it before. What if Takumi-kun dies? We came here to make sure that Rukia-chan doesn't die...but if Takumi-kun dies...then I don't know..."

Nanao watched Karin place a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, that idiot isn't going to die so easily. Look at everything we've been through until now. He isn't going to simply bow down to an incredible power. He is smart. Even if he isn't stronger, Takumi will think of something."

"Do you honestly believe that Karin?"

Karin didn't really know the answer to that.

"Right now, that's all I can believe. Besides, they're very far away from here. Even if we went there now, we'd not be able to make it. This battle, whatever is going to happen, is going to have to be decided between them. He'd just say to us that we should go for Ganju and I agree with that. Ganju needs us more than Takumi right now."

Yuzu knew that Karin was speaking the truth.

How they wouldn't be able to get there fast enough.

How they couldn't leave Ganju alone either.

"Yes...you're right. Lets go and get Ganju-san."

Nanao pulled forward, tilting her glasses.

"Believe in Takumi-kun Yuzu-san. He isn't a quitter, I know that much. Even if he doesn't recognize who I am, I've seen enough to know that they're the same person, that Takumi-kun is a resourceful and dedicated young man that wont stop until he's accomplished what he needs to do."

"See Yuzu? If someone that's in love with the idiot says that, then it has to be right, doesn't it?"

Nanao, as Karin was speaking, flew through several shades of red.

"W-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!? Y-You can't simply say such things! I never even implied that I loved Takumi-kun!"

"Okay, whatever you say~"

Karin played light hearted, trying to make the situation feel better than before.

"A-Anyway! We need to move on immediately! Please follow me!"

Nanao hurriedly said, and pushed forward, hiding the obvious blush on her face.

Karin snickered at the sight before her.

"Seems like she's in denial about it."

"She's right though, we should go Karin!"

Karin waved her hand.

"Yeah, lets go." Yuzu pulled forward, and followed Nanao, while Karin looked in the direction of Kenpachi and Takumi's fight. "_Don't die Takumi, Yuzu can't lose you now...you better win, hear me Takumi? Pull out some victory, survive until we find you._"

Karin followed after Nanao and Yuzu, while wishing Takumi well during his fight.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Kenpachi, the fight continued, with Takumi unleashing a barrage of Shakkaho blasts, the red energy spheres circled in on Kenpachi.

"Kido, I'm not really thrilled about dealing with them, I prefer fighting full on."

"Oh, you're missing out then Kenpachi-san, Kido can be used to greatly enhance your fighting experience!"

Takumi used his sword to create a chain around them all, binding them together, then flicked his sword forward at Kenpachi, setting off a concussive multi-blast wave at Kenpachi who didn't even move, and took them all at once, allowing the explosions to hit his skin, and tear at some of his flesh with that second skin of spiritual power getting rid of most of the energy.

But still, he didn't move.

He was a walking mountain that didn't even back down for a second.

Even when his skin was being torn apart, he still kept going forward, and that's what he did with Takumi.

Takumi thought that he was quite a monster to do something like that, but he still wasn't going to give up, and had a few things that he could do against him, even if Kenpachi was ecstatic at being attacked like he was.

Kenpachi came out of Takumi's attack, and charged for the young man, coming at him with several slashes, Takumi having no choice but to parry them all.

But each attack felt like a truck was hitting his blade.

The pressure behind the man's swing was never going to be a joke.

It was simply a very powerful man he was dealing with, and he couldn't help but feel worried about the fight that he was being in.

After parring several attacks, Takumi's blade slipped as did his back foot, so Kenpachi's sword managed to slice down, cutting into the flesh of Takumi's upper body, cutting through his robes, and exposed his chest, blood gushing out of his wound, which made Takumi wince at the feeling.

With Takumi's blood gushing out, Kenpachi was in a state of excitement, his longing to fight a strong warrior was being fulfilled.

"Your sword is impressive in power, and your technique, while not something I care about, seems to be working for you. I've never had so much fun! Have you ever had so much fun?! This is an amazing battle experience that I'm having!"

Takumi pulled back with the wound on his upper body bleeding more, so Takumi ripped some of the shirt he had left, and quickly wrapped it around the wound so it wouldn't bleed too much, but he saw it turn red within seconds, just showing how much blood was coming out of his body.

Kenpachi however didn't give anymore time for Takumi, and thrusted his sword right for Takumi's body, Takumi didn't have a choice but to cross his blade over his body, and the sword stabbed into his own blade.

The force of the stab pushed Takumi back, but he kept his ground, continuing the struggle that they had between them.

"Ngh..."

Takumi could feel the strength behind the stabbing motion, Kenpachi truly was attempting to pierce his body…

Takumi then unleashed the power of his Zanpakuto, and sent off a powerful blast of lightning, at close range that shocked through Kenpachi's nerves thanks to the liquid that Takumi sprayed on his open wounds at the same time, conducting the electricity.

But still, Kenpachi didn't go down.

This man truly was a tank, unmovable.

"Ooh come on! I just shocked your nerves, how are you still standing!?"

"Hahahaha! This electric shock feels painful indeed! But, I can continue on! This is the best fight I've had in a good while!" Kenpachi looked at his body, and then thought to himself. "_Though I have to admit, his abilities are piercing through my body, shocking my insides, and it does feel painful. Perhaps I'm being too cocky, and not showing my full powers. Heh, he's a powerful enemy, he deserves my full power._"

Takumi watched as Kenpachi raised his hand to his face, going towards the eye patch.

"That eye patch..."

"Haha, don't worry about that, it's something that I had the technological department whip up for me. I hate it, when my enemies die too quickly. So I needed something to limit my powers, so I had this developed for me."

Takumi believed he understood what this was about.

And if he was right, he wasn't exactly thrilled by this either.

The eye patch was ripped off, and Takumi saw what seemed to be mouths coming out of the eye patch which he found gross, but then he felt a new spike in Kenpachi's spiritual power, the energies around him magnified to double the power that he had before.

"Y-You were holding back this much power..."

Takumi was in a state of disbelief.

Kenpachi's power was completely fantastic.

It was dwarfing the people he had sensed before.

Kenpachi's power tingled on Takumi's skin, the appearance of a skull appeared behind Kenpachi as his energy grew higher and higher. It looked more terrifying than anything. He truly was staring into the eyes of a Demon.

"Now, that feels better. I haven't felt this amazing in a while. These wounds on my body, they are quite damaging. I should have gone with this in the beginning." Takumi looked on at the monster before him, with a paling expression on his face. "My, is something wrong? Has it affected you that much?"

"No...I was taken off guard by your power. That eye patch truly was sucking away your spiritual energy, and cut it in half. So this is the full power of a Captain...no, you're not a normal Captain, you are very powerful. Once in a generation kind of monster that thrives off battle, and mayhem."

"Hahahaha, you flatter me much Takumi. You're describing me in terms that I simply love. The thrill of battle, the enemy before you clashing blades together. As we've fought, I've discovered more and more about you, your own thrill to fight."

"I don't like fighting..."

"Yes, you do." Kenpachi revealed while Takumi stared on dumbfounded. "Perhaps you aren't as into it as I am. But you like the thrill of a challenge, the ability to push yourself further and further, the enemy before you giving you both a physical, and mental challenge. You share it with me. The thrill of seeking new challenges. Tell me, why did you really come to the Soul Society?"

"To save Rukia-chan."

"Is that all?"

"No...I came to prove my innocence."

"Why?"

Takumi didn't get why Kenpachi cared so much.

"Why is it relevant to our fight?"

"Because I see the thing inside of you that I share. We need something in our lives that gives us a challenge. We need something to push us harder. Enemies, friends, anything that gives us something satisfying in life. We're the same, Takumi Urahara. You're just as hungry for a challenge as I am."

Takumi didn't want to accept that was true.

That he and Kenpachi were alike.

Seeing how Kenpachi is, standing on a battlefield, covered in wounds, and fighting like it was the best thing in the world.

It just didn't sit right with Takumi at all.

That he'd be similar to him.

In that moments hesitation, Kenpachi crossed the distance, and rammed his sword through Takumi's torso, Takumi's eyes shooting open and met with Kenpachi's own, who's face turned into a maniacal grin.

"I'll just have to show you Takumi. I want this fight to continue, I don't want to be with a weakling. I want someone powerful. Show me, Takumi Urahara, what made you feared."

Takumi coughed up blood as Kenpachi twisted the blade within his torso, and tossed him upwards, his body flew up into the air, before coming down as Kenpachi delivered a hard punch to Takumi's torso, his eyes popping out of his head, and he spat out blood while being flung into a building, shattering it apart, and came out the other side, skidding across the ground, before coming to a halt.

Blood pooled out around his body as he thought about what was going to happen next.

His eyes began losing light, the thoughts of what Kenpachi had said replayed in his mind over and over.

* * *

Within a desert, Nel was chasing around Kukkapuro, who was casually playing with her, while Tier sat close by, just watching the interactions as carelessly as she could, since she was also busy thinking about a number of things that she was tasked to do.

However, that changed when Kukkapuro stopped in place, and turned to the sky, beginning to howl.

"Kukkapuro, what's wrong?"

Tier asked the dog Hollow that began barking over and over again.

She didn't understand what the dog was saying.

She wished that she could.

But she could see that the dog was in distress as if something terrible had just happened.

Nel walked over to the dog, and petted his head.

"What's wrong Kukkapuro-chan?"

The dog began barking to Nel who tilted her head.

But then her face turned downwards.

"Big sister! It's terrible! Kukkapuro-chan said that Taku-chan is in serious danger right now!"

"...Is that so?"

Tier didn't even question the fact that Nel could understand what Kukkapuro was saying.

"We have to do something to help Taku-chan! Kukkapuro-chan is so worried big sister! W-What if he's dying big sister?!"

"Alright, calm down Nel." Tier's words caused the hyperactive child. "We can't go towards him. He's not in the human world."

"B-But, if Taku-chan dies, how can he help us big sister? He said he'd help us!"

"Yes, I understand that. But he's currently in the Soul Society, and Lord Aizen has denied us attempting to break into Soul Society." Tier went over towards Kukkapuro, giving him a light pet on the head. "I know you're worried Kukkapuro, but you have to believe that Takumi Urahara isn't going to die." Kukkapuro barked at Tier, who while not understanding, gave a sympathetic face, guessing the reactions on Kukkapuro's face. "Don't look so worried, he'll be fine. As Nel said, he promised to come back to help out Nel, I believe he'll keep his promise."

Nel looked at the sky, and felt the same as Kukkapuro.

She felt sad right now.

"Taku-chan...stay alive, okay..."

Tier didn't verbally voice her thoughts, but she was thinking on similar lines.

She didn't want Takumi to die either.

She still wished to say a few things to him.

* * *

At the same time, Orihime who was with Yoruichi, felt something run through her.

As if it was electricity.

Running rapid inside of her body, and an overwhelming feeling of worry overcame her.

"Yoruichi-chan...I feel something's wrong with Taku-chan..."

"Yes, I also feel an uneasiness coming from over there. He has to be facing Kenpachi Zaraki-"

"No, I don't feel an uneasiness." Orihime clarified. "I feel Taku-chan's spirit...it's slowly dying...Taku-chan's in danger! We need to go and help out Yoruichi-chan! If we don't, then Taku-chan is going to die!"

Orihime went to move forward, when Yoruichi got in the way.

"What do you think you can do? You have felt that power, it is incredible. If you go, then you're going to be in danger-"

"I don't care!" Orihime yelled out, surprising Yoruichi. "I have to go...Taku-chan is always there for everyone else...if I can do something to protect him, then I know that I've done something...I can't just sit back and do nothing. We aren't that far, we should go-"

"Yes, we should."

Nemu suddenly appeared from the shadows, with a panicking Hanataro.

"N-Nemu-san! Reunion!"

"Yes, Takumi-sama also said something similar. I am pleased to see you again, Orihime Inoue."

Orihime giggled lightly.

"Yes, me too~ But, we don't have time, we need to get back to Taku-chan, he's-"

"Currently fighting Kenpachi Zaraki, of Squad Eleven." Nemu confirmed. "He asked me, the Third Seat, and Hanataro who is currently Tenth Seat of the Taku Squad, to come and find you Orihime Inoue, seat undetermined."

Hanataro let out a cry and murmured "That was just a game with the Lieutenant." but seeing Nemu's face, it seems that she took it rather seriously.

"E-Erm...what?"

"It does not matter. Perhaps we should go towards Takumi-sama now."

"Yes-"

"Have none of you been listening to anything I've said?" Yoruichi butted in. "Zaraki is a highly dangerous foe. If you go, it could be disastrous. I'm even worried about Takumi right now, of course I am. But, I also know that he wouldn't want to endanger any of you."

Orihime put on a complex expression on her face.

"...Yes, you're right Yoruichi-chan."

"Thank you-"

"But, you're also wrong."

That drew confusion to the cat woman.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're right that Taku-chan wouldn't want to endanger any of us. But he also needs us. Even if we can't contribute to the battle, we can still be there for Taku-chan, supporting him. We need to do what we can to help Taku-chan through this battle."

Yoruichi didn't like the idea.

But she also knew that Orihime wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Even she wished to go to Takumi's side, and help him out.

But also she worried about the girl before her, and how Takumi wouldn't want to endanger Orihime or anyone else with a foe as powerful as Kenpachi.

In the end though, she knew what the outcome would be, and what she would have to do, so she steeled her thoughts on the matter, and looked towards the area that Takumi was in.

"...Alright, we'll go."

"Yes, thank you Yoruichi-chan!"

"But, we'll be very careful, and only try to help if Takumi needs it, okay?"

"Yes, understood! Lets go!"

Orihime began running off, as Hanataro panicked looking at Nemu who gave him a blank look back.

"Yes, Squad Taku's Tenth Seat? Can I do something for you?"

Hanataro sweat dropped at that.

"A-Are we going back now?"

"Takumi-sama, said that we should meet up with Orihime Inoue, and keep her safe, which we're going to do right now."

"O-Okay!"

Hanataro took off after Orihime, with Nemu following.

Yoruichi paused for a moment.

She knew that this was worrying for Takumi, and the others.

But she had to do what she thought was best, and decided to follow after Orihime and the others to keep them safe.

* * *

Takumi watched as Kenpachi came closer and closer, his sword resting on his shoulder.

Takumi cursed the inability to think, that he was brought down like this.

He didn't want to die.

He still had a few things that he needed to do.

He needed to save Rukia.

He needed to reunite with the others.

He couldn't end here…

As his mind was mulling over what he was going to do next, Kinhime appeared before him.

Like time was stopping still, Kenpachi didn't move.

Yachiru didn't move.

Only Takumi and Kinhime seemingly were moving.

Her eyes locked onto the young boys own, bending down towards him, taking his head onto her lap.

"It looks like you're in a pickle, huh Takumi."

"Hah….seems so..."

Kinhime's fingers brushed over his hair gently, a sad smile on her face.

"Takumi, why did you pause when he said you were like him?"

"...Isn't it obvious…?"

Kinhime lightly petted his cheek, running her smooth fingers up and down his face.

"You don't want to admit that you and he could share something? Seeing his bloodthirsty nature, it must be against everything you stand for. Your kindness, your gentle nature, how you wish to help the world with your inventions. Then with simple words, he made you feel like you're questioning your own beliefs. He shattered what you thought about yourself, because a small part of you believes he might be right, don't you?"

"Yes..."

It took a lot to admit something like that for Takumi.

He thought it was something illogical, something like loving to fight.

He didn't like the idea of causing harm to others for fun and sport, so that's what threw Takumi off, giving him a moments hesitation.

Kinhime bent down towards him, placing her lips against his cheek.

"It isn't so bad, you know?"

Takumi didn't quite understand what she was talking about.

"What do you mean…? Being like that is so illogical, loving to fight...to cause others pain...I don't do it because I love it..."

"Hehe, you're so cute. Just because a small part of you likes the challenge, it doesn't mean you're going to be like Kenpachi Zaraki. You're different people. He was right about what he said about you though, in a sense. Ever since you were small, you always challenged yourself to do more. Even when you knew it could be difficult, you still always climbed the highest trees, always was the first to tackle problems head on, because you liked the challenge. In that sense, you and Kenpachi Zaraki do share something between you. But, you also have to remember something Takumi."

Takumi's eyes fluttered as she smiled towards him.

"What's that…?"

"You're so kind." Kinhime petted his face once more. "You do these challenges, to make peoples lives better. Everything you do, you're selfless, not selfish. It's okay to admit you like to battle Takumi, it's just who you are. The challenge of fighting a new opponent, it's within you, you can't deny it. But you also made a distinction between you and Kenpachi Zaraki beforehand Takumi, do you know what that is?" Takumi didn't answer, so Kinhime grinned. "You heard the cries of Kenpachi Zaraki's Zanpakuto, and felt sad about their disconnect. While you and I, are here, together, speaking to one another."

"Y-Yeah...their connection is non-existent..."

Kinhime continued petting his face.

"That's why, you're stronger than you know Takumi, you accepted me into your life, and I accepted you and together, we can overcome adversity. Remember, you still have things you need to do, you have to accept that in yourself. You love challenges, you and Kenpachi Zaraki share that fact, but you both have wildly different views on life. I think I understand what threw you off though, it's because while you understood you like mental challenges and physical challenges like training and learning new techniques, the idea of loving to fight conflicts with your inner nature of wishing to help people out, and being described by Kenpachi Zaraki just like him, who clearly is looking for nothing but the passion of battle. But trust me, Takumi. Loving to fight and loving to cause pain are different things."

The Zanpakuto spirit explained to Takumi as kindly as she could.

Takumi also listened intently, and felt strength, courage from the woman.

"Kinhime...I was lost for that moment, it's so simple, but ever since coming here, the challenges set before me, it hasn't scared me off, it's made me intrigued, but that's also made me second guess myself, that I actually find fighting fun, so when Kenpachi-san said it, it just threw me off that someone else could see something I've tried to hide...and because of that hesitation of unable to accept my love of challenging opponents which I thought was illogical...I can't...I can't win this fight...he's powerful...he's so powerful..."

Kinhime showed a cheery smile.

"Yes, he is very powerful. But so are you. Don't you remember, you also have something that can help raise your stats. You got it from Yoruichi-chan."

Takumi was surprised that she had mentioned that.

"But...I've not perfected it...it would be a gamble if I used it..."

"So? Do you see Kenpachi Zaraki with a perfected power? Don't worry about the complicated stuff, just unleash your power Takumi."

"But the bleeding, if I move around then I'll bleed out..."

Kinhime giggled as markings appeared across Takumi's body.

Takumi looked at the markings, and then back to Kinhime, seeing that the blood flow was stopping.

"What's..."

Takumi didn't understand.

What were the markings?

They reminded him of something…

But his mind right now was going through many different things, so he wasn't quite sure what was happening.

"It's a secret Takumi, I'll tell you about it later on. It's something that you can do, something that's sleeping inside of you made it possible."

"But how…?"

"Lets just say, it's a gift that's being awakened slowly~"

Takumi appeared confused by what she meant.

* * *

But then, time began moving again seemingly.

Kinhime disappeared as Kenpachi took some more steps towards him.

His eyes went towards Kenpachi, who noticed a sudden change within Takumi.

"Huh? What's this?"

Takumi's body began to erupt in power. Energies swirled around his form, and a watery aura swam around his body. The remaining tatters of his Shinigami top half was blown away with the sudden pressure erupting out of Takumi's back.

"Kenpachi-san, you said that Kido wasn't something you thought would be useful, yes?"

"So?"

Takumi smirked as the power flowed around him like a glowing aura, breaking down the ground around him. Kenpachi felt excitement growing through his body, the power that Takumi was releasing, he was too ecstatic for words.

"This technique pushes Kido through the arms, and legs of the user. It's the perfect blend of Kido and Hakuda. I was taught this by my Sensei, Yoruichi-chan. Though I haven't perfected the technique, and the ability to control it is difficult, I don't have any other cards left to play. I have to risk it, this life and death move! Shunko!"

Takumi felt the power briefly overwhelming him, but he fought it down, channelling it the best that he could.

He picked up his Zanpakuto, electricity flowed through the blade, as well as the watery Kido that swam around him, combining together.

Kenpachi could feel the excitement rising higher and higher.

He became elated.

A grin of supreme happiness came over him, clutching his blade tightly.

Unknown to either of them, as they were on the battlefield, from behind Yachiru, a new presence had arrived, a dirty smile on their lips.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin and the others continued towards Ganju's location, in the hopes to help him before he's captured or killed, either one wasn't ideal, so they had to do something to get towards him.

"Do you think we're going to right way? I can't really sense Ganju."

Karin explained to Yuzu who nodded.

"I think this is the right way. I'm feeling a pull coming from this way, and it feels like Ganju-san at least."

"I hope that you're right, Yuzu."

The trio continued running forward, hoping to find Ganju quickly.

However, as they traversed the battlefield, they all felt something off.

They felt as if they were walking into a lions den…

Karin stopped, turning to Nanao.

"Erm...Ise-san, I think it would be best if you stayed back here."

"Why?"

"We're all feeling it. Whatever is up there….there's many people with Ganju, and it is making themselves known. They know that we're on our way, and it is wanting us...you need to keep up public appearances just in case, so keep yourself hidden, we'll go and find out what's happening."

Karin explained the best that she could.

She knew it would be rather dangerous on what was happening at that moment in time.

But she also knew that she would have to do something to keep Nanao safe.

"But, there are a good number of Shinigami's that way..."

"We know." Yuzu butted in, showing a sad smile. "But, if we don't go forward, then we wont be able to help Ganju-san. We said we'd come for him, and we are. But, we also know the significance of your role with us as well. We need to keep up pretenses that we're enemies, so please hide yourself well, I'm sure they wouldn't of noticed your presence since you've been careful to keep it hidden as much as you could."

Nanao didn't like it.

But she knew that they were right.

They thought rationally about what was happening and came up with a solid conclusion.

"...Alright, I'll leave it to you both."

Karin and Yuzu bowed their heads, and took off running down the street towards Ganju.

Travelling for about five minutes, they came across Ganju, who was tied up in the middle of the street, without anyone else around and his mouth being silenced with some cloth so he couldn't say anything despite him desperately trying to do so, but Yuzu and Karin knew better.

"They're here somewhere..."

Yuzu nodded her head.

"It's a trap, we have to be careful."

Despite saying that, Yuzu cautiously walked forward while Karin kept her hands on her blade.

Yuzu moved towards Ganju who was thrashing around desperately.

"Don't worry Ganju-san, we're going to get you out of here."

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!"

Ganju cried but because he was bound, he couldn't do anything other than make muffling sounds.

Yuzu made it to Ganju, and undid his mouth.

"It's a trap!"

"Yes, we're quite aware! But where are they Ganju!?"

Karin snapped, with Ganju attempting to point right…

Only for the wall to break down, and reveal many Shinigami. Some even seemed to carry a good deal of power. Though she was thankful that there weren't any Captains or Lieutenants from what she could see.

But because there were so many, it seemed to be rather telling.

However, just then, a man jumped forward, swinging his sword around wildly.

"I am Tatsufusa Enjoji! The Third Seat of Squad Eight! You fell for it! Right for my trap! I knew you'd come here to save your-"

"Get out of here!"

Karin swung her sword downwards, unleashing a massive wave of her energy. Tatsufusa's eyes became scared as the power smashed against him, and a bunch of others, ripping through the enemies forces, and sent him, along with a bunch of others, flying through the air as they screamed loudly.

"Did he say Third Seat of Squad Eight Karin?"

Yuzu asked, Karin shrugged.

"I wasn't really listening to be honest."

Ganju sweat dropped while Yuzu giggled.

"T-Thanks girls! You said you'd come for me and you did! I appreciate it! You're all very amazing and wonderful women!"

Karin gave a sideways glance at the man.

"Aah Ganju, we couldn't forget you. You're our friend hahaha~"

Karin laughed happily, while Yuzu thought "_But you did forget him Karin._" but she didn't voice her thoughts.

"Thank you very much!" Ganju cheered, but then stopped when seeing more and more soldiers coming for them. "Eeeh! But, we have a big problem here girls! We need to get going quickly, don't we!?"

Karin lifted her sword, seeing the swarm of Shinigami before her, and the others. She knew that they'd have to take them down, because they were still travelling with Nanao, and couldn't allow these guys to report that to their higher ups.

"Ganju, get behind us, we'll handle this."

"I-If you say so. Can you handle it?"

Karin gave a confident nod.

"If Yuzu and I pool our powers, I'm sure that we can overcome these guys before us."

Ganju nodded strongly, going behind Karin as Yuzu stepped forward.

"Lets get to work Karin!"

"Heh, I like the way you talk Yuzu, lets do this!"

Karin and Yuzu, taking up the challenge, charged forward like an arrow.

* * *

Back with Takumi, and Kenpachi, with their energies swirling around them, Takumi made the first move, disappearing from Kenpachi's senses.

"F-Fast..."

Kenpachi looked around, but couldn't see him.

Appearing before Kenpachi, Takumi swung down his blade, the mixing between electricity and water smashed against Kenpachi who managed to clash blades with Takumi, but Kenpachi was surprised when his initial strike was parried away, the shock wave of their clashing obliterated apart of the ground, and a huge gash appeared across Kenpachi's arm, blood shooting out on him.

"What power!"

Kenpachi became even more excited, taking an aggressive step forward, and clashed blades with Takumi, but unlike before, Takumi wasn't pushed back, and stood on near equal grounds with Kenpachi himself, their eyes meeting as their shock waves catch both of them up, receiving cuts across their cheeks, but neither moved for even a second.

"Kenpachi-san, what you said before, was right."

Kenpachi chuckled, pushing Takumi away and unleashed some kind of yellow energy at Takumi.

"Finally! You see it too!"

Takumi channeled water, and lightning together, swinging it forward, unleashing a large blast of the mixed elements right for Kenpachi's energies, giving off a heavy clash of their powers, struggling with one another, but ultimately, Takumi's power pushed through, and ripped right for Kenpachi who was actually shocked by it, raising his sword, and clashed with the incoming mix of water, and lightning.

"I see that I do indeed find a challenge fantastic. It is thrilling. I like the idea of being forced to think, to act, to make something that would be highly difficult. I even like learning from the loses that I have received in my life. Like when I lost to Byakuya, I promised myself that I'd become stronger to challenge that man, and I wouldn't accept defeat before that time!"

Takumi lunged forward as Kenpachi struggled with Takumi's water lightning attack, Takumi diving into it, and stabbed forward, releasing daggers of water and lightning, while Takumi felt a backlash of Shunko, the power tearing through his system, and it made him feel sick.

But he still continued on.

He needed to do this.

Pushing the pain aside, Takumi saw the power that he fired before, along with the daggers, all colliding together against Kenpachi's blade, causing an explosion between them, forcing Kenpachi back through the air, while Yachiru looked on with shock.

"Taku, is forcing Ken-chan back? Ken-chan is losing the fight?"

It seemed insane to Yachiru.

She felt surprised that this was happening.

She never thought that this might happen.

But she also was excited.

She could see the happiness Kenpachi was feeling on his face.

He was having the time of his life right now.

Kenpachi stopped himself, skidding across the ground, only to see Takumi leaping at him at high speeds, swinging down his sword while charging up the powers between them, Kenpachi clashed blades with him, and forced their powers against one another.

Kenpachi, despite trying, couldn't push Takumi back.

His strength was surprising.

He also saw the pain on Takumi's face.

He was suffering through using Shunko.

But he still was carrying on, forcing Kenpachi's sword to the side, twirling around and slashed for his chest area, but Kenpachi leaned forward with his blade, catching the blade with his own sword, colliding again and again.

The intense battle released multiple shock waves that no normal person could ever come close to.

The pair were fighting as hard as they could, and slowly, but surely, Takumi with his Shikai, and Shunko, were overwhelming the intense power that Kenpachi held within him, his spiritual power wasn't protecting him anymore, and the wounds he had showed more and more, while strange markings across Takumi's body stopped him from receiving too many wounds.

Takumi then swung from the left, digging his sword deep into Kenpachi's face, slicing him from his lip, all the way near to his eye, matching the scar that was on the other side, while Kenpachi's sword managed to cut Takumi's cheek, both erupting blood.

"Hahahahaha! Now this is the fight that I've wanted Takumi! You are a crazy fighter! Coming at me like this, you are amazing!"

"Kenpachi-san, you are also an amazing fighter. Your spiritual power, I still feel as if it is being bound."

"No, this is my full power!"

Takumi shook his head, pulling backwards.

"No, I can feel it, you have potential power inside of you." His eyes went towards his unnamed blade. "Your sword, is working against you. Your power cannot flourish while you're in this disconnected state. I don't know what happened, but your potential has been locked away somehow. But as we fight, I can feel your power increasing more and more, as if it is responding to this life and death situation. But, it still is locked away."

"My potential...is locked away...heh! I don't know about that but looking at you right now, I can feel your own power. It seems like it is also untapped, you have a wellspring inside of you! I want to see more and more of it!"

Kenpachi didn't even attempt to stop, coming at Takumi with a series of slashes, which Takumi blocked, with each creating a mass of sparks between their blades.

Takumi then swung for Kenpachi, who went to parry, but then he disappeared with a fast movement, appearing behind Kenpachi, and came down with a huge bolt of lightning with water mixed in, Kenpachi turned around, and went to clash, when the power fell down upon Kenpachi, sending all of the power that Takumi had into Kenpachi's form, who felt it this time.

Running through his nerves, the pain that he felt was immense.

But this was exactly the fight he had always dreamed for.

Even he didn't know if he was going to die in this fight.

And right now, he was quite thrilled.

"If you kill me, you can lead the Eleventh Squad. Become a Kenpachi...I'd be alright with that."

Takumi panted, feeling the strain of the technique on his body.

Kenpachi was leaking blood all over the place.

His body felt as if he was going to fall over at any second from the intense shocks, and other attacks that came from Takumi.

"Acknowledging me...Kenpachi-san?"

"Of course...the closest I've felt like this is...her. The First Kenpachi...in this fight, I truly could die...I thought that you'd be strong...I never thought I'd find such a worthy opponent...someone that I am happy to fall to..."

"I don't know about that...but you also are a monster of an opponent, I've never fought this hard, I thought I'd die a few instances in this battle...but Kenpachi-san, the thing that makes us different is, you refuse to listen to your blade, while I fight beside my Kinhime!"

"Is that so?! Then show me what this Kinhime is able to do! If you say that you and your Zanpakuto can work together, and increase your power, then show me what this is! Because to me, it seems that relying on others power is a sign of weakness! Being too spineless to work on your own power!"

Takumi shook his head again and again.

"No, it isn't being spineless, or being a weakness. It's a sign of strength, it's a sign of confidence in your partner. Look at Yachiru-chan, aren't you also partners with her? Would you call it a sign of weakness to rely on Yachiru-chan!? It's a strength to work alongside those you trust, than to push them away! Maybe this fight would be different if you didn't deny your Zanpakuto!"

Takumi saw Kinhime beside him, who nodded so he nodded right back at her, before charging for Kenpachi, summoning all of the power that he had inside of him, while Kenpachi did the same thing with the face of a yellow skull appeared behind Kenpachi, who at the same time grasped his sword with both hands, knowing that this would be the final blow.

Then meeting in the middle, allowed their energies to clash together violently, completely obliterating the battlefield.

* * *

Meanwhile, Unohana, who was monitoring the battle from a distance, felt the powers colliding with one another, and felt a change within Kenpachi.

"_His power...it's growing slowly back to the place it used to be when he was a child, when it was unhindered and amazing...hmmm, is this the battle with Takumi Urahara that's allowing Kenpachi to unleash his true power that he subconsciously self imposed for so long? Heh, that Takumi-kun, you surely are a very unique person, being able to force Kenpachi into a life and death situation and allowing his power to return to what it was. If you can do this with Kenpachi, can you satisfy my hunger for a good battle?_"

Unohana stared in the direction that the pair was fighting in, and couldn't help but allow a blood thirsty smile to appear on her lips.

Something that most would say was unusual.

But for Unohana, it was her inner nature, and right now, the thought of fighting someone that even forced Kenpachi to awaken his self imposed locks on his amazing power, very much interested her.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Kenpachi, they were having the clashing of a lifetime.

Their swords pushed harder and harder against the other, with their powers meshing together, creating a large beacon of their powers, with their blades pushing further and further against the others, Kenpachi recalled how he had been taught kendo despite how he despised using techniques knew that in this case, he didn't have a choice, so grasping with both hands on his blade, he pushed against Takumi's sword, which swirled with his powers.

More violent energy waved around them, Takumi felt like Kenpachi was getting even stronger, those locks on his power were beginning to disappear.

Takumi was still pushing through though, and channeled his power through the blade, while Kenpachi's own sword clashed with his growing power.

"I feel something..."

Kenpachi noted to himself, while Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"What do you feel?"

"This battle...I feel as if I'm beginning to remember something about the past...I can see why she wanted to fight you."

"She? Who is she?"

"The First Kenpachi, you've already met her."

Takumi raised his brows in confusion.

Who was he talking about?

That thought ran through Takumi's mind for a brief moment, before he shook his head, and continued pushing against Kenpachi's blade, Kenpachi feeling his body being forced backwards.

After half a minute of pushing against the other, cracks appearing in Kenpachi's blade.

Kenpachi noticed it as well, his eyes widening.

"My sword...it's breaking..."

Kenpachi was in a state of disbelief.

But also, he was strangely happy.

This fight, was everything that he had wanted.

It was the peak of happiness that someone like Kenpachi could.

Then his sword snapped, with the blade flying up into the air, something Yachiru noticed.

"This is it, the final blow Kenpachi-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Seeing his chance, Takumi's sword sliced right across Kenpachi's body, from right shoulder to left hip, causing him to erupt blood out of his system, dropping down to his knees, as Takumi felt pain coursing through him, falling down to his knees, and all of the markings across his body, disappeared completely.

The pair of warriors locked eyes, having a certain understanding between them.

Also, having respect between them.

"You win...Takumi Urahara..."

Kenpachi fell face first into the ground, while Takumi felt immense pain running through him, forcing him to ear dirt as well.

Their blood mixed together on the ground while laying next to one another.

The battle had ended.

Yachiru from up above, and a good distance away, also saw that the fight had ended, and felt both excited, but also worried for Kenpachi and even Takumi.

However, she then saw something move by her face, looking to see a shadowy figure going towards the two men.

"W-What?"

She jumped down to see what was going on.

Once getting there, she saw hovering above Takumi, was Mayuri, with a sadistic expression on his face.

"Heeeeeeh, what's going on Takumi? Awwww, can you not move? That's too bad, you're helpless, all alone Takumi. No one's going to save you this time. Hahahahaha, I'd preferred to have fought you and showed you my abilities, to prove how superior of a scientist I am to you, and your damn Father, but slitting your throat now is more than enough for me." His eyes went towards Kenpachi who scowled towards him. "And you, it's better to get rid of you now. Before you become a nuisance in the future. I felt it, you underwent an abnormal growth during that battle, just what kind of power have you locked away? Surely, you're a monster, it's better to get rid of monsters like you."

"You bastard..."

Kenpachi glared darkly, while Takumi felt himself quaking with anger.

His body wasn't responding besides a few twitches...

"Hahaha, call me what you want, you're about to perish!"

Yachiru looked between them, feeling more worried than before, and rushed forward, placing herself between Takumi and Mayuri, pulling her sword out, and pointed it towards Mayuri who seemed more amused than anything.

"I wont let you harm Ken-chan or Taku either!"

Mayuri snickered at the sight of Yachiru defending them.

"Right, and you're going to stop me? Don't be a foolish girl. You can't hope to step up here in the Captains world. It's best if you go and play with a ball of string or something neophytes play with."

"L-Leave her alone..."

Takumi growled out, only for Mayuri to laugh.

"Ooh right, okay then, I'll do as you say just because you asked." Takumi glared as Mayuri laughed maniacally. "Yeah right! As if I'd do that! You must be completely crazy!"

"The only crazy one here is you..."

"I agree…"

Kenpachi added, trying to stay awake.

Mayuri chuckled darkly.

"It's nice, your little camaraderie. All in together, I suppose, due to your weird wild natures. But that's fine with me, if you both wish to perish together, then it's no skin off of my nose. I'll finish you all off at once! Now that you're helpless, it will be like taking candy off a baby! Hahahahaha!"

Takumi, Kenpachi and Yachiru watch as Mayuri slowly draws his Zanpakuto.

They know what was about to happen, but Yachiru simply wouldn't allow it to happen.

She stayed her ground before the crazed Captain, knowing that if she moved, then Kenpachi and Takumi could die, and she simply couldn't allow that to happen, it just couldn't.

"Yachiru-chan...take Kenpachi-san...and run away..."

"But Taku..."

"I-It's alright...he wants me...I don't want you to be hurt...please, get out of here...while you can..."

Yachiru, seeing the genuine emotion on his face, how he had said that she should take Kenpachi, an enemy he was just fighting, made it be put into perspective.

"I wont run Taku, because I'm a member of Squad Eleven, and Squad Taku. I will protect Ken-chan and Taku!"

Takumi watched as Yachiru stood up to Mayuri who held a wicked look in his eyes, and he feared for her life.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So the fight between Kenpachi and Takumi happened! It was quite the fight, and both pushed themselves very far, Takumi couldn't defeat Kenpachi at first with his tricks due to how much of a tank Kenpachi truly is, and Takumi went through a little development of his character while speaking to Kinhime wh described it best. **

**Then Takumi brought out the technique he learned from Yoruichi, Shunko! Though his isn't complete yet, and puts strain on his body, with the ability to use water through it, like how Yoruichi uses lightning and Soi Fon uses wind, combining that with his electrical abilities, Takumi and Kenpachi violently clashed, and he managed to edge out a win while also noting about Kenpachi's amazing potential being hindered, and as noted by Unohana and for those who know about the manga with Kenpachi, his power has begun unlocking thanks to the fight with Takumi, so he might show off his Shikai earlier in this story than the series.**

**Meanwhile, Karin and Yuzu went to save Ganju, having succeeded, and now are fighting off the other Shinigami that had appeared. Orihime and Yoruichi met up with Nemu, and Hanataro, and now are going towards Takumi. Also, we got a cameo from Nel, and Tier, and it seems that Kukkapuro also somehow sensed Takumi was in danger, how that is, we'll soon find out.**

**Finally, at the end, Mayuri has appeared to a beaten Takumi and Kenpachi, who no longer have the ability to fight, and is now looking to get rid of them. But Yachiru stepped forward, and is trying to protect them. But, can she? And if not, who's going to help them?**

**We'll find out next time! Thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	23. Mayuri's intentions

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Vizard Masky; I'm glad that you liked it! Yeah, they had a few pieces of telling conversations. Haha, Mayuri's gonna be surprised a few times in this chapter. They will be told in full in the future.**

**Clarent excalibur; I'm glad that I could deliver~ Nemu is going to have a spot like that, it wont be in this chapter, but there will be a moment where Nemu stands up to Mayuri. Yeah, I could see him using it there. Yeah, Momo's main thing in the story is that she gets stabbed, and that's really sad, she has much potential, she was Aizen's Lieutenant, there could have been some drama between them, or her tackling many feelings, it's referenced a little, but it isn't focused upon, in this story, that's gonna change, and give Momo some more things to do than in canon. I could see her fighting a Fullbringer, it could be Yukio, or Jackie. I could see her doing that. Yeah, we'll see more embarrassed Nanao.**

**Oblivious IJ; Indeed, she's going to try and fight him now. Haha, yeah, that's a good part of the story. Lets see if it does~ Kenpachi's a character that has some fun moments so yeah it's fine haha~**

**TheLost01; It will surprise him huh~?**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Glad that you liked it! He did yeah, he pulled out his powers to fight Kenpachi, even going Shunko at the end of it. He does yeah, Takumi didn't like to think he was like that, but seeing that he can be like that, but different, allowed him to overcome that kind of hurdle for him personally, Kinhime did truly help him out with that. Lets see what is going to happen~**

**Guest 1; Yeah, that would be great for Akitsu. **

**Guest 2; Yeah, that would be cool for Soi Fon and Takumi, and yeah, with Nemu's fighting style, it would be pretty cool to see that.**

**Guest 3; That would be cool to have him know Saitama like that before he became how strong he is. That would probably happen with Tatsumaki. I like the idea of the Hero name, sounds good to me! Hah, that would be a funny moment between them.**

**Skull Flame; Not all, but yeah, most are coming undone. She does yeah~ Good guess, he could have, that would mean he's part Quincy. Mayuri's like that, he'd use that kind of opportunity to get one up on opponents. It seems that she can yeah. We'll have to wait and see where that goes. They're going to be doing a few things quite soon~**

**Andrew123456; I am still doing it, please be patient~**

**A fan; If you mean this yeah, I haven't really read any new manga's this year, though I did discover Dr Stone recently and I'm reading the manga for that which is pretty interesting and reading Black Clover.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, Rukia's just worried about him fighting Kenpachi. Glad that you liked it! Yeah, Kenpachi didn't take it easy, he wasn't giving Takumi any help, so he came at him with the intent to kill right away. She managed to help Takumi with understanding a few things. Haha, Karin's not the type to say that, at least not yet. She didn't mean a Captain, she'd say Captain if he was, she meant like Kisuke run a Squad before he became a Captain. We'll be getting to their connection soon enough. Haha, Orihime and Nemu had a nice reunion huh~? They did yeah, they are pretty crazy in different ways. It affected him, because Takumi is a logical person, he believes enjoying things like fighting, and in turn, inflicting pain, something that isn't logical, so that's why he threw him off, acknowledging that a part of him liked it. Though Kinhime helped him with that. He'll get his memory back sooner or later. It seems that he does yeah, Unohana wishes to have a fight. She has yeah. And yeah, she might reveal her Shikai this chapter. Maybe he might be able to do that in the future. It wont be this chapter, but it could happen next chapter where he's mending Kenpachi's sword. Lets see what happens with that~ Yeah, seems like Takumi was a scary guy a 100 years ago. That all looks good to me for the harem! Lisa is a quiet type yeah. Yeah, maybe he could develop something like that, or help her have an ash sword or something.**

**Anime PJ; I'm glad haha! No worries, glad that you're enjoying the story so far!**

**haibara-san; The Astaroth Heir won, The Young Brother in Sona's peerage came second, and then Unusual Uchiha came third.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Mayuri's intentions**

It was a typical day within the human world, with the Quincy girls (Liltotto, Bambietta, Meninas, and Candice) took a stance against a bunch of Hollows that had come into the town of Karakura, and each shot off their arrows, piercing through the Hollows and killed them off easily.

"My, it seems that we can keep the Hollows at bay here."

Meninas spoke while they headed back towards the shop of Urahara.

"It's the least we can do after the mess we caused."

Bambietta stretched as Candice showed a dangerous smile.

"Of course, it is quite amazing! Being in charge of Karakura, I guess we achieved our goal. Even if it wasn't the way that we wanted."

"Only until Takumi comes back with the others."

Liltotto spoke up, Bambietta nodding.

"Exactly, we owe it to him after the crap we caused." Liltotto raised a brow. "Yes, I was also apart of that. Anyway, we're more competent than the Shinigami they sent to replace Rukia Kuchiki."

"You mean the afro guy?"

Meninas wondered, Bambietta rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, he seems...well, wasn't he interacting with some humans before? He seems to be easily distracted. Anyway, we should probably report our killings to Urahara, and see if there's anything else we can do."

"Agreed."

Liltotto sucked on a lollipop while she nodded in confirmation.

They walked all the way back to the Urahara shop, going inside while saying "We're back." but were faced with something shocking.

Sat in the living room, was Kisuke, who was being served food by Zombie Chizuru.

"Zombie Chizuru made a pie, eat it."

Kisuke looked fearful of the pie, it seemed to be giving off a scary aura.

"A-Ah, this pie looks...delicious, but I'm not hungry..." Zombie Chizuru growled, causing Kisuke to let out a small cry. "A-Alright, calm down, don't do anything that you might regret, or that we might regret in the future."

Zombie Chizuru placed a hand on his shoulder, giving off a creepy smile.

"Making food for Kisuke is best."

"You don't have to make food for me." She snarled at him, causing him to move away slightly. "O-Okay, whatever you want..."

"Good, Kisuke."

Her gravely voice was terrifying for him.

Bambietta sweat dropped at the sight.

"So, yeah, Urahara, we're back. If you're busy with your new girlfriend..."

"N-No! Please come inside!"

Kisuke offered, or more like pleaded.

The girls glanced at the other, before walking closer, sitting down before him.

"So, how did it go?"

Kisuke asked, while Zombie Chizuru pushed the pie closer, he cringed at the sight.

"We slayed about twelve Hollows today." Liltotto confirmed. "But, we're wondering about the Shinigami here. He doesn't seem to be able to do the work that well. He is easily distracted."

"Yeah, sometimes things like that happen." Zombie Chizuru went towards the kitchen so Kisuke moved closer. "B-By the way, your friend Giselle, told you how to unzombie people, right? Because this girl is terrifying."

Candice shook her head.

"I'm not sure even she knows how to turn people back from being Zombie's. She said something like Takumi-kun might be able to turn them back with some drug."

"Aah, my son would have left notes for me, I'd have to..." Zombie Chizuru came back, sitting down beside Kisuke, and held onto his arm, to his eternal worries. "...an-anyway, if you girls could look for that thing for me, I'd be grateful!"

Bambietta, wishing to have some fun, posed a question.

"Sorry, what did you want us to do?"

Kisuke's face fell into a frown.

"Bambi..."

"What's wrong?" She smirked, turning to Chizuru. "Zombie Chizuru, how is your relationship with Kisuke going?"

"Yes...Zombie Chizuru and Kisuke are, enjoying one another's, love." Kisuke vehemently denied it, shaking his head. "We are, enjoying the feelings of, affection that we receive, and I am, also thinking of, decorating our home together."

Kisuke looked unsure of everything while Bambietta snickered.

"That's lovely. I'm hoping you have many happy years together."

Zombie Chizuru gently kissed the young man's face, causing him to cringe.

"Yes, our love will continue on."

"Wonderful. Well, we have to go now."

Kisuke's face dropped considerably.

"W-Wait, you can stay longer..."

Bambietta chortled.

"Sorry, got to go now."

Kisuke looked on with pleading eyes.

He truly didn't want her to go.

"B-But..."

Bambietta loved seeing Kisuke like this.

But she couldn't prolong the suffering.

"Yeah, we'll try and find what you're looking for."

"T-Thank you Bambietta-san, you don know how much this means to me."

"Yeah, yeah."

Bambietta with her group strolled off, while Kisuke was left with Zombie Chizuru.

The young woman released a low growling which made Kisuke feel very complex about many things, thinking "_Please find the notes soon, I can't say anything or this Zombie might try something._" while showing a smile for Zombie Chizuru who looked on with cold eyes.

* * *

Rukia, having felt the battle of Takumi and Kenpachi from the distance that she was in, felt the powers suddenly come to a head, she felt conflicting feelings. She felt both signatures go so low that she couldn't feel them.

"Damn..."

She murmured, thinking about the fight at hand.

She didn't want either of them to be dead, nor did she think that she'd be able to simply sit still either.

She just wanted to go and see if Takumi was fine.

Now that the powers were low, she couldn't sense them at all.

She pulled her head back into its resting position against a nearby wall, and felt conflicting feelings entering her system. How she wished to help out the people she cared for, but how right now she wouldn't be able to do something like that.

"Takumi...did you win the fight…? Did you lose…? These damn walls, I can't sense a thing. I can't even feel if you're alive, your pressure has gone so low...Takumi, please be safe, please don't be dead...all this just for me...how can it be? Just be alive Takumi..."

Rukia wished from the bottom of her heart.

Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she would be able to do anymore than that.

Lowering her body to the floor, she places her knees to her chest, resting her arms atop her knees, then rested her head on said arms. The young girl let out small breaths, she wasn't sure if she would be able to think anymore about it without going crazy.

She thought that was more punishment than anything the Soul Society could think of.

Her friends being in a dangerous situation.

Rukia leaned her head backwards, and allowed her mind to drift back towards the memories of when she was in the human world, about how she was with Karin, Yuzu, Giselle, Orihime, and Takumi as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, Orihime and the others were hurrying towards the location of Takumi, with Orihime feeling something bad was happening with Takumi. She didn't know what it was, but she definitely felt something was amiss.

"Yoruichi-chan, can you feel anything over there?"

Orihime asked, wondering if she was just being paranoid, and that she was just worrying about nothing, while they continued to run towards the location at a good speed. Yoruichi had even shifted to her human form for this, and was carrying Orihime while Nemu carried Hanataro on her back.

Yoruichi mused for a few moments before shaking her head.

"No, I don't feel anything over there right now. It seems calm. The fight between Kenpachi and Takumi has come to an end."

"S-So, who won…?"

Hanataro timidly asked, Yoruichi couldn't provide an answer.

"Their energy signatures dropped at the same time, I can't tell. They very well might have ended the clash with their energies cancelling the other out, and have finished themselves off. They might have drawn in their battle. Apart from winning, that would be the best outcome."

Hanataro also thought the same thing.

But Nemu didn't seem convinced by it.

"Yoruichi-sama, Takumi-sama is currently in danger."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow while Orihime wished she hadn't got that confirmation.

"What...do you mean by that?"

Yoruichi didn't like the sound of it.

Her eyes became a little hazy as Nemu stared on with a surprisingly worried expression.

It was hard to define on Nemu's face, but worry definitely was there.

"I can sense that from a distance, Mayuri-sama has arrived."

Yoruichi didn't like the sound of that.

With Mayuri there, it was going to be a complicated matter.

"Mayuri...how do you sense him? Even I can't from here..."

"I have been around Mayuri-sama for all of my life." She divulged while a worried Orihime looked on. "I can sense his presence from this distance. He is attempting to keep the power hidden from the rest of Takumi-sama's comrades, and the Soul Society at large. My sensors have detected his presence."

"D-Does that mean Taku-chan is in danger?"

Orihime worried, while the young woman looked on with her usual melancholic expressions.

"Yes, Mayuri-sama has a deep hated for Takumi-sama, and if Takumi-sama is unable to defend himself, then that means he wont be able to keep alive for long. Mayuri-sama is what is described as a sadist, and if he's there, then that means he'll torture Takumi-sama, and the then slay him if he senses us coming."

"So, if we rush there, he'll end Takumi. And if we take our time, he'll also end Takumi potentially. Shit, what are we supposed to do…?"

Yoruichi pondered it while Nemu spoke up.

"Our best course of action, regrettably would be to take the slower route, and hope Takumi-sama's will is able to keep himself alive for long enough for us to cross the distance between here and there."

"B-But, Taku-chan...if he dies then..."

Yoruichi could understand Orihime's apprehension.

But she also knew that they'd have to try something, anything to get closer and closer without being spotted.

"I know Inoue, I'm also worried. But don't forget, Takumi is not a quitter. He wouldn't give up now. We just have to be careful and move swiftly, but keeping our presence low."

"Yes...I'm glad."

With that being said, they took off running towards the location that Takumi was in, and hoped that they would be in time to save him, but knew if they had their presence made known, then Takumi would die before they could get there, so they had to be quick and stealthy, which was no easy feat.

* * *

Yachiru, coming face to face with the monster known as Mayuri, strolled forward more and more while she clutched her blade tightly in her hand. She knew that Mayuri was a powerhouse, that he was strong, but she simply didn't have the luxury of giving up either, she had to protect Kenpachi, and Takumi from this monster.

Takumi and Kenpachi desperately tried to move.

But due to their fight, their bodies felt wrecked.

They weren't sure if they'd be able to get towards them in the end.

"Alright you pink haired brat, get out of the way or I'll be forced to slice you down. I might not be on the level of your Captain in swordsmanship, but I'm pretty confident that I could take you down in a fight, got it?!"

He snapped at Yachiru who didn't back down.

She felt like she was staring into the jaws of a monster threatening to swallow her whole.

But she still didn't move.

She couldn't move.

She was going to show that she also was a strong person who could fight.

"I wont move clowny!"

Mayuri felt triggered by that.

Being called clowny like that.

"You dare speak to me like that little girl! I will slay you!"

Mayuri snarled, but Takumi, grinding his teeth, turned to Mayuri from the ground with the little energy that he held inside of him.

"W-Why…?"

Mayuri smirked, placing a hand to his ear.

"Huh? Why what boy?"

"W...Why are you after me…? What have I done to you…?"

Mayuri, upon hearing that, began laughing loudly.

"You seriously don't know? What you've done."

"No..."

Takumi was serious.

What was it about him that Mayuri didn't like?

Was it because of how everyone else viewed him as an enemy of the Soul Society?

He didn't know at all, but the deranged look on his face, told Takumi that it was something deeper than mere hate.

"Then that's too bad! You're someone I truly do hate!"

Takumi sharpened his eyes at the sight of the man with the deranged look in his eyes.

"Why though...?"

Mayuri gave a condescending look to Takumi.

"Seriously, I remember when you were here, this child came onto the scene and stopped me from doing what I wished to do. Do you know a place called Nest of Maggots?"

"No..."

"Heh, if that's the case then I wont bother with the rest. You without your memory isn't what I wanted. I wanted to look you in the eye as I rammed my blade into your body and killed you. Seeing the life leave your eyes, seeing the helpless look as you writhed on the ground in pain. Hahahahaha! You must be crazy to come back here! Thinking you'd be able to actually do anything! You should have stayed in the human world! You would have lived longer! But, I'm glad you came back, because I can kill you! I can actually take you out hahahaha! The goal of mine for so long to finish you off, it makes me gleeful with delight!"

Mayuri seemed to be a little out of it than usual.

His anger was taking over.

His arrogance was building higher and higher.

His face was growing with the negative feelings that he felt.

His eyes glazed over with his anger.

"I came here...to save Rukia-chan...and I'm not dying...to a deranged bastard like you!"

Summoning what strength he had, his body lifted itself off the ground, with blood coming out of him. His eyes narrowed as his blade swung for Mayuri who effortlessly dodged out of the way, but then a bolt of lightning shot for the clown make up man before him, surprising Mayuri a little bit.

"So you have a little fight in you after all." Mayuri took out a vial, and sprayed the contents before him, blocking off the intense lightning shock from Takumi. "You're not fighting a Neanderthal now, boy. You're speaking to someone that is Captain of Squad 12, Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the smartest Captain in the Soul Society! Compared to me, you're a worm that can't even crawl on his belly to try and fight a lion like me! You are nothing!"

Takumi panted heavily while trying to move his legs.

But they gave out, collapsing to his knees, panting heavily.

His body simply was feeling more heavy by the second.

"Nothing...is that so…? Nothing...I'm nothing..."

"That's right, you're nothing."

He grinned at Takumi evilly.

"If I'm nothing...then what does that make you?" Mayuri's eyes slit at the young boy. "All I care about...is not dying right here...right now, by someone like you...I have things I need to do...and you're in the way!"

Takumi, on pure will power, forced his body to his feet, taking out his sword, and aimed it at Mayuri.

Mayuri gained a sadistic grin.

"Didn't you see that lightning has no effect on me?!"

"Didn't you see that I'm not an idiot?" Takumi, with the remaining power he had, took aim at the amused Mayuri. "Hado 33: Sokatsui!"

Running the power through the blade, he shot off the Kido spell, as Mayuri simply chuckled.

"I know what you're doing. You've hid your lightning inside of the Kido spell, so predictable!"

Mayuri shot off his own Kido spell, while allowing the same vial he had before mix with the Kido, cancelling out the attack.

But Mayuri also saw that the liquid didn't disappear when it hid Takumi's spell like it should have.

Confusion wrote itself on his face, he wasn't sure what the hell had happened.

But then Mayuri heard the sound of crackling above him.

Quickly turning, he saw that a bolt of electricity was raining down towards him at light speed, Mayuri's eyes widening.

"No time to get out the drug!"

He yelled while holding out his blade in front of him, allowing his sword to take the brunt of the attack, but the lightning travelled up Mayuri's arm, and began turning his arm into a smoking smoldering mess.

The heat was intense, and Mayuri felt it hurting him pretty bad.

But he didn't stop himself, and merely jumped backwards, as the lightning smashed into the ground, creating a sizeable explosion before him, only for Takumi to wave his sword in front of him, and shot off several blades that seemed to be normal blades.

"Anken!"

Mayuri snapped, blocking with the sword that he had, but the reaction time in his hand was slower than usual due to the fact that his arms muscles and nerves had suffered a severe shock from Takumi's blade, something that had pissed him off.

Because he had underestimated the current Takumi, he had let his guard down, and suffered the consequences of the small black blades heading for his body.

Mayuri managed to parry the blades just in time, only for Takumi to appear before Mayuri, with his sword swinging downwards at a high speed. The blade wrapped lightning around its form, while Mayuri's face contorted angrily.

"You dare trifle with me boy!? I'll show you why you're going to die right now!"

Mayuri switched hands and swung his blade for Takumi's own, while coating the blade in an anti electricity liquid, clashing together violently. Takumi, using his precise control, allowed him to split off some lightning, that changed shape into daggers from the blade and shot off at Mayuri, for his head.

Mayuri ground his teeth, clicking his tongue, which activated a barrier around his neck, deflecting the blades of electricity away from him, as Mayuri noticed the strange markings on Takumi's body that seemed to be suppressing the blood flow.

"_So, that's it. He's using that ability. I did find it suspicious that he was fighting me after fighting that damn Zaraki. So the power is being reawakened, is it? Hahaha, I don't think so, I wont lose to you bastard._"

Mayuri gave an evil grin, and pushed Takumi away, who skidded on his feet, trying to stay on them while Mayuri let out a bellowing laugh.

"What are you laughing for?"

"You're actually trying to fight! You barely have any stamina left, your feet are shaking, your hands can hardly hold the blade in your hands. You got in one lucky shot against me. I let my guard down against you, but those markings on your body wont last forever. Do you know what they are? Because I do, and I know how they operate, and I know how to get around them as well."

Mayuri pulled out what seemed to be a small explosive, casually tossing it at Takumi who used his force of will to jump away, but Mayuri snapped his fingers, and the explosive device seemingly had a small jet behind it, allowing it to shoot right for Takumi who widened his eyes.

"Taku!"

Yachiru and Kenpachi both were impressed by what he was capable of doing, how he wasn't going to surrender to Mayuri despite being down and nearly out, he was still thriving in a fight like this.

So Yachiru used her flash step to grab Takumi, and pull him out of the way, as the mini missile device flew by them, smashing into a part of a broken building, the explosion propelled Takumi and the others forward, smashing all three of them into the ground, while Mayuri remained calm and collected.

"You wont be moving anymore after that, sorry about that."

Mayuri was delighted.

Seeing Takumi like this, it gave him glee.

Mayuri stepped forward, seeing Takumi struggling to move, holding out his blade.

But then Yachiru jumped before Mayuri, stopping him progressing.

"Seriously, are you still trying this you brat?"

Mayuri's aggressive words didn't deter Yachiru for even a moment.

She held her ground with Mayuri.

"I wont move!"

Mayuri hated that Yachiru was doing this, it really annoyed him.

"Then you can die!"

Mayuri growled out, and his hand slowly went to his Zanpakuto.

However, without even thinking, Yachiru's body moved at high speed, and slashed for Mayuri.

Sensing danger from him, her body simply reacted, causing Mayuri to jump backwards, and place his hand out before him, gathering his Kido energy around his pointing finger.

"Byakurai!"

The deranged Captain unleashed a basic Kido spell with enough power put behind it that the lightning would potentially rip right through Yachiru's body…

But as the lightning sped out of his finger, the lightning shot away from Yachiru as she got close, and went towards Takumi's blade, acting like a lightning rod, and stopped the electricity from hitting her, just as she came swinging down with her blade, Mayuri snarling and clashed blades with him, blocking it off so it couldn't touch him, but the force behind Yachiru's swing was surprising.

Mayuri pulled backwards while he summoned his Kido around him, shooting off multiple Shakkaho's towards his opponent, Yachiru let out a small gasp, and dashed towards the right, avoiding the several blasts, but Mayuri chortled, sticking out his hand, which suddenly came off to the shock of Takumi, which was attached to some cable that stretched further and further for Yachiru.

Yachiru saw the hand nearing her, so she swung her sword outwards to slash the hand away from her, but from the hand, a Kido spell released, which created a large puff of smoke, enough to blind Yachiru and the others.

"Iyaaaa!"

Yachiru was grabbed by the throat, and yanked right back towards his body. The cable attached itself to the rest of his body, and clutched Yachiru's throat tightly, strangling the poor girl while he just snarled towards him.

"Y-Yachiru!"

Kenpachi, despite his wounds, tried to get up.

But in the end, his huge body fell down to the ground.

He couldn't move, and he felt regret over it, seeing Yachiru like this angered him more than anything.

Takumi tried to move, but he saw the markings across his body were disappearing.

[I'm sorry Takumi, we're reaching the limits these markings will work, you're nearly tapped out of power.]

Kinhime expressed sorrow within his mind.

"N-No...I have to..."

Takumi couldn't see Yachiru getting hurt.

If she was stabbed, and killed…

He wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Mayuri sadistically lifted up his blade, and chortled darkly.

"Say goodnight little girl!"

Mayuri thrust his sword at Yachiru's torso, who's eyes widened.

Kenpachi's eyes looked worried for Yachiru. Since Yachiru was his partner, it showed how much he cared for her, when usually he just cared for fighting, Yachiru was one of the exceptions to that.

As the blade was about to pierce Yachiru, she closed her eyes.

But she didn't feel anything.

Even when she heard the sound of something being stabbed could be heard, she didn't feel any pain.

She didn't feel anything.

Her eyes opened, to see Takumi stood in between her, and Mayuri's blade, with Mayuri's sword being inside of his torso.

She looked so shocked that tears began to run down her face.

"Taku…?"

She called with a low voice.

Takumi was supposed to be the enemy.

She liked him sure, she liked how Kenpachi liked him.

But they hadn't known one another long, and he had just took a sword to the torso for her.

With wounds already across him, she honestly didn't know if he was going to survive the fight.

"Stupid fool, killing yourself for this pink haired brat."

Mayuri spat out angrily, while Yachiru cried at seeing the sight of Takumi with a sword through his stomach.

Takumi, despite feeling a lot of pain, and having lost a lot of blood, his eyes being hazy, he just chortled at Mayuri, which felt very unnerving.

"W-What are you laughing at you bastard?!"

"Y-You Mayuri Kurotsuchi. You...had to fight someone...when they were exhausted...already..."

Mayuri's face contorted angrily.

"So what?!"

"Cowardly...you might be smart...but you're a coward..."

Mayuri felt his anger growing even more.

He hated Takumi calling him that.

It felt like a huge insult.

It felt like he was truly going through something horrible.

It felt like, a blade had stabbed him rather than Takumi.

"You dare say something like that to me! You know nothing of me! You are an insolent bug! You have nothing! You are nothing! You're a bug that keeps getting in my way! You will never be able to get one up on me!"

Mayuri pulled his blade roughly out of Takumi's stomach, who coughed up some blood.

Yachiru's power grew higher and higher, her eyes became glazed over with anger, with rage.

She gripped her sword tightly, and her eyes leaked tears while her energy summoned around her form.

Mayuri, focused on Takumi, suddenly felt a spike of pressure around Yachiru, and turned to see her eyes on his form.

"Come and play, Sanpo Kenju!"

Yachiru announced, as Takumi saw two beasts appearing beside her.

Mayuri on the other hand seemed to be unsure of what was happening.

Yachiru swings her sword towards the right, Mayuri chortles, and yells "Nice try!" as he parries the blade…

But suddenly, just before her sword hit his, a large gash appeared across his torso, and proceeding it, the hand that was holding onto her throat was cleaved right off, the direction that her sword was going, releasing Yachiru from the grip of the man.

Takumi blinked, wondering what the hell had happened.

Yachiru however thrust her sword forward at Mayuri.

"Bad Mayuri, I'll have to punish you for hurting Taku!"

Mayuri was left reeling from what was happening.

It seemed mad.

What had happened to him, he wasn't entirely sure.

But with an arm cleaved off, and a huge gash in his chest, he coughed up a bit of blood.

* * *

Karin, Yuzu, and Ganju managed to finally get away from the Shinigami, and meet up back with Nanao who seemed to be preoccupied with what was currently happening within the distance, something that she wasn't thrilled about.

However, upon seeing her, Ganju's eyes felt like they were freezing due to how Nanao was looking at her.

"N-Not you! You're a Shinigami! And you feel strong!"

"Ganju relax, she's on our side."

Karin spoke with a calm expression.

But Ganju didn't look pleased at all.

"B-But, she's on the enemies side, h-how can you be alright with that? It's scary! Perhaps we should leave!"

Nanao turned to Ganju who flinched under her gaze.

"Excuse me, are you thinking of trying to leave? We spent too much time in trying to find you, now you're going to leave? Do not try something like that, we have little time."

"B-But..."

Nanao's eyes sharpened, and she took off her glasses.

As she did, Ganju's face contorted into something akin to being horrified.

He quaked in spot while Karin grinned.

"So, that's a way to keep Ganju quiet. Hey Yuzu..." Her eyes saw Yuzu looking in the direction that they felt the powers before. "Something wrong Yuzu?"

"It's calm over there..."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't felt any waves of power over there for a little while now."

Karin commented, while Nanao placed her glasses back on.

"It seems that the battle is over. But from where we are, I cannot say who has won the battle. Both spiritual pressures have lowered to a point it makes it difficult to sense." Nanao lowered her head, as she addressed the others. "Honestly speaking, it could have gone either way, towards the end, I felt both of their pressures being on a similar level to one another. So, the fight could have either gone in or not in Takumi-kun's way."

"You're worried about your boyfriend, aren't you?"

Karin said with sympathy, Nanao nodded without thinking.

"Yes, I am..." Nanao paused, turning to Karin with confusion. "Wait, what did you say then?"

"Oh nothing, nothing at all~"

Karin teased, while Nanao showed an unsure look on her face.

"Either way, we should go."

"Are we going to go towards Takumi-kun?"

Yuzu posed her thoughts, but Nanao shook her head.

"No, we'll go back to my Captain. We have to leave immediately."

"But what about Takumi-kun…?"

Yuzu felt worried about him, if even Nanao couldn't sense him.

Did it mean that he was dead?

She didn't know at all.

"Do not worry about him, he'll be able to handle himself for now. Besides, I am sure that the other members of your group are going towards that location. I can sense several high energy signatures heading towards that location as well, so if we could, we'd be in the line of fire. Besides, it would take us a few hours to go that way, if we're to keep a low profile. It's best to head back to my Captain and assess the situation from that location."

Yuzu knew that Nanao was probably right.

Even if she was worried about Takumi and the others, they also had a mission to do, so she fought down her feelings of wishing to help Takumi, and decided to follow after Nanao as fast and quietly as she could.

Karin also felt her worries coming over her, and because of that, something stirred within her.

She then walked forward, when she felt something inside of her robes.

Curious, she went into her robes, and saw that it was a mask.

Not just any ordinary mask, it was a Hollows mask.

"_No...w-why do I have that…? What the hell is going on…?_"

She felt worried about it.

She didn't even know what to think about it.

She saw the others walking forward without looking back to her, and she felt her heartbeat increasing.

Despite putting on a brave demeanour, even she was worried about the inner Hollow of hers, something that gave her some worry.

But she didn't allow it to take over her, and fought down her worries, shoving the mask deep into her outfit.

"Karin, are you coming?"

Ganju called back, Karin snapped out of her thoughts, turning towards him and put on a faux smile.

"Y-Yeah, of course! I'm coming now!"

Karin exhaled slowly, catching up with the others, and slowly walked beside them, while not mentioning about her inner Hollow.

* * *

Back with Mayuri and the others, Mayuri was reeling from the slash he received from Yachiru. Seeing his arm on the ground from Mayuri's cut, Mayuri didn't know what the hell had just happened, he was in a state of shock.

Takumi watched as Yachiru announced "Left!" thrusting her hand left, and the beasts followed after her, then announcing "Right!" and she went in that direction, with the beasts following her directions as well…

No, it wasn't just following.

Takumi noticed that the smaller creature was moving just before her, and the larger one was moving just after her.

Kenpachi watched on while feeling his wounds bleeding deeper and deeper.

Takumi barely could concentrate, he felt like he was on the verge of passing out.

But Yachiru seemed to be playing with the beasts.

One of the creatures is tall and made of bone with teal hair. It wears a black cloak and has a large bone running through its head vertically, wielding a long dagger-like blade that has another blade protruding at the top edge. The other creature is plump and covered in yellow fur, leaving its eyes only partially visible, wielding a cleaver.

Yachiru looked towards Takumi with her sword dangling beside her.

"Taku, you saved me, thank you Taku. Do not worry, Taku is someone I care for as well so I will protect Taku." Takumi, despite nearly passing out, offered a smile for her. "Ooh yeah, Taku, these are my friends! This is Lumpy!" She pointed to the smaller creature. Then she turned to the bigger one. "This one is called Boney! Aren't they cute~? They've come to help me out~"

Takumi couldn't say anything else.

Everything that had happened to him, caused him to pass out.

His eyes closed completely, and he fell into a pool of his own blood.

In the end, Takumi couldn't fight. He tried all he could, but with his fight against Kenpachi, and then against Mayuri, it was too much for him.

Yachiru looked on in concern, while Mayuri growled angrily.

"Seriously! You think you can trifle with a Captain little girl?!"

Yachiru turned back towards Mayuri, holding her sword out in front of her.

"You hurt Taku! You tried to hurt Ken-chan! I am not happy!"

"As if I care!" Mayuri placed his hand to cleaved off other arm, and pressed some kind of release, revealing the rest of the mechanical device that made up that arm. "You think this is anything I hadn't foreseen? I think moves ahead, and I had planned for this just in case." Mayuri took out a green liquid, and injected his arm, which began to grow back. "See? Even if you cut off my arm, I can regrow it back."

Yachiru, not missing a beat, pulled forward with her blade.

"Then I'll cut it off again!"

Yachiru sliced forward at Mayuri who saw the beasts moving as well.

She saw one of them heading first, so he blocked that one, twisting his blade to block Yachiru's blade, but the third slash managed to land upon Mayuri's face, who had moved out of the way just in time from having his head cleaved off, saving him from decapitation.

Becoming annoyed, Mayuri thrust his sword outwards.

"Rip! Ashisogi Jizo!"

Along with a small cry babies cry, the blade transformed into something else.

Ashisogi Jizo's blade glows and transforms into a deformed trident with curved, serpentine blades. The middle blade is straighter and longer than the side blades, and appears to ascend from the guard, which is shaped like a baby's head with hands clasped in prayer, all mounted on his sword's normal hilt, which has more ornate spiky protrusions on either side, which resemble golden leaves right below the guard.

The baby's mouth secretes a poisonous vapor in this form at various intervals.

The poison attempts to head for Yachiru, Kenpachi and Takumi…

But suddenly, Takumi's blade glows, and releases some kind of white powder from the hilt that turned into a cloud of haze that blanketed a small area which counteracted the poison, by stopping the gas from spreading.

Mayuri yelled "Impossible!" turning angrily towards Takumi, but he was unconscious.

Confusion came over him…

But then he realized something.

"_Damn bastard, he built in a device that detects poison in his Zanpakuto, and releases that powder to disperse the gas, and it is lingering in the air, so my poison gas wont reach them while they stay here. He must have been aware of my ability...but how did he find that information out? It might not be impossible for Kisuke Urahara to have told him about it. But it seems for me to use my blades attacks, it is going to have to be direct, that powder has created a field around us that stops gas from spreading far. I'd need to study its properties before I can make something to neutralize its effects._"

Mayuri's eyes clasp onto Yachiru's own, and he charges forward.

Despite being a Captain that doesn't specialize in it, his speed was quite impressive, having managed to cross the distance within a few seconds, and slashed right for her body, she moved her sword in the direction of blocking and the beasts own swords came across Yachiru's body, giving three times the blocking power, Mayuri didn't look pleased about it, so he hopped backwards, and looked at the blade.

Focusing his eyes, he flash stepped behind Yachiru, and swung down for her body.

He noticed in that moment, the beasts didn't move to protect her, causing his eyes to narrow.

Yachiru however acted on basic instinct, stabbing backwards with her blade, causing the other beasts to stab backwards. Mayuri managed to parry the first blade away, but Yachiru's blade managed to stab into his leg, while the third blade sent his way was also parried away from his form.

Gritting his teeth, he showed a displeased look.

"I know how your sword works little girl. Those blasted beasts can only move when you move. The small one moves just before you, and the large one moves after you! Hah, if that's the case, then I'll just have to keep that in mind! Now die!"

Mayuri used his speed to blitz around, appearing and disappearing at different places.

He was moving much faster than how he usually would be capable of doing.

But that was because of his secret weapon that he had.

Or rather, one of the gadgets on his shoes, that allowed him to move at an insane speed.

He knew Takumi was fast, having been trained by Yoruichi, and that he'd never be able to catch him with his normal speed, so he had to make himself faster, so that's why he invented the shoes that he wore.

Yachiru couldn't follow him at all.

The speed was too fast.

"E-Eeeh...w-what do I do Ken-chan?"

"Do...what I'd do..."

Kenpachi said from the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

"What Ken-chan would do…?"

Yachiru thought about it for a few moments.

But then she grinned, and placed her feet on the ground strongly.

"Now, it's time for the Yachiru twister!"

Yachiru, with elegant movements as if she was a ballerina, began spinning, going faster and faster by the second.

Her body carried her through the area, while she swung her blade outwards by spinning, and correspondingly, the beasts followed, and did it just before her swing, creating a vortex of three spinning weapons with slightly different swinging speeds, so it made it even harder to try and time an attack as the movements seemed to be almost perfect.

Even Mayuri had to admit that the movement wasn't so bad either, due to how he had to avoid the attack, though his body did receive two cuts that caused him to bleed a little bit.

He looked for an opening as Yachiru came closer, forcing him to retreat backwards, taking out a small scythe blade from his ear, and swung it since it was attached to his head, for the young girl to try and cut her down.

But the spinning managed to swipe the blade away, allowing Yachiru to jump while spinning, heading right for Mayuri.

Mayuri would use a poison technique, but with Takumi's white mist from the powder scattered around, it just wasn't going to work for him right now, he couldn't use the poison mist due to that causing it to disperse, something that he had to admit was a stroke of genius from the young man, something that he hadn't expected.

But Mayuri saw an opening, and decided to take advantage of it as well.

"Have this!"

Jumping up, Mayuri went into the middle of the spinning Yachiru, who gasped and due to spinning, her speed was slowed down to move her sword to slice down Mayuri.

So the mad Captain managed to bypass her defensive movement, and came at her with his sword, to cut her down.

Suddenly, an arrow was shot through Mayuri's body, causing him to widen his eyes in shock.

He coughed up some blood as Giselle rained down elegantly from atop of a building far off.

"Damn, seems I missed the heart. With all that moving around, he truly managed to dodge out of the way in time~" Giselle walked forward, once using her Quincy flash step to cross the distance. "Ooh my, what a bloody battle you've had going on here."

Giselle twirled her fingers through her hair while Mayuri showed a dark grin.

The two stared at one another, with tension filling the air.

* * *

Back with Yoruichi and the others, they continued running through the area, while getting closer, and could feel the power of Yachiru growing at first, with Nemu tilting her head to the side.

"It seems that Lieutenant Kusajishi has taken it upon herself to fight against Mayuri-sama."

Yoruichi noticed how Nemu had called Mayuri 'Mayuri-sama' and wondered if Nemu still thought of Mayuri fondly, despite his treatment of her.

He was her creator, all she knew for most of her life before she had met Takumi.

If she did, then Yoruichi wouldn't be surprised, and would expect it.

"Nemu, may I ask, what are your feelings regarding Mayuri?"

Yoruichi decided to ask that straight out.

She needed to know, in case she had to do something to protect the others.

"Mayuri-sama is the man who created me. At first, I believed that Mayuri-sama was the man that I should follow without question. However, since that incident, within the town of Karakura, Takumi Urahara-sama has allowed me to see worth within myself, and follow my own ideals. I haven't been able to discover my own ideals in the past, and right now, I am going to say that my ideals do not match up with Mayuri-sama's. I, like to research, but I do not like inflicting pain onto others."

Yoruichi wanted to believe that Nemu was telling the truth.

She wanted to know that this was true.

But because Nemu was someone that Mayuri created, she honestly couldn't be sure.

She just didn't want anything to happen to the people around by trusting in Nemu and she could turn on them.

But for now, she had to trust in her, if only for Takumi's sake.

"I understand, so Takumi helped you feel...helped you come to an understanding about yourself."

"Yes, that is correct. Takumi-sama has helped me understand myself in ways I haven't before. Are you concerned of my feelings regarding Mayuri-sama? He is my Father, in many ways, however, I have come to understand that Mayuri-sama doesn't treat me in ways that are acceptable."

Yoruichi simply nodded her head.

But then she stopped when she felt a spike in power.

"That power..."

"Y-Yoruichi-chan, that feels like..."

"Giselle."

She finished off for Orihime who inclined her neck.

"So, she's come to save Taku-chan?"

"I guess that she has. But because she has, that means we can move faster. Nemu, I'll meet you and Hanataro there."

Yoruichi, feeling Mayuri being in a fight now, used her famed speed, and shot off like a speeding lightning bolt, leaving Nemu and Hanataro in the dust, due to her amazing speed. Nemu also knew the reason why, if she was discovered by Mayuri, then it wouldn't be good.

* * *

Back with Giselle, the pair stared at one another for a few moments, before Mayuri pulled closer, with Yachiru pulling backwards, standing next to Kenpachi, while also moving Takumi to Kenpachi's side so she could protect them.

Yachiru didn't know what it was, but the feeling coming from Giselle was cold, distant.

She could see that her eyes were on Takumi, and how he was bleeding, dying, and she didn't look pleased.

Mayuri though didn't care about the killing intent, he found it rather cute coming from a girl as unassuming as Giselle.

"Heh, so a newcomer. What was that arrow? I saw it at the last second, you can hide your presence rather well girl."

Giselle showed a gleeful smile.

"You look like a clown. And you've been abusing my Takumi-kun. You are a bad person~"

Mayuri, despite having an arrow through him, still could show a menacing look on his face.

"Is that right? I'm sorry about that, but I had to kill him quickly."

Giselle's face suddenly turned dark, and she pulled closer.

"If he's dead, then your death will be anything but quick."

Mayuri smirked at the killing intent rolling off of Giselle.

"Are you trying to be intimidating? Because it comes off as a flea trying to intimidate a dog. It simply doesn't work."

Giselle ran a finger through her hair once more, snapping her fingers as shadows began appearing around the battlefield.

"Are you sure that you should be insulting an unknown enemy?"

"Don't worry, I can handle two little girls."

Giselle's face grew larger with her smile erupting all over her face.

"Ooh just the two of you, did you say?" Giselle directed Mayuri around, revealing different people, confusing him. "Don't you mean, the twenty of you?!"

Mayuri gasped, seeing Shinigami appearing around him.

He was surprised.

Did they turn on him?

What did Giselle say to them...

But then smirked.

"Alright then, Shinigami! This is a Ryoka! Arrest her immediately!"

He demanded, only for them to not move a single muscle.

Mayuri became confused as Giselle skipped closer.

"Doesn't seem like they're listening to you." Giselle got right in Mayuri's face, showing a dark smile. "Because they're my comrades now you bastard."

"As if!"

Mayuri swung for Giselle, but two of the Zombie's intercepted Mayuri's blade, clashing with sparks erupting around them. Then two more Shinigami jumped down to slice at Mayuri who growled, forcing back the two Shinigami with a Kido spell.

But that allowed Giselle to fire an arrow at close range, Mayuri panicking and bent his beck backwards, as the arrow went above his face.

"That was-"

He couldn't finish his sentence as Ikkaku came down with his Shikai activated, what was left of it after his fight with Karin, stabbing towards Mayuri again and again at a good speed. He parried the shots from Ikkaku, but admitted to himself that he wasn't that good in swordplay as were the Squad 11 that focused in on battle.

"Ooh, what's gonna happen now clowny? Getting worried are you~?"

Giselle giggled, which unnerved Mayuri.

She didn't even appear to be worried.

She seemed to be as calm as they came.

Mayuri glared hard for Giselle, while waving his hand forward, shooting a restraining spell at Ikkaku.

However, Yumichika came down, and sliced towards the binding spell, dispelling it before it could capture Ikkaku, as Giselle shot off several arrows at Mayuri which went at a high speed, all coming for the deranged looking man.

"Get lost! Seriously!"

Using his sword skills, Mayuri cut down the arrows, but Yumichika and three Shinigami following him charged for Mayuri, all slashing towards him, so Mayuri cut down two of the Shinigami, but due to the arrow that Giselle had hit him with before, his reflexes dulled, and the blade of Yumichika's cut into Mayuri's skin, causing him to scowl, releasing a barrier before him, so he couldn't get cut with others.

His hands stuck themselves out, and concentrated on his Kido energy.

"Hado 73: Soren Sokatsui!"

Using a doubled version of Sokatsui, Mayuri's Kido spell slammed against a bunch of Shinigami charging for him, keeping them away from his body, but Giselle saw an opening, and shot off a very powerful arrow, so powerful that Mayuri knew it would be too strong for his own good.

Mayuri turned his Kido onto Giselle's arrow, and a violent clash sent a powerful shock wave between the two of them, obliterating the ground below them, while Giselle quickly moved Takumi out of the way, with Yachiru carrying Kenpachi.

As the shock wave died down, Mayuri stood there with some blood dripping down his face, his eyes squarely on the enemy before him.

"You're not so bad little girl. I have to commend you. So, what have you done to those Shinigami?"

Giselle, to keep Mayuri guessing, weighed her hands up and down.

"I don't know what you're talking about~ They saw you attacking their Captain, they decided in that moment that you're their enemy rather than I am~"

"You're lying, don't mock me little girl."

"Mocking you? I wouldn't mock someone like you, because it would be too easy. I could mock the fact that you're a clown, or the fact that you're a sadist. I'm not a sadist myself, so I don't know what being one is like."

Mayuri clutched his sword tightly.

"Then you can witness a power like no other, my Bankai!"

Giselle felt a slight panic entering her.

She didn't know if she could deal with his Bankai.

She didn't even know what his Bankai could do.

So rather than appear to be distressed, she just showed a wild smile.

"Go ahead!" She baited to the suspicions of Mayuri. "But you should be aware, there are people coming here." Mayuri paused as Giselle lazily waved her hand left. "There's a few of our comrades coming here, someone that could probably blitz you in speed."

"You're lying!"

Giselle didn't show anything other than her strong expressions that showed she wasn't messing around at all.

"Check for yourself."

Giselle suggested, so Mayuri focused and sensed.

For a few seconds, he didn't feel anyone.

But then he felt a few targets approaching, and one, which was Yoruichi, who had high spirit energy did make Mayuri sweat a little bit. Thankfully, he couldn't sense Nemu's presence, something Nemu had made sure that he wouldn't.

Mayuri didn't exactly want to get caught up between this kind of battle, and with the injuries he had suffered, he didn't think it would be a good idea either.

"Tch, you're a pretty weird girl. But you intrigue me girl. Your arrows, are that of a Quincy. I had given up on Quincy's a while ago."

"Given up? What do you mean?"

Mayuri showed his deranged smile that made Giselle's eyes narrow.

"Yeah, I experimented on many Quincy's, probably over two thousand of them."

"Two thousand…?"

Giselle felt her anger growing within her.

He experimented on innocent Quincy's…

Two thousand or more?

He looked even happy with announcing that.

"That's right, I can't remember the exact number, but it is a rather interesting. But I got everything I wished out of that research. Though, you have sparked my interest again girl. What kind of abilities do you have?"

Giselle was seething.

Mayuri was making light of killing innocent people.

It pissed her off.

It made her feel like she was going to kill Mayuri for ding something like this, the injustice of it all.

Not only killing the Quincy's, but also having done what he had done to Takumi...

"You're dead."

She said coldly, and shot off many arrows at Mayuri who panicked.

Seeing the barrage coming for him, he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge them all at the same time, so he went into his pocket, and pulled out a weird looking device, which he pressed a button on, throwing it into the air, which created what seemed to be a very bright light, which forced the arrows from Giselle to head towards the light itself, Mayuri snickering at the sight.

"Always come prepared. I came prepared for Takumi, but this will work with you as well, little girl. Goodbye for now girl, you've definitely piqued my interest."

"Wait!"

She tried to give chase, but Mayuri threw a bomb towards Yachiru and the others.

Gritting her teeth, she shot the bomb down, but Mayuri managed to hide himself as he got away.

Giselle noticing though that the wounds he had wouldn't allow him to give chase to them.

* * *

Once he was gone, Giselle strolled over towards Takumi, and the others. She had also noticed that Kenpachi had passed out by that time, Giselle bent down towards Takumi, and saw how his life was struggling, how he was losing, due to the massive amount of injuries on his body.

"Takumi-kun, it seems that you've been through quite a bit. Don't worry Takumi-kun, you're not going to die."

While she spoke, Giselle saw Yoruichi come in with Orihime.

Orihime gasped, and jumped out of Yoruichi's arms, rushing towards Takumi.

"Taku-chan! Taku-chan!"

She knelt down before him, and used her Soten Kisshun ability, to try and heal him to the best of her abilities. Yoruichi overlooked the situation, then turned to Kenpachi, who was unconscious, and Yachiru who looked worried over Kenpachi.

"Please, help Ken-chan too! Ken-chan and Taku are best friends now!"

Yoruichi wasn't convinced by it.

But Orihime expanded her shield, and enveloped Kenpachi in it as well.

"Inoue..."

Yoruichi spoke with worry about her healing someone like Kenpachi.

But Orihime continued healing while saying "Taku-chan would do it too." so she healed Kenpachi along with Takumi, while Yoruichi wasn't sure about it. It felt like it was a bad idea to do something like this.

But then she sighed.

"Little girl, we need a base. Would your Squad be acceptable?"

"Ooh, you're making a base for the Taku Squad?"

Yoruichi was taken aback by that.

"T-The Taku Squad?"

"Yup! I'm Lieutenant of the Taku Squad! Taku also saved me, so make sure that Taku stays alive, okay? Ken-chan will need his best friend to become well so they can fight again!"

Yoruichi was bewildered, but Giselle stepped forward.

"She's right, Takumi-kun saved her life."

"How do you..."

"I could see the blood on Mayuri Kurotsuchi's sword, that matched Takumi-kun's blood. The wound came from him, and I believe he would defend her from that kind of attack. So if she said that he did, then he did save her."

"Yes...you're probably right." She turned to see Nemu coming in with Hanataro, who went immediately to Takumi's side to help Orihime with healing. "In any case, we need to get off the street, it is too dangerous to stay here."

"Then lets go!"

Yachiru announced happily, Yoruichi nodding and took a glance at Nemu, wondering if they could trust her. Not that she didn't like Nemu...but she had to be cautious in case Mayuri had planned something and that Nemu was a participant, even if Nemu wasn't aware of it happening at the time either.

* * *

As the night began to come, Karin and the others finally reached Shunsui's are, immediately coming in contact with them, and as soon as he saw Karin and Yuzu, his face grew with a smile.

"Well, Nanao-chan. I didn't know you were bringing two beautiful women."

Yuzu became bashful, putting her hands to her flushing cheeks, while Karin didn't look exactly thrilled with him.

"So this is your Captain?"

Karin asked Nanao who nodded with a sigh.

"Unfortunately."

"Hey Nanao-chan, don't be mean~ Besides, we all know you'd want Takumi to be your Captain huh~?"

Karin adopted a smirk, playfully poking the increasingly shy Nanao in the side.

"Is that true? Do you want him to be your Captain? Commanding you in different ways..."

"N-No! Do not speak like that!" Nanao released an out of character cry, before straightening herself out. "A-Anyway, Captain, have you heard anything back from the Central 46?"

Shunsui's face turned downwards.

"Unfortunately I have."

"Captain..."

Nanao didn't like the tone that Shunsui was using it.

It was confirming some fears that she held inside of herself.

Shunsui pressed forward with an unsure look on his face.

"It seems, that they could consider trading Rukia Kuchiki for Takumi, and then they would execute him in her place."

Both Karin and Yuzu gasped, while Ganju wore complex feelings on his face.

"But we can't give Takumi-kun up to them surely!"

Yuzu argued, while Karin nodded.

"That's not an option. We're all leaving this damn Soul Society. Regardless of what this Central 46 wishes for or not. Don't worry Yuzu, we wont hand over Takumi for Rukia-san, we'll save both of them from this corrupt society."

Shunsui furrowed his eyebrows.

"By the way, when I last saw Takumi, he alluded to something being wrong with the Soul Society. Did he tell either of you what that was?"

Yuzu and Karin glanced at one another, before Yuzu spoke up.

"Takumi-kun told us that there are some probable traitors in the Soul Society. But we shouldn't discuss that with anyone unless we fully trust them."

"And sorry, but we can't trust you yet. Just met you and all. We can't be sure if you're the traitor."

Shunsui let out a laugh.

"Yes, I'd be worried if you did trust me fully. Good, then it seems that it wasn't just for show. If there is a traitor in the Soul Society, then it has to be one of the Captains. Only they'd have the ability to attempt trying to betray the Soul Society."

"But who, sir?"

Nanao questioned, but Shunsui wasn't so sure.

"I don't know yet. That's why we should try and meet up with Takumi. That boy probably has an idea about it as well. But, I'm not sure where he is currently."

"He was fighting Kenpachi Zaraki but..."

"I already went to look, by the time I got there, he was already gone. Whatever happened to him, his body wasn't there, so he's alive at least."

Yuzu released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"See Yuzu? I said that idiot would be fine."

"Yes, I guess that you're right. I'm glad Takumi-kun is still alive. But we have to find him."

Shunsui then interrupted.

"But not tonight, it's too dangerous, they're on high alert right now, and if I know Takumi, which I do, he wont be going back out tonight. We'll have to wait for a little while, but we will meet up with him again."

Karin nodded.

"I agree. Lets get some rest, and get ready to fight."

Shunsui nodded, and asked Nanao to prepare them so sleeping areas.

While doing so, Yuzu was just relieved that Takumi was fine and not dead right now.

* * *

With everything that was going on until that point, Momo was in a situation she wasn't sure to think about. Remembering what Toshiro had said, remembering what happened with Renji, and also, how she had met Takumi, and he wasn't a monster that he had been portrayed to be.

It all seemed insane, she wasn't sure where to go, what to think, how to feel.

In the end, she found herself moving towards her Captains room, trying to find some clarity from the wisest man that she knew, and the man that she believed was the only one that she could currently trust due to how kind he was.

Momo's knuckles knocked on the door several times, even some more that was necessarily.

The door opened, just as Momo was knocking, almost hitting Aizen.

"Momo, it seems something is wrong." His calm voice always made Momo feel better. "Is something the matter Momo?"

"N-No...yes...I don't know Captain. Things are..."

Momo didn't know how to begin.

She wasn't sure what to say.

Aizen stepped aside, allowing her entry.

"Please come and sit down."

She nodded a single time, before walking inside of the room.

Positioning herself nearby, where Aizen was writing something at his table, she sat down and Aizen sat down before her.

"I'm sorry for bothering you so late Captain. I-I didn't mean to come so late, and I'm sorry...for screwing up in front of you Captain."

Aizen turns towards her, giving her a slightly kind smile.

"So, is that the image I project to others these days? Is it a scary Captain image?"

"N-No! I didn't mean it like that Captain! I swear!"

She said while waving her hands in front of her face, embarrassment on her face.

Aizen's face softens.

"I see." He overlooked Momo's features, seeing the worry on her face. "Are you worried about Renji right now Momo?"

"Yes...I mean, Captain Kuchiki seemed a little harsh considering everything currently going on with Renji-san..."

"Yes, he can be a rather closed off person. But do not worried about Renji, he is fine. He's healing and recovering quite well. Though he is still unconscious right now."

"I see, that's one good thing at least."

Momo showed her relief on her face, while Aizen continued.

"Captain Kuchiki attempted to try and demote Renji, but everyone was against it. So when he is healed, he will return to his position."

Momo exhaled the breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I bet it was you, wasn't it Captain Aizen? Who defended Renji-san."

Aizawa shook his head with a kind smile erupting outwards.

"It wasn't only me. Since Renji is talented, and is well liked, he wasn't going to be punished. Since that boy, Takumi Urahara is the one that had fought him, no one was happy to to demote him for attempting to apprehend him."

"I see...since it was that boy...Takumi Urahara-san huh..."

Aizen raised a brow when Momo seemed to be pondering something.

"Is something on your mind, Momo?"

"Well...I just thought about something. Captain, is this boy...Takumi Urahara-san that bad? I mean, he seems to be really...I don't know. He didn't seem to be a monster to me."

Aizen's eyes sharpened.

"Is that so? I was told you had contact with him. I'm sorry if he scared you."

Aizen tried to appear as sympathetic as he could.

Momo appreciated the kindness that Aizen showed, but believed that he also had got it wrong.

"No, no, he wasn't a bad person to me Captain Aizen. In fact, he...he was quite nice, and spoke kindly."

Aizen wasn't thrilled about that.

It wasn't in his plans to have Momo begin actually sympathizing with Takumi of all people.

So he tried to dissuade Momo from Takumi as much as he could without giving anything away.

"Perhaps he did. But remember Momo, the kindest words can hold the darkest intentions."

Momo thought about what Aizen had said, not seeing the look that was within Aizen's eyes.

"Maybe...but, is it possible, that we're wrong about him? I heard that he was a ruthless monster that had done many horrible experiments on good people. Yet, when he had me in his clutches, all he did was ask me questions, and then let me go. He didn't even try and threaten me. He didn't seem like a monster to me...and Renji-san. He also said that once, he learned a good deal from Takumi Urahara-san, and he was kind to him and Rukia Kuchiki-san. So, it's so confusing."

Aizen's eyes sharpened more and more.

He wasn't thrilled about this.

He looked quite angered by this actually.

But he kept on his calm face, and showed nothing but kindness to her.

His hand reached out, gently petting her head.

"I know it must be confusing. I must admit that it is also confusing to me. I once fought alongside Takumi Urahara, and when I had heard about the incident which lead to him leaving the Soul Society, I couldn't believe my ears."

"You knew Urahara-san in a more friendly manner Captain?"

Aizen meshed his lips together, thinking about how to reply.

"I have met him before, he and I had served together on several missions. He was a genius on a similar caliber to Toshiro Hitsugaya. If he had stayed on with the Soul Society, he'd be a Captain of a squad by this point, he had that much talent. But, it went to waste, and he fell to the darkness."

"I-I see...you speak kindly of him Captain. Was he...your friend?"

Aizen nodded turning fully towards her.

"We once shared a friendship between us, we had things that were in common and I came to refer to him as my comrade in arms. But if I see him again, I'll have conflicting feelings. I wouldn't know if I could end up fighting him with my best. The old memories of us being together in a battle situation would haunt me, and perhaps dull my blade. He once protected me and I had once protected him during a fight with some particularly strong Hollows."

Momo was hooked on every word Aizen was saying, something Aizen was pleased about.

"Wow Captain, he was on a similar to you in the past?"

"Haha, I suppose he was. But now...he has been lost to the darkness. As I said Momo, do not be deceived with kind words, he might appear kind and had let you go, but remember, his intelligence and his ability to deceive comrades and foes alike is amazing. He managed to fool the Soul Society for a long time, before what he did came to light. Regrettably, the face you see, his face that looks like a sweet and kind young man, hides a force of nature that even surprises me. I don't wish to scare you, I wish to protect you."

Momo took in everything that Aizen had said.

But…

Something inside of her couldn't quite believe it.

Unless Takumi was the best liar in the world, it all seemed natural.

Their interaction seemed to be as natural as it could be.

He wasn't threatening.

He wasn't menacing.

He was acting...quite like a normal person would.

And if he was deceiving her...for what purpose?

Momo didn't know, but she felt her fatigue coming over her once more.

Her body slunk down a little bit, something Aizen had noticed, showing his ever so kind expression that would fill most with delight.

"Anyway, Momo. Feel free to stay as long as you wish."

Momo thanked Aizen.

"Thank you Captain, I'll keep quiet so you can continue your work, and I am sorry if I have made you fall behind because of it."

"Do not think anything of it, Momo. You are someone I consider to me close to me, not just as my Lieutenant, but my comrade...my friend."

Momo's face filled with delight, as her eyes became heavier and heavier.

But she watched Aizen for another hour or so, before she couldn't stay awake anymore, and she fell asleep.

Aizen's eyes scanned over Momo's form.

"_Damn that Takumi, perhaps he had planted an idea in Momo's head, knowing that she was my Lieutenant...if that's the case, then he's smarter than I thought. It seems that I'll have to move faster in order to achieve what I wish for, that boy is getting too close. But still, I wont be beaten by him. I'll get my hands on it, nothing is going to stop me, least of all Takumi Urahara._"

Aizen, having wrote a letter, left it on the table, and then left the area.

Focused on his mission, Aizen was preparing for what was going to happen next.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So Bambietta and the others showed back up, and are watching over Karakura town for Takumi and the others while they're away, while Zombie Chizuru and Kisuke are...doing what they're doing~**

**While that was going on, Mayuri's causing terror for the group. Takumi, despite being nearly out of energy, managed to at least for a small while, duel with Mayuri, but since his fight with Kenpachi had exhausted him, he couldn't fight for long. Then Yachiru stepped in and tried to fight him, even showing her Shikai and managed to surprise Mayuri since he didn't have any notes on her Shikai, then finally, after she was nearly beaten by Mayuri, Giselle came in with her hoard of Zombie's, and fought off Mayuri, drawing him away from her.**

**At the same time Yoruichi is wondering about Nemu, if they can trust her or not, not because she doesn't like Nemu, but due to being the daughter of Mayuri, she doesn't want anything bad to happen to the others in case Nemu changes on them, though Nemu is on their side, after stating about how Takumi had helped her see her treatment by Mayuri was wrong.**

**Karin and the others finally met up with Shunsui, revealing about Central 46, something we'll be getting back to soon enough, and Karin has manifested her Hollow mask, that she's keeping hidden from everyone else due to worry about it and not wanting to worry anyone else, and Aizen seems to be up to something, knowing that Takumi could be someone very troubling for him, so we'll find out about that in the future!**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	24. Preparations!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; Haha, it surely will~ Zombie Chizuru and Kisuke are hitting it off it seems~ Yeah, I could see that happening between them~ Aizen is yeah, we'll see more about that in the future. He is yeah~**

**Clarent excalibur; Yeah, Momo's going to be going through a few things in the coming chapters, and showing her branching out more. Momo's Bankai huh, I'd have to think about it, or yeah as you said, any ideas would be appreciated. I'm sure Takumi might be able to figure that out eventually. Haha, that would be quite funny to see huh~?**

**Hakuorofan7; Yeah, it might lead to Aizen's downfall in the end, we'll have to wait and see. And thanks!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Zombie Chizuru's having the time of her life, with Bambietta having fun with the teasing. She did yeah, Yachiru showed she wouldn't go down so easily. Yeah, it could have been, Mayuri hinted at it a good deal last chapter with a few things he said, we'll explore more about it in the future though. Nemu's showing more agency and becoming stronger for it. Karin's concerned for it yet, Takumi's gonna help her with it, even if right now all he can do is give her a pep talk. He has yeah, Aizen's gonna try and fix that with what's revealed this chapter. She could become his subordinate yeah, Momo's going to go through a journey.**

**Skull Flame; Haha, it surely did huh. Together, they managed to drive off Mayuri from killing Kenpachi or Takumi. Ooh yeah, they'll become pissed off about it alright. He can yeah, leave it to the Femritters to fight off the Hollows. Haha, Kisuke and Zombie Chizuru are...one of them is happy anyway. It is yeah, we'll see more of that complicated situation in the near future. She is yeah, Karin's got her story arc going on now~**

**rhinocaputo777; Here's the next chapter!**

**Silver crow; Thanks! They are yeah, they've got Karakura town safe. Poor Zombie Chizuru lol. Nemu's showing more loyalty now. Yeah, it's gonna be fun huh. He did yeah, we'll discover more of the past of Takumi in future chapters. Yachiru showed what she can do, and she might be even having another fight in the future. I thought it was, since we didn't get one in canon. Nanao's glare can scare most it seems~ Karin's going through a few things. Yup, Yachiru fought Mayuri the best that she could, and Kinhime helped in her own way. He is yeah, it's gonna be a battle of the minds between them. Yeah, Giselle showed she's not to be messed with, nor is her growing army. And yeah, the Quincy girls are gonna be pissed at Mayuri. Glad you liked it~ Aizen and Takumi do have a past together, and we'll explore more of that in the future, and what he said to Momo, might not necessarily be a lie either. I haven't checked that out yet, so I don't know much about Roka to be honest. He could do yeah. Mayuri's quite arrogant yeah, so maybe he didn't, Yoruichi's concerned though. Perhaps he did see a lot between him and Takumi, their relationship will be explored more in the future. Maybe he could have killed him yeah. If I did a fic like that, then it could happen, sounds pretty cool to me. That would be cool for Karin. Maybe he could do yeah. Hah, that would be something Rangiku could do. Yeah, that would be cool if Takumi did that for Shinji and the others. No worries, I got what you meant. That will become relevant in the near future. Yeah, those look pretty cool for ideas~ The Espada could get something like that yeah. My favourite design, Grimmjow maybe, I like his a lot. Maybe not this chapter, but in the future, sure~**

**Andrew123456; Tough question. I can't say Mayuri's a good guy in canon, but he's on the good guys side, so I'd say he should have betrayed the Soul Society at some point, maybe it would have been predictable, but a fight between him and Kisuke would have been pretty cool. As for a bad guy turning good, I don't know, I would say Gin, but he was sort of a good guy anyway, but a totally evil guy turning good...I'd probably have to say one of the Sternritter, perhaps Bazz B, I know he kinda turned good, but that was more of him having a common enemy with the good guys, so yeah I'd say Bazz B.**

**Guest; Here's the chapter!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Preparations!**

Having finally arrived at the Squad 11 Barracks, Orihime and Hanataro continued to use their abilities on Takumi and Kenpachi to make sure that they don't die from blood loss, or anything to do with their actual wounds, while Yoruichi looked towards Nemu who remained silent, she hadn't even moved since coming into the barracks themselves.

Yachiru sat beside Kenpachi and Takumi, wishing that they would be healed soon enough.

At the same time, Yoruichi turned her eyes towards Giselle who was casually playing with her hair.

"You've been busy it seems."

At Yoruichi's words, Giselle showed a goofy smile.

"Perhaps you're right~"

"Do you have any idea where Karin and the others are? I've heard Quincy's have sensing abilities above Shinigami, is that correct?"

Giselle shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Dunno~" Yoruichi sweat dropped. "But I do know where they are. I've been able to sense all you guys running around here since I landed. That's why I could find Zombie Ikkaku, and Zombie Yumichika, along with the others."

Yoruichi saw the Zombie's behind her, and shuddered.

She wished to know what Giselle was going to do with those Zombie's, it did freak her out she had to admit that.

But shaking her head side to side, she still did her best.

"I see...so you know where they are. Tell me, I'll go and collect them. It would be better if we are able to stay together."

Giselle nodded, pointing towards the direction of the Squad Eight Barracks.

"Over there, it feels like they're with that guy that came from the Soul Society to the human world when Rukia-chan was captured."

"You mean Byakuya?"

Yoruichi felt panic inside of her, but Giselle shook her head both ways.

"Nope, this isn't him, I believe. The one I'm feeling is with a weaker source of energy, they've been together for a while now. They also travelled with the weaker one for a while. Though I can't tell how they're feeling or whatever, but if they were in danger, we'd probably feel either not much spiritual pressure, or spikes, and I'm not feeling either. So they probably aren't in any immediate danger."

Yoruichi furrowed her eyebrows.

"I see, then it must be Kyoraku. It makes sense, he'd know that they'd be with Takumi...alright, I'm going to go and get them." Yoruichi eyed up Nemu who stayed silent. "Keep your eyes on her, Giselle."

Giselle heard Yoruichi's whisper, raising an eyebrow.

"You think she's an enemy?"

At Giselle's concerned words, Yoruichi shook her head.

"Not willingly anyway. She was made by Mayuri, he is a very deranged man and he, while not believing that his creation would ever betray him, would build something that could cause her to turn on her enemies. We've seen that she's passive, and doesn't really like violence. Mayuri also would see that, and he could have made something that would cause her allegiance to switch around, and turn her on us."

Giselle looked towards Nemu, and hoped that wasn't the case.

If it was, then Giselle thought that Mayuri was more evil than she had thought about. It just made her feel disgusted with Mayuri.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on her."

"Right, I'll be off then."

Yoruichi took to her feet, and dashed out of the area, while Giselle watched Nemu like a hawk.

At the same time, Orihime continued using her powers to undo Takumi's wounds.

"_Don't worry Taku-chan, I'll make sure that you survive._"

She said while pushing her powers as far as they would go.

Hanataro was in awe that she was using her powers like she was, and healing him as fast as she could.

Orihime definitely had the ability to heal quite quickly, and her fierce determination was shining through.

Giselle glanced at Nemu while Orihime did that, and watched her like a hawk.

Despite what Yoruichi said, she just couldn't see Nemu turning on them like she believed she would.

* * *

Meanwhile, as that was happening, Karin was silently practicing with her sword in a small courtyard, out of sight of the others so she could have a private moment to think.

Contemplating about what had happened with the Hollow mask, she just couldn't get it out of her mind.

Why did it appear?

What could she truly do with it?

She didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she wished to know about it either.

She swung her sword left, just as Shunsui came walking past, causing her blade to stop inches from his face.

"Whoa there, you nearly cut me down."

He joked with her, causing Karin to lower her blade.

"Sorry about that. Didn't see you."

Shunsui shook his neck side to side.

"Of course, don't worry about it. So, you're a Shinigami then huh?"

"That's right, awakened my powers, and everything. Though..."

"Though?"

Karin didn't know if she could say anything about the Hollow within her.

She wasn't sure how other Shinigami's besides Rukia or Takumi would take it.

"Though...can I ask you something?"

Shunsui showed a smile, his face turning slightly red.

"Anything for a beautiful lady~" Karin thrust her sword at his chest, causing him to cry, and fall backwards. "A-Anything for a very respectable and lovely young woman who wouldn't do anything to hurt me, right?"

Karin narrowed her eyes slightly, before sitting down on the ground.

"I don't really get the Soul Society that much. But I do know that the laws here are messed up. In ways, it feels like we're fighting the laws of the Soul Society and attempting to try and change them as well."

"Well, that's what happens when a fight breaks out like this."

"But, why are you doing this?"

Shunsui raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You're just as involved as the rest of us, especially now that you're hiding us Ryoka, so I was wondering, why are you doing this? What if you're caught, wont you be turned into a criminal as well? We've seen Kuchiki-san getting taken away for just saving our lives with giving her powers to that idiot Takumi. What you're doing is probably worse really. She didn't have a real choice other than death at that time. Yet you right now don't have to do this for us, you could just tell us to get lost, so why aren't you?"

Shunsui leaned his neck back, staring intently at the sky.

"You're right. Honestly, I have been contemplating it ever since I heard about Takumi was alive and well."

"What is your real relationship with him anyway? He has a Father you know?"

Karin wished to know more.

Something about the past seemed interesting to her.

Shunsui adopted a light hearted smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm quite aware he has a Father. My relationship with Takumi huh….haha, that's quite complicated. We had a very interesting relationship in the past. He was quite an odd Shinigami in the past. But he was quite kind hearted. Perhaps you've heard of this ninja like Shinigami called Soi Fon?"

"No, not really. Who's that?"

Shunsui chortled.

He didn't know if Karin not knowing who that was, was better or worse for the girl.

"Suffice to say, she's someone that has an even more personal connection to Takumi than I do. I saw the boy as a son in the past. He helped me with day to day activities, he always...well, it's difficult to talk about. The day that he was to be a hunted Shinigami, it always didn't sit right with me. He was probably the kindest boy you'd meet, he was helpful, and would often go to the Rukongai and help out for free, give kids food, and so on and so forth. So when I had heard of these heinous crimes, it just didn't make sense to me. All this time spent with him and seeing his kindness, and I was supposed to believe that he's suddenly a monster that does human experimentation?"

"Yeah...he might be a bit of a freak, but he'd never do anything like that."

"Exactly. That's why I was glad the day that Kisuke Urahara escaped with him. I knew Kisuke would make sure he was fine. So when I heard that he had been found, I knew that I had to see him, just once. If I could stare into his eyes once more, and see the truth for myself. Whether that truth was the cold hard truth that he was a murderer, or that I was right and he hadn't been involved at all."

"And I guess you saw that you were right?"

Shunsui laughed as if he found it funny.

But then his eyes tossed to the side, glancing at something, before bowing his head.

"Yup, didn't see anything evil inside of him. It takes an evil heart to do what was described. So I always suspected someone else had set him up for that, and he basically confirmed it for me when he crashed the Captains meeting."

Karin snorted, remembering when Nanao told her that.

"Hahahaha! That idiot would do something like that!"

"Despite calling him an idiot, it sounds like you care."

Karin was caught off guard with what he had said.

"Well, he's a friend of ours so I care what happens to him obviously, and he's also someone my sister has a crush on. God knows why that is, but she apparently does, so if he died, then she'd be depressed about it, and I wouldn't want my sister to suffer through anything."

Shunsui allowed a cool smile to erupt over his face.

He seemed to be quite happy about that answer.

"Protecting your sibling, it's quite nice."

"Yeah..."

"Isn't that right, Yoruichi-san?"

Karin froze as Yoruichi stepped down before them.

"Geez! Don't do that Yoruichi-san!"

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"It seems that you're as lively as ever, Karin."

"When you suddenly appeared, I was quite shocked! But since you're here..."

Her eyes cast to Shunsui, who gave a dazzling look.

"Shunsui, it seems you've been making waves on your own. Taking in this girl, and her sibling."

"Well, a friend of Takumi's, is a friend of mine."

"Speaking of, where do you stand regarding Takumi and the plight of the Soul Society?"

Shunsui cracked his neck side to side.

"Alright, you should know it. But isn't it obvious? I'm trying my best."

"If that's the case, then I know where Takumi and the others are."

Karin's ears perked.

"You've found him?"

"Yeah, he's in a bad situation, but he's being healed right now. It would be best if we're in one place, and since he can't move, we should move towards that location. Karin, go and get Yuzu."

"And Ganju."

"Ganju..." Yoruichi appeared momentarily confused, before it came back to her. "Right, Ganju as well."

"You didn't forget about Ganju, did you?"

"No, I didn't do that."

Karin was suspicious, but she simply walked away from the area, while Shunsui watched Yoruichi intently.

"You shouldn't have come back here with that boy."

"You know him Shunsui, once he puts his mind to something, he's going to do it no matter what. Even if I had said something a thousand times, he's here to rescue Kuchiki-san, and I can't fault him for that."

Shunsui knew that Yoruichi was right.

Even then he held an unsure expression on his face.

"Either way, we should probably move out as soon as possible."

"He's not going to wake up tonight, so you should relax. He fought and beat Kenpachi Zaraki, and even attempted to fight Mayuri while he was losing a lot of blood, if nothing else he has the drive to keep going forward."

Shunsui had to admit that it was rather true in what he had said.

It made sense to him either way.

He bowed his head once more, and looked on with a calm expression on his face.

* * *

As the sun was rising in the sky that day, Momo was sleeping peacefully within Aizen's room. Not a sound was around Momo's sleeping form, and she looked so peaceful.

She usually felt at ease when she was with Aizen in his room.

But when her eyes began to open, she couldn't see Aizen around.

"Captain…?"

She called, but received no reply.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around for Aizen, but couldn't see him at all.

Realizing that the sun was up, her eyes went towards the clock that hung from the wall, and saw that it was close to ten in the morning, her face turning as white as a ghost.

"Aaaaaaah!" She let out a cry, jumping to her feet. "I-I'm late! I'm late for that meeting!"

Momo quickly got to her feet, and grabbed what she needed, including that of her Zanpakuto once making a trip back to her own room, before she began running towards the location that the Lieutenant's would be meeting.

Realizing that she wouldn't make it for the time that she had, she decided to take a short cut, which allowed her to jump across some of the small buildings that were around, with the whiteness almost blinding her.

Then when she got towards a certain area, that was a big open courtyard like area, Momo continued running through the area, going across the tiled floor…

But something caught her eye as she was running.

It made her stop.

She saw something on the wall.

"What's..."

Momo looked at the red substance that had painted a wall, in a long thin line.

Her eyes followed up the red line to see where it had originated from.

But when she did find it, her eyes widened in horror.

Her body crumbled under the intense feelings that she was experiencing.

Her eyes began leaking tears while she was silent for a few moments.

"C-Captain..."

Her voice was croaky.

It didn't sound like the usual peppy Momo.

It was something more…

"CAPTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIN!"

Her voice couldn't be contained.

She ended up screaming as loud as she could.

Her voice echoed through the area, while she continued to cry. Her fists tightened. Her body shook around heavily.

Seeing her Captain like that…

Seeing his cold lifeless eyes.

His body pinned to the wall by a single sword to the chest.

Seeing his glasses nearly falling off of his form.

While she was screaming, some of the other Lieutenants were running to the location that they were in. Rangiku, Izuru, Iba, and Shuhei together rushed forward to see who was screaming and if they needed to take action.

"Who's that screaming?"

Rangiku asked no one in particular, anyone that would answer.

Izuru listened for a few moments before becoming more concerned.

"That's Hinamori-sans."

Running faster, they eventually arrived to see Momo clutching her chest.

Scrunching up her robes, tears continued to rain down her face while Izuru approached her.

"Hinamori-san, what's wrong?"

Momo didn't say anything.

She couldn't say anything.

Any time she tried opening her mouth, her voice failed her.

All she could do was look at the corpse of Aizen.

Deciding to look themselves, they saw it for themselves.

"Oh my God..."

Rangiku murmured at the sight.

No one could believe it.

Captain Aizen, had been murdered.

* * *

Meanwhile, with the sun beaming through the small window within the room, Takumi's eyes were overloaded with the light when they peaked open.

"Ugh..." He groaned, and attempted to sit up, when he felt his body erupting with some soreness. "Ow...damn."

Takumi slowly raised his body, but as he did, he felt something beside him.

Curiously, he turned to see that it was Orihime.

It seemed that she had sent the entire night healing his body, and had eventually passed out due to feeling the tiredness of the overuse of her powers.

His lips curled upwards, while he felt a tap on his side.

Quickly turning, he saw Kenpachi's bed dangerously close to him.

"K-Kenpachi-san!"

He panicked, but Kenpachi snorted.

"Are you thinking I'm going to attack you?"

Takumi looked at the closeness of Kenpachi, and then towards Orihime.

"I'm questioning what the hell is going on. Why are you so close?"

"Hah, don't worry about that. Your girlfriend there healed both myself and you. Along with this one here." He jabbed a finger to the left, to point towards Hanataro who also was asleep. "Seems like we had quite a battle."

Takumi groaned as he felt the soreness of the fight catching up with him more and more.

"You're not kidding. But, since we're like enemies, I don't want to fight right now..."

"You protected Yachiru." Kenpachi spoke with a low tone. "You did something that I couldn't, so for me, you're alright in my books. I am pissed off by that Mayuri Kurotsuchi, but it seems that I'm still alive so I have a chance to ram my sword into his body."

Takumi sweat dropped.

"Yeah...damn Mayuri, doing something so sneaky like that. He has no honour at all. Finishing off your opponent is fine, but he had no business within our fight."

"Exactly. Damn ugly clown, he's begging me to rip him to shreds."

Takumi let out a small laugh while Kenpachi sat up in his bed.

"Kenpachi-san, we're cool, right?"

Kenpachi nodded his head.

"As long as we can have a fight again. I'm interested in what you were saying, about the power of your Zanpakuto and yourself coming together." Kenpachi looked at his sword which needed repairing. "I've never really thought about it. I thought it was a weakness, but seeing the power you and your Zanpakuto drew out together, I wish to experience that."

Takumi eyed up the man's Zanpakuto.

"I could fix that for you, if you like? Even the jagged edges, and make it to have a good condition. I've been thinking during our fight and now, I thought that it was in its Shikai state, but I don't think that's the case now. It seems that even without Shikai, you're a monster. If you unlocked your Shikai, then your power would grow even higher."

Kenpachi contemplated what he was saying, while Yachiru came into the room.

As soon as she saw Takumi, her small hands shook, and she jumped Takumi, hugging him tightly.

"Taku! Taku! You're alive!"

"Haha, it seems that I'm alive~"

Yachiru rubbed her head against Takumi's chest again and again while Kenpachi gave his devilish smirk.

"Taku, you saved me and Ken-chan! You truly are Ken-chan's best friend! Thank you for helping us!"

Takumi gently petted the back of her head, while glancing at Kenpachi.

"It's alright Yachiru-chan. I'm glad that you're both alright."

Yachiru continued to cuddle against him, while Kenpachi released a small yawn.

"Taku, what are you going to do now? You're not leaving, are you?"

Takumi went to reply, when Kenpachi punched him in the arm, he let out an "Ow..." as Kenpachi laughed.

"Of course not Yachiru, he's going to be staying in the Seireitei, I still need to have my rematch with him."

Takumi chortled lightly.

"Right now, I don't know what I'm going to be doing. How long was I out for?"

"Just for a night. It's ten past ten right now!"

Takumi felt relieved that it was just that, and he wasn't unconscious for a few days.

"Oh, so I've only been out for a night huh. That's good, so I haven't lost much time."

"Kid, what are you really trying to do? It isn't just trying to save that Kuchiki girl, is it?"

Kenpachi cut to the chase, Takumi bowing his head.

"Honestly, there's something happening within this Soul Society, and it could even end to war if it isn't stopped right now."

Kenpachi's ears perked.

"A war, is it? Then count me in."

"Well, I'm trying to avoid a war...but, I know that I wont be able to leave here without having to fight. I still need to know what the Central 46 said to what I had asked during the Captains meeting. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?"

"Not a clue."

Takumi shrugged, expecting an answer like that.

"I see. Well, I'll have to find that Shunsui-san and see if there's anything that we can talk about. However, until I can do that, there's not much I can do in my condition, I probably need a bit to get my body back to optimal condition." Takumi looked up, and saw his hair. "By the way, you guys wouldn't happen to have a bath, or shower around here, right? Got dried blood in my hair, wanna wash it off. You know?"

"Haha, is that so? Then Yachiru, take him to the Barracks private bathing area."

"Yes! Follow me Taku!"

Takumi went to move when he saw Orihime stirring.

He thought that she was going to be waking up…

But she turned over and murmured "Cheese pelicans are cool~" and released a small snoring sound, something that made him smile, before he got up, and followed after Yachiru, while Kenpachi laughed to himself "What a strange kid, even in this land filled with enemies, he's still relaxed." and laid back down to have a small rest after his fight.

* * *

Back with Momo and the others, the distress on her face was real, her body kept shaking side to side. She couldn't cope with it, Aizen having been killed in such a bloody manner, it was like she was seeing something truly devastating.

But then that changed when she heard a new presence making itself known.

"I heard a scream, what's with all of the commotion?"

"Captain, it's...It's Captain Aizen."

Izuru informed Gin who looked on without really showing anything.

He still kept on the smile that could send chills down most peoples spines.

Momo's haunted eyes curled towards Gin, and saw how he was walking.

He didn't seem to care.

There was no grief on his face, nor was there any surprise either.

Momo then recalled what Toshiro had said to her about Gin, what he was capable of, her own suspicions on him.

Now that she could see Aizen like he was, and how Gin didn't show even a hint of anything other than a cold snake like stare, it only gave her the feeling that he had done something and was now coming back to mock Aizen's memory by just smiling at his death.

"Ichimaru!" Momo snapped, her hand going towards her Zanpakuto. "You killed Captain Aizen, didn't you!?"

Gin showed a more snake like quality, cunning, conniving, something that shook her down to her core.

"Heeeh, I don't know what you're talking about~"

He played it as if it was a joke, and to Momo, it definitely wasn't a joke.

This couldn't be a joke.

It was her life, and Aizen's death.

"Stop lying!"

Momo charged for him, while drawing her Zanpakuto. Her fierce eyes were on Gin's slit like eyes, he didn't even blink a single time.

He didn't care.

He didn't even seem to want to parry or dodge her sword that was coming closer and closer to his form.

However, just as her sword was about to slash at him, Izuru came between them, with his own sword drawn, forcing Momo's Zanpakuto away from Gin's body, protecting him from the very emotionally distraught Lieutenant.

Momo looks at the person who blocked her, and declares a single thing within her own confusion.

"Why Izuru-san? Why are you defending him?!"

"Hinamori!" Izuru yelled back at Momo who stood her ground. "This is my Captain, if I have to remind you! I am his Lieutenant, and you raised arms against my Captain, so of course I had to stop you! Even if its you, I will step in to defend him!"

Momo pushed against Izuru's sword, but he held his space form in front of Gin to keep him safe from Momo's assault.

"Step aside!"

She demanded, but Izuru shook his head while pushing her blade away.

"You know that I can't Hinamori. You need to stop this before it becomes worse for yourself."

The others didn't know what to do.

With Aizen dead and Gin not saying anything, it was a complicated situation no doubt.

Getting increasingly angry, Momo declares "Move aside right now! I have to stop him!" but Izuru refuses to do so.

Izuru pushes back against her saying "I can't Hinamori!" while also himself getting increasingly angry about the situation at hand with what Momo was trying to do, so Momo jumped backwards, and stuck out her sword.

"Snap! Tobiume!"

Momo releases her Zanpakuto, which changes to its Shikai state, and she takes aim at Izuru.

Flames began to dance around it, while Momo was lost in her grief.

All she could see was killing Gin.

She just couldn't accept that someone like him got to be around, while Aizen was gone, and she was dead sure that it was Gin.

She couldn't think of anyone else it could be.

Even the Ryoka, she didn't think would be capable of doing this.

And because of what Toshiro had told her in the past, regarding what she had learned about Gin, it just fitted together for Momo who was succumbing to the anger that was threatening to swallow her whole.

"This is not the place to resolve personal matters Lieutenant!"

Izuru chastises her, but Momo wasn't having any of it, and from her blade, a sphere of fire from her Zanpakuto that heads for Izuru, who gasps that she had done that, and dodges towards the right hand side, barely missing the fireball that curves upwards, and smashes into a building nearby, causing a giant hole in the side of it, while the sound of a seagull crying could be heard when Momo was firing off her Zanpakuto.

Seeing that she wasn't backing down, Izuru also sticks out his Zanpakuto.

"If you're going to be attacking me, then I'll have to treat you like an enemy." Izuru concentrates while Momo rushes closer. "Raise your head! Wabisuke!"

Izuru releases his Zanpakuto which turns into a reverse guillotine, and watches as Momo comes closer with her blade.

Despite neither wishing to do so, but due to being fuelled with hate for Gin and protective feelings in the cases of Momo and Izuru, the pair raise their blades to clash with one another, with every agonizing inch they gain on the other, causes Gin to look increasingly happy.

However, just as they were about to land blows on the other, Toshiro flashes between them, raising her sword to combat Izuru's blade, and forcing her foot down into Momo's own, causing it to stab into the tiled floor below them.

"Don't move!"

Toshiro ordered, while Momo looks towards Toshiro with saddened eyes.

"Toshiro..."

Toshiro, despite not wishing to do so, turns to the other Lieutenant's.

"Place them under arrest, I'll be reporting this to the Captain-Commander."

Responding to that, the other Lieutenant's disarm both Momo and Izuru, while Gin continues to watch on.

Then as Momo was being taken away, Toshiro looks up to Aizen's corpse.

"Momo, instead of fighting, did it not occur to you to get his body down from there?"

Momo releases a small cry "Captain..." while she is led away from the area.

Izuru didn't put up a fight as he was led away, he just accepted it.

Gin, while watching the others leave, strolls over to Toshiro nonchalantly, and waves a hand towards her.

"I'm sorry you had to become involved Captain. It seems both my Lieutenant and Captain Aizen's got too heated. I hope you aren't so mean with your report to the Captain-Commander."

Toshiro's cold expression shoots for Gin, seeing where his hand was under his Captain's cloak.

"If my eyes don't deceive me, then where you perhaps going to kill Hinamori?"

The two lock eyes, and neither backs down.

"I don't know what you're talking about Captain Hitsugaya. I wouldn't ever kill Hinamori-san."

His smile could send others to go wild.

It was the feeling that couldn't be escaped.

He definitely wasn't someone that could be normally approached either.

So Toshiro pulls closer, while resting a hand on her blade.

"If you ever make Hinamori bleed, I will kill you."

Straight and direct, Toshiro wasn't messing around.

She was ready to strike him down.

She cared about Momo, seeing Momo in such a state, it almost drove her over the edge.

But she had to remain as calm as she could, even if she was in the face of someone she found to be revolting.

However, Gin never dropped his smile, and weighs up his hands.

"You're quite frightening, aren't you Captain Hitsugaya? You should keep an eye on Hinamori, if you don't want any misfortune to befall her."

"...Are you threatening her?"

That's what it sounded like to Toshiro.

Gin merely turned around and began walking away.

"As I said, I wouldn't threaten Hinamori, she's just lost her precious Captain, she's going to need a friend. Especially after she did something criminal by releasing Zanpakuto against another member of the Gotei 13, and even attacking a Captain. That could lead to many hardships for her, but perhaps they'll be lenient towards her, since she has just lost her Captain. Well, goodbye."

Without looking back, Gin waved his hand and disappeared through a set of buildings around.

Toshiro felt more distrust for him than ever before.

It was as if she was ready to snap herself at Gin.

But she had a job to do, and she needed to protect Momo as much as she could.

* * *

Back with Takumi the young blonde bathed silently while looking down at his body, a towel around his waist.

He was surprised that he didn't even have any scars.

He presumed it was Orihime's ability to heal that made it possible.

But the water itself felt good for healing his body. It didn't have any special properties, but the warm water did feel good for his aching body, and his mind cast back to the fight with Kenpachi, and then Mayuri, and what could have happened if Mayuri had one more trick.

"Damn bastard..."

He muttered while sinking into the water.

His mind began going blank while the warmth of the water was taking over his entire body.

However while he was soaking in the water, he suddenly heard the sound of something happening beside him.

Something had slipped into the water suddenly, and turned towards the person and saw that it was Orihime, with a towel around her form. A very thin towel, that left barely anything to the imagination, causing his face to heat up.

"O-Orihime-chan! W-What are you doing?"

Orihime pulled closer with a shy expression on her face.

Her arms went around his own arm, hugging his arm into the comfortableness of her cleavage, his face turned even more red.

"Taku-chan...y-you're awake..."

"Haha, sorry, I didn't want to wake you. You've been working on me all night, haven't you?"

She gave a single nod of her head without saying a word.

Her head laid itself on his shoulder, snuggling against his shoulder, while her chest continued to push against his arm.

"Orihime-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes...I'm fine Taku-chan~"

She spoke with a peppy tone.

But Takumi could see that she held worry on her face, so he pulled closer, allowing his fingers to entwine with her own, resting their hands between one another comfortably within the water.

"You were worried, right?"

His voice echoed between them, causing her hand to tighten around his own, not to the point that it hurt, but for her answer to be known without words having to be spoken.

He bent down towards her on his shoulder, laying his head on top of hers, causing her smile to grow more and more.

"Don't worry Orihime-chan, I can't die yet."

"I knew you'd be fine Taku-chan. You always try your hardest."

Takumi continued to smile, while pulling the young woman even closer, and allowed her eyes to meet with his own. She slid her long legs across his thighs, before her body moved to sit on his lap, and her head ended up pressing against his chest.

His hand went through her long wet orange hair while she continued hugging onto him.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're safe. I was worried about you."

Orihime giggled, thrusting her hand into the sky, unfortunately she managed to sock Takumi right in the face as she did so, his head flung backwards, and he let out a small sound that sounded as if he just died.

"T-Taku-chan! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Takumi's eyes rolled at the unexpected punch.

She was deceptively quite strong.

Takumi took a few seconds to come to his senses, before looking down towards her kindly.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry about me~"

He assured her, as she looked up to his face.

Her smile grew larger and larger, but so did the tears in her eyes.

Adopting a kind face, he brushed the tears from her eyes.

"It's okay. I came back. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"No, I understand, Taku-chan is like that after all. But I wouldn't change Taku-chan. I'm just so glad you're okay, when we became separated when we met Jidanbo-san, I didn't know what to think and I..."

"You did great, you stayed strong, and you managed to save my life. Without you, I'd be dead right now."

Orihime leaned up, allowing her arms to wrap around his neck, and drag him down towards her face. Hovering a small distance between the other, their breath could be felt by the other, brushing their faces ever so gently.

"I'd always save Taku-chan, no matter what."

Takumi brushed his face against her own, causing her to blush lightly.

"I know. Thank you, Orihime-chan."

Orihime giggled, then closed the distance, allowing her lips to overlap his own in a tender kiss.

Surprise overtook him for a few moments, before accepting the kiss and returned it, as the water danced between them with their slightly moving bodies. Orihime meshed her lips with his again and again, as he did the same, his hand holding onto her comfortingly.

When they pulled apart, Orihime stuck out her tongue.

"I'm sorry Taku-chan, I had too." Takumi shook his head, and showed an accepting smile. She giggled out, snuggling against his chest. "Taku-chan, can we stay here for a little while? Just me and you?"

"Of course, I'd love that. Though if I fall asleep, please wake me up~ Haha, I'm so tired even though I've just woken up~"

"No worries, I'll wake Taku-chan up with a kiss~"

A smile sprawled across his face, while leaning back to enjoy his time with Orihime.

Soon Orihime realized that he had fallen asleep.

She couldn't help but smile to herself when she saw that, and just relaxed with Takumi as much as she could, knowing that it could be rather dangerous if anything was to happen in the future.

But right now, belonged to them in their little bubble.

* * *

After relaxing, Takumi and Orihime got out of the bath, and were surprised to see Shunsui and Nanao along with Karin and Yuzu. Yuzu began crying uncontrollably, while Karin rolled her eyes, as if to say "Relax." but Yuzu leapt into Takumi's arms, and wouldn't let go.

"Ooh Yuzu-chan, it's alright, don't cry~"

He reassured her, trying his best to keep her calm.

But Yuzu couldn't hold back and continued to cry.

"I'm so happy you're okay Takumi-kun! I didn't know what was happening! You were doing all of these things, and then I was..."

"Shhh, it's alright." He soothed, trying to keep the girl calm. "Don't worry. we're all together now, that's all that matters."

Yuzu wiped under her eyes, drying them from the tears she had.

"Y-Yes, you're right Takumi-kun."

Takumi continued to comfort the girl while the others stared on happily at the sight.

Karin then walked over, and punched him in the arm.

"What was that for?"

He complained, but Karin smirked slightly.

"Seems like you've had an adventure already, and we aren't even done yet."

"I know what you mean. It's been a real ride alright."

"So, what are we going to be doing next?"

Giselle asked as she entered the room with Nemu.

Nemu glanced at Takumi who gave her a soft smile. She just nodded without an expression on her face.

"Actually, I'll be discussing that in a few hours. I was told just before about Rukia-chan's execution date and how close it is coming, so we need to think of a plan, and what we need to do next."

"Why do I have a feeling you've already got some weird ass plan for us?"

Karin inputted her thoughts, Takumi showed a slight grin on his face.

"Well, I might have a few ideas. But I'll need the full scope of the situation before I can say anything yet. Of course, rescuing Rukia-chan is our priority, but we also have a few other things that we need to do here."

"Speaking of that." Shunsui spoke up, getting the others attention. "Takumi, a word. Privately."

Takumi shrugged, and followed the Captain to a different room.

Once they were alone, Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong, Captain Kyoraku?"

"Hah, well that depends on your thoughts on the matter at hand. You do realize about the implications of going against the Soul Society."

For a few seconds, it almost sounded like a Father worrying for his son about the dangerous activities he was doing.

"Yes Captain, I am aware that it is quite dangerous. But, I still have to do it. There are forces at play here that threaten the entire Soul Society."

"Haha, if that's the case, then that question you had at the meeting. We received an answer, and to put it simply, they'd consider it very strongly to release Rukia Kuchiki if you did hand yourself in." Takumi let out a humming sound and got to thinking, while Shunsui looked on. "You're not going to consider it, are you?"

"Considering it...I'd do it to save Rukia-chan, but I don't think it is genuine."

Shunsui furrowed his eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"Before I came here, my Father and I sat down and spoke about a variety of situations, how the Gotei 13 might act, and how the Central 46 is as a whole. From what I've been told, they don't sound to be the type to negotiate. Even if they have the chance to end it peacefully."

"Well, you're not wrong. Those old guys can be pretty stuck up sometimes. But, don't tell them I said that~"

He added with a laugh at the end, causing Takumi to feel relaxed in the presence of Shunsui.

"Exactly, I'd have to know a few more details, but I'm thinking that something might not be right with the Central 46. Why would they bother negotiating with me anyway? You could say it is a trap, but I'm already trapped within the Soul Society, I can't move around forever, and stay hidden, I'm going to be found sooner or later anyway."

"Good point...I also felt like it was suspicious."

"It might also confirm a few theories I have regarding what could be happening here. But either way, thank you for finding out for me. You did me a real favour, and it was because of you guys that I could get this far."

The older man waved his hand towards Takumi.

"It's fine, I didn't do anything really."

"But, you did Captain. You helped me discern what the Central 46 currently are thinking and what their mindset towards me is. It seems whatever way you look at it, they want me for some reason. Either that's because they don't want me on the streets anymore, or..."

"Or…?"

"Or, I'm a threat to them somehow, and they wish to take me down before what I know gets spread around."

"So, what do you know?"

Takumi pursed his lips.

He did trust Shunsui, but he didn't want to give inaccurate information either.

"Right now, they're theories, so I can't say how legitimate they are. But, what I do know for certain is that there's a traitor within the Soul Society."

Shunsui released a short breath.

"I see, so there is one after all. Do you know who it is?"

"My Father told me about the traitor yes. However, if I told you, would you believe me? From what I've seen and heard, the person I have been told is the traitor, is a very well liked and respectable man. He has a gentle nature, I believe, but that hides an inner darkness."

"...Yes, I'd like to know."

Takumi inhaled, and told Shunsui what he knew.

What he was told before coming to the Soul Society, among other things.

Once he was finished, Shunsui released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"...So, that's it, is it?"

"Yes, that's why we need to be prepared. He's very strong and conniving as well. That's why I am thinking about what kind of plan we need to do to make sure that we risk losing as little as possible. It might turn out difficult and might end up with...well, all I can say is that, he needs to be exposed to the Soul Society, after finding out more about his true objectives."

"Alright then, lets cooperate."

Takumi inclined his neck in agreement.

"Yes, then allow me a few hours to get things prepared. Then I'll tell everyone my own thoughts, and what I believe we should do. Everyone's relaxing right now, so I'll not bother them right away."

"You're right about that~ Well, we should be able to stay here and relax for a few hours. However, I'm going to go and find out more about what the current situation is around the Seireitei, and what might happen with you if others find you."

"But, if you're caught Kyoraku-san..."

"Hahaha, don't worry about me~ I've been around quite a bit longer than you, I know how to handle situations with finesse~"

Takumi didn't doubt it, and was glad that someone like Shunsui was on their side.

* * *

A few hours later with the sun making its way across the sky, Takumi and the others had gathered for a meeting on what they were going to do next. Takumi saw Shunsui staring at him, so he gave a questioning look towards him, but he simply smiled softly.

He didn't really get it, but he was sure that something was going on with him.

He almost looked proud.

However, before he could begin, Nanao released a soft breath.

"This came an hour ago. It reports here, that Captain Aizen, has been reportedly killed."

The room went silent.

No one said anything.

Kenpachi though didn't seem to care, and looked left and right.

Yachiru of course was her cheerful self, and didn't say anything, she just showed a bright smile on her face like usual.

Takumi exhaled slowly, before shaking his head.

"He's probably not dead."

Shocked gasps rang out through the room, while Nanao raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because the only ones that would realistically kill him are in this room, unless there's some unknown vendetta that we don't know about. The chances of him being alive are quite high. Given the current information that we have on him, along with what you told me about the Central 46, my conclusion is that he's either manipulating the Central 46, or he's taken it over."

Nanao looked curious about how he came to that answer.

"Takumi-kun, how did you come to that conclusion exactly?"

Takumi nodded, folding his arms.

"Thinking about it objectively, Aizen's death seems to convenient all of a sudden. Say it was a vendetta, was it only done now because we happened to be here? And if so, who would want to murder him? As I've been told, he's one of the most humble kind Captains, so who would want him to be dead?"

"I had heard about his little confrontation with Gin Ichimaru. I remember what you told me privately, but looking at it from all angles, Gin Ichimaru had a problem with him so if he is in fact dead, then perhaps it was him."

Shunsui informed, Takumi pursed his lips.

"Would it be realistically enough to kill him for it?"

Shunsui thought about it for a minute, before ultimately shake his head.

"Honestly, I am not sure. Ichimaru would be under suspicion for it due to their previous conversations which is known to be negative, though perhaps he'd try and pin it on you Ryoka. Not just Captain Hitsugaya saw the confrontation that day during the Captains meeting that you crashed Takumi. From what I could tell, it seemed like that Captain Aizen seemed to be a little suspicious of Ichimaru. I don't think it would be enough to kill. It was probably about the encounter you had with Ichimaru when you first arrived."

"If that's the case, then that just adds fuel to the fire that Aizen is probably alive. He's smart, my Father told me things about him, and how cunning he can be. From what you said to me about how the Central 46 would most likely hand me over in the exchange for Rukia-chan...why? Why would they even bother dealing with me? They're confident that I couldn't take the entirety of the Soul Society, so why bother with that in the first place?"

Yoruichi pursed her lips in thought.

"You have a point. They wouldn't bother attempting to deal with you, even if it is a trap to arrest you and keep Kuchiki-san."

"Exactly, that's why I believe Aizen is either manipulating or has taken over the Central 46." He turned to Shunsui. "By your knowledge, when was the last time Central 46 acted normally?"

Shunsui furrowed his eyebrows and got into deep thought.

"I'd have to say that it was just before you guys came to the Soul Society, right before your confrontation with Gin. After the Captains meeting, they have been unusually quiet, and there has been a lock down of the facility that they stay in."

Takumi nodded a single time.

"I can't be certain, but I believe that Captain Aizen is probably in that location as we speak."

Another round of gasps went through the room.

But Yoruichi supported what Takumi said.

"I think you might be right Takumi. From what we know of Aizen, controlling Central 46, would control the Soul Society."

"But, could he do it alone?" Nanao questioned. "I'm not sure if I believe this, but if Captain Aizen is alive, and he's running Central 46, then how did he do it before then? He couldn't have been at the Captains meetings, along with being at the Central 46, at the same time."

"Good point Nanao-san...the only way I can see it working is if he had accomplices. Or he could have people on the inside of Central 46, that's also a possibility, like corrupt members of the Central 46 that work for him, or other Captains or members of his squad. Though I can't see that sweet girl...Momo-san I believe her name was, being apart of this."

Orihime, Yuzu and Giselle noticed how he called Momo sweet, but right now, decided to ignore it.

Takumi then continued while looking serious.

"But we don't know when or if Aizen has taken over the Central 46, I'm only saying that it would make sense. There are other possibilities of course, Aizen might be somewhere else. I'd have to examine his body myself before I could comfortably safe for certain Aizen is dead. He would have been taken to Squad 4, correct?"

He directed to Hanataro who nodded strongly.

"Y-Yes, Captain Unohana would be examining his body to see cause of death among other things."

"Then that's my next destination. If that body is in fact either a Gigai, or something else, then I should be able to detect it with Captain Unohana's help. In fact, I need to see her for other reasons anyway."

"Other reasons?"

Shunsui inquired, Takumi chortled.

"I need her assistance with something. Only she could help me safely if she's as renowned of a medic as I've been told. Anyway, ignoring that for the moment, and ignoring Aizen's 'death', Rukia-chan is still our priority, we still have to attempt to rescue her. Because it would be odd if our mission had changed suddenly with Aizen's 'death' so, that's where Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan, Ganju-san, I'm going to have to ask you to continue attempting to try and rescue Rukia-chan, and Yoruichi-chan, I'll ask you to go along with them to keep them safe, since you're so fast, you can get them away if something was to happen negatively. If you succeed or not doesn't matter right now, because we'll save her no matter what."

"I get it, we have to give the illusion that we're all still trying to save her, while you sneak around, right Takumi-kun?"

Yuzu chimed in, Takumi inclined his neck in agreement.

"Right, we'll still be actively pursued no matter what, so lets make the Soul Society believe nothing has changed. Even if they believe we have 'killed' Aizen or not, we still have to make Rukia-chan our primary objective. If you can save Rukia-chan, then it would be great, but if you can't, and it becomes too dangerous, then don't worry, we'll all save her together if you guys can't. Honestly, it is asking such a hard task, when they know that we'll be heading there, guards will probably be doubled, or even tripled with us going towards that location. So just do what you need to do, and make sure you stay alive."

With Takumi's words, Karin seemed to be determined, along with Yuzu. Ganju didn't look so sure, while Yoruichi thought that this was probably the best way to go about it. They couldn't make a move quite yet, or they could end up being killed.

They had to play it safe, and gather as much evidence as they could, so that's what she thought Takumi was going to do.

Though Yoruichi had to admit that he was doing quite well.

He was thinking clearly, and also without hesitation either.

He was doing his best.

And right now, she thought that she was basically looking at Kisuke.

She could see a difference of course, but the level of planning behind his actions, just reminded her of how Kisuke planned moves again, and how to utilize everyone that was around him to the best of their abilities.

"So, while you're doing that, and they're doing that, what are the rest of us doing?"

Nanao questioned with curiosity building up inside of her.

Takumi nodded, and informed her.

"Right, Orihime-chan, Nemu-san and Hanataro-san will come with me. Since Hanataro-san is apart of Squad 4, it would be natural to think that his Captain would listen to him. Nanao-san, Shunsui-san, I need you both to keep your ears to the ground, find out anything about what the other situations of Captains and their Squads are like, and what's currently happening with Central 46 and if they issue any orders. Finally, Kenpachi-san, how about causing some destruction?"

Kenpachi's ears perked.

"Destruction huh. Now you're speaking my language."

Takumi saw how pleased he was, and right now, that was the best thing that he could be.

They needed firepower, and he was it.

"Good, because you are going to be going with Giselle-san, and Yachiru-san, to cause a distraction. If we are being followed through our spiritual pressure, then I've got just the equipment for us to make it seem like I'm still moving around towards the location of Rukia-chan. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Nemu-san and myself, our location here is blocked off so no one knows we're all in one place. I've also got a cloak that hides spiritual pressure, a gift from my Father who allowed me to study the technology, that's why I'll be wearing one with Orihime-chan and the others so we can't be detected, and I, with my Father, also invented these." Takumi pulled out another cloak, and tossed it to Kenpachi. "This will give off my own spiritual signature, and this one will give off Orihime-chan's. Doing the adjusting takes a few hours, so that's why I've only begun the meeting now." He tossed it to Yachiru who grinned happily. "They'd have to see you face to face to believe it wasn't me they were sensing. My Father and I invented them together during the course of the training days we had. We discussed several possibilities, and the idea of hiding was one of them, while also causing a distraction."

"Yay! I get to be boobies!"

Yachiru cheered loudly as Orihime blushed brightly at being referred to in such a manner, while Kenpachi tossed his over his head.

"Well, it's not my style, but I'm fine with it. However, I'll only do this if you promise to have two more fights with me once this shit is over with."

"A-Another blood battle?! You must be kidding! You only just fought the other day, now you want two more bloody battles!?"

Karin snapped while Kenpachi showed a toothy smile.

"Naturally, it's going to be the best."

Takumi sighed slightly, knowing that it might come to this.

"Alright, if that's how it has to be, I don't mind."

Karin looked at him strangely.

"If that's what you want to do, it seems crazy to me, but whatever floats your boat."

Takumi chortled as a response to what Karin had said.

He found it rather funny if he did say so himself.

"Haha, then I'll do it! So, I just have to cause destruction, is that right?"

Kenpachi seemed to be happy enough.

Yachiru was also happy for Kenpachi and was glad that she could help out.

"Giselle-sans senses are the best here. Being a Quincy, she naturally has better spiritual energy senses, so she can sense when people are coming. All you have to do is not be seen, while making it known you're heading in the general direction of where Rukia-chan is. Because we were close already in location, as in Orihime-chan and I, Mayuri would know we're together along with Giselle-san who he had fought, but he wouldn't expect Karin-chan and the others being with us, so that's why we have to be separate. I don't trust Mayuri, and he's wicked smart. If he's going to try anything, it would be against myself, and my group, and you three, I believe will be able to fight him off should he come, or at least retreat."

"Hah, I don't retreat, kid."

Kenpachi said with a dangerous smile.

Takumi smiled awkwardly, looking at Giselle, who nodded, so he nodded as well.

Shunsui scratched his cheek with intrigue.

"It sounds like a good idea to me. It seems you've thought far ahead."

"We're up against very intelligent people, even my Father said Aizen is around his intellect, so he's a very dangerous opponent when it comes to wits. We have to be this cautious if we're going to survive and get out of here. There's no telling what Aizen and his cohorts are capable of, so taking every precaution is the best that we can do right now."

Shunsui understood quite well.

It made sense.

So he was alright with it.

Then he saw Kenpachi turn his eyes towards Takumi.

"Can I kill people?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't, unless you had no other choice."

Takumi replied, to the slight annoyance of Kenpachi.

"Ugh...three fights then."

Takumi grimaced.

Three more fights with Kenpachi.

He wasn't sure on how he was going to survive.

"A-Alright, three more fights."

"Good, then I wont kill anyone."

Takumi looked relieved, while Yoruichi suddenly pulled out a map, and tossed one to Giselle, and to Takumi, along with Shunsui.

"We'll meet in the location marked on the map. It is a hidden part of the Soul Society, it is risky meeting back here, we can't draw attention to ourselves again. If we're converging on a single area, and they know it is the Barracks of a Squad, then there's no telling what could happen. Our safest bet is to head towards here, a location that not many people in the Soul Society would be aware of, and Kisuke would have taken measures so our spiritual pressures wouldn't be sensed. It's a good distance from here, but we'll all be heading in that general direction, so it's best if we head there."

Takumi thought that it was a good idea, and didn't have any complaints at all.

"Agreed, we'll meet back here once our objectives are complete, or if we've been brought to a compromising position. Either way, we should meet there by tomorrow night, that would give us all the time to do what we need to do."

[Understood!]

They replied with vigour.

Takumi was quite overwhelmed.

He almost felt like he was planning to fight a war.

When he truthfully just wished to prevent such a thing happening.

"Right, then Karin-chan, your group will leave second right after mine in about an hour. Kenpachi-san, your group will leave in two hours after Karin-chan's leaves, Giselle-san, I'll give you a few things should Mayuri show up, it should help." Giselle nodded. "If we're leaving at the same time, then we'll be caught so that's why we need to separate. Orihime-chan, Nemu-san, Hanataro-san, we'll be leaving in a few minutes."

"Yes Taku-chan!"

"I understand."

"R-Right sir!"

Takumi smiled at the trio, and stretched his legs.

"Take this time to relax yourselves, because I doubt we'll be able to relax until tomorrow night. Stay alert, stay calm and keep one another safe. The Soul Society might have numbers, but we have the element of surprise on our side."

Takumi stood up, and went to go and prepare some minor details before he left, while the others took to relaxing for the moment, knowing that it could be the last time that they realistically would be able to relax again for a good while.

However, Karin couldn't.

She hadn't had the chance to speak to him yet, but now that he was going, she didn't think she'd get a chance, and if the Hollow came out…

Then she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

* * *

So while Takumi went into a separate room, she followed after him, and saw him packing away a few things.

She cleared her throat to gain his attention, he turned to see her staring at him.

"Something on your mind Karin-chan?"

Karin, ran a hand through her robes, casually producing the Hollow mask that had appeared, and tossed it to Takumi, who's eyes went slightly wide at the sight of the mask, while she tried to keep her cool.

"That, doesn't mean anything, right? It doesn't mean I'm turning into a Hollow or anything, right?"

Takumi looked at the mask, then at Karin.

"You're worried about becoming a Hollow?"

"N-No!" She denied it, but then a few seconds later, she recoiled. "...Maybe a little bit. I remember when I was training to gain Shikai, how it almost took over my body. Now this mask has appeared...what if it tries it again? I don't know what I'd do…I don't want to endanger Yuzu or the others with my being there being the reason."

Takumi understood quite well what was running through her mind.

"Karin-chan, your Hollow mask isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"But..."

"Remember, we've met good Hollows."

"They seem to be the exception rather than the rule."

She retorted, and Takumi hummed.

"Perhaps, but Karin-chan, you're not a Hollow, and you're not an ordinary Shinigami either. You remember Hiyori-chan, right?"

"Well yeah, she also said something about having one."

"Right. She might be eccentric, but she's still a good person. Having Hollow powers doesn't make you a bad person."

Karin's eyes lowered, placing a hand on her face.

"...Sometimes I wonder..."

Takumi heard the crackling in her voice, seeing that it was affecting her deeper than he thought.

Inhaling slowly, he pulled closer, and bent down towards her as she had crouched down.

"Karin-chan, you're not a bad person. Why would you think you are?"

"I don't think I am...it's just, sometimes when I'm fighting, I feel this urge to...I feel an urge to kill, I feel bloodlust inside of me. That's not natural, is it?"

"It depends what's normal. Because for Kenpachi-san, that's his normal. You've seen him, he's a very violent person who thrives off battle. I also thought something like that in my fight with him, I thought that I liked fighting also, that it was something that gave me joy. But the simple fact is, that fighting is a challenge for me. I know that it is difficult circumstances, but a Hollows will to fight, isn't always a bad thing. Yes, killing is wrong, and other things like that unless it truly is necessary, killing can be saving the next victim of that person, that's how I see it. But bloodlust, is how Hollows operate."

"Then, what do I do…? I don't think I'm strong enough….Yuzu's strong, so mentally and emotionally strong, and when I saw that mask...my walls broke, I almost wanted to give in...it just makes me feel like a danger to others...it once said to me, that if it had the chance, it would take me over...if it takes me over, and hurts the ones that I love..."

Seeing the turmoil that she had, Takumi gently embraced her.

Usually she'd fight it.

But this time, she didn't have the will to fight.

She just wished that she didn't have the power of a Hollow.

Takumi, grabbed the mask, then looked at it for a few moments.

"Karin-chan, Hiyori-chan and the others told me about when they dealt with their masks, and their inner Hollow. It is true that it can be frightening at first, that this unknown being wishes to try and do you harm. But she told me that the trick is to not give into its demands. Make peace with it, because it is inside of you."

"Make peace with a Hollow. You must be mad."

Takumi chortled.

"Madder than a box of frogs~" Karin let out a small laugh involuntarily. "I know that it might seem crazy, but having an inner Hollow can be a good thing. It can give you more power, while never being swayed by the power. This Hollow inside of you might tempt you with power, it might try and trick you, and it might try and possess you. But, you have Yuzu-chan right beside you. She's always there for you, no matter what."

"Yuzu...yeah, Yuzu's always there..."

Takumi nodded, letting Karin go, and glanced at the mask, before presenting it to her.

"Right. Take this mask, and have it with you, keep it as you declaring you're not going to give into its demands. Make it know you're not weak, because you're not. You've dealt with your Mother's passing, you tackled this new world head on, and your ability to adapt to situations is amazing. You think Yuzu-chan is emotionally stronger, but I believe you both are very emotionally strong. People, when they lose a loved one, want to run away from reality. Remember with Grand Fisher, how it made that lure with your Mother's face, and voice?" She nodded, remembering that incident. "That time, you were strong. Even though it was your Mother who you adored, you still didn't back down, you showed that despite it being your Mother's face and voice, it wasn't her. You fought hard to allow your Mother to finally rest in peace."

Karin felt more strength coming to her.

It felt good to hear that.

Even if it was from Takumi…

No, she was glad it was him who had told her this.

If it came from Yuzu, she believed that Yuzu might try and keep it as if nothing was wrong, and reassure her.

But with Takumi, he wouldn't say it was going to be okay.

He'd say the truth, about what he knew, and how to take any situation that she had.

She began laughing, putting a hand to her forehead.

"You're right, I don't know what I was thinking. I know all these things you've told me."

"We all sometimes need to be reminded of how strong we truly are. So next time that Hollow of yours tries anything, you remind yourself of how strong you are. Don't let it be your enemy, try and make it your friend. Sounds cliché as hell I know, but that's the trick. Hiyori-chan said that she and the others conquered their Hollows, but it doesn't have to be subjugating them. It can be making them an ally. You never know, Hollow Karin-chan might want to be your friend, but she might not know how to express herself, she might push back and deny it, but if you fight through, you'll eventually come to a peace with her."

"Wow Takumi, you're speaking like an actual wise person. Where was this in the human world?"

She joked, Takumi let out a small laugh.

"I know, right~ Being serious is difficult."

Karin let out a small laugh.

"Yeah...but, I like your serious side. It's refreshing to know you're here for us all. That's why we'll do what we can for you. Shunsui-san told me about the reasons why you were banished and now they want to execute you. I might not have known you back then, but I know you now, and you aren't capable of being an evil bastard like that."

"Thanks, Karin-chan."

Takumi felt his cheeks surprisingly going red slightly, while Karin also allowed a small blush to appear on her cheeks.

But that soon ended when Yuzu came into the room, showing a soft smile between them.

"You guys okay?"

Karin huffed, and lightly tapped Takumi's leg with her foot.

"Just gaining some information from him, that's all."

Karin walked out of the room, while Takumi shook his head.

"That girl, full of surprises, isn't she Yuzu-chan?"

"You're not kidding. She's very unpredictable."

Takumi showed a kind smile moving closer to Yuzu, and gently petted her head, causing her to blush slightly.

"Don't worry Yuzu-chan, we'll all be going back home after this."

"Takumi-kun..."

"Yeah?"

Yuzu shook her head left and right.

"It's nothing, I'm just glad that you're here with us, I'm not sure what I'd do if you wasn't here."

"You'd just do what you usually do, and that's be an awesome Quincy. Don't doubt yourself Yuzu-chan, you can do this, we'll be right beside you, and you'll be beside us."

"Hehe, I guess that you're right Takumi-kun, thank you for saying that~"

Takumi shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, it's all good~ Just stay safe~"

Yuzu nodded without a pause, glad that Takumi was around to help her through this.

That they'd be able to get through this.

For right now, Takumi had a mission, and first of all, he had to go and find Unohana, and hopefully, she'd agree to help.

* * *

Meanwhile, Momo sat within her jail cell, and kept thinking about what happened with Aizen, if she had stayed awake that night, if she had done something more…

Then perhaps he could have been saved, she could have helped keep him safe, like a good Lieutenant should.

Even though she couldn't change fate.

She also had to wonder, did she really do the right thing?

She felt like Gin had been apart of it, and he didn't deny it...

But she wasn't truly sure.

However, the door soon opened, revealing Rangiku stepping through the door.

"Rangiku-san, w-what are you..."

Rangiku help up a letter, to the confusion of Momo.

"This was found in Captain Aizen's room, and it's addressed to you."

Momo gasped.

She recalled that he was writing something that night.

But he didn't think it was for her.

His final words…

"You should be thankful, if it had been anyone other than Captain Hitsugaya, then it would have been submitted as evidence." Rangiku slid the letter through the bars, Momo took it while looking thankful. Rangiku then turned around, facing the exit. "You should be honoured also, that your Captains last thoughts were for you. He must have really cared for you if that's the case."

Momo began tearing up.

She knew that Rangiku was right.

It made her regret her actions against Gin…

No, rather it made her wish that she had handled it better.

If she had gotten evidence, then perhaps he'd be the one in jail right now…

"Thank you, Rangiku-san."

Rangiku gives a simple nod as she leaves the room.

Momo turns to the letter, and begins reading it to herself.

But the contents of the letter, she could hardly believe it.

What she was reading…

The person that had drawn Captain Aizen out that night...

"Takumi Urahara-san...conspired with Toshiro….why would Toshiro, and Takumi Urahara-san…do this...? Captain...I'm so confused...Toshiro...Takumi-san..."

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, a few things happened this chapter while having a more relaxing chapter, before we get into the fights pretty soon, with some character and relationship building going on in this chapter.**

**Yoruichi and Giselle are speaking about the possibility of Nemu being an unwitting pawn to Mayuri, Karin and Shunsui speaking quietly, hinting about a few things. Takumi woke up, and it seems that Kenpachi likes Takumi now, not only for his fighting prowess, but also how he protected Yachiru. Orihime and Takumi had a moment between them, while poor Momo's going through a few things. Shunsui and Takumi also had a conversation, then they talked about what they'll be doing next, seems like Takumi's able to plan ahead quite well and explaining about gaining information from Kisuke before he left about Aizen, but since it is Aizen, it wont be so easy either, but he's gonna try his best, and now is off to Unohana, and seems to need her assistance with something. If she'll give that willingly, or maybe the First Kenpachi, aka Unohana, is going to wish to battle Takumi. **

**Finally at the end, a twist in the reveal of Aizen not only implicating Toshiro like canon, but he's also implicated Takumi having worked together with Toshiro and blamed them both for his death, more on what's contained in the letter will be revealed in the future and why Aizen implicated Takumi, though right now, it seems Momo's confused, and doesn't know what to trust, so we'll see her be going through something's.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	25. Captain Unohana

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; He is yeah, he's showing his smarts, and planning ahead for the future. Haha, Kenpachi surely will yeah. I can't spoil it, but Momo's gonna be going through a few things in the coming chapters.**

**Oblivious IJ; Looking good.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Nemu's gonna be exploring more about herself and is going to be showing growth as we go forward. We'll see some more scenes between them in the future. That's Kenpachi for you, as long as he gets to fight, then he's alright with it. Unohana is...quite wild, so Takumi's gonna have to do his best to convince her. He did yeah, Karin's been struggling with it, so he's trying his best to reassure her that it will be alright. Poor Momo, she's going to be going through a few things.**

**Skull Flame; We'll discover more about them in the coming chapters. That's Kenpachi for you, and yeah with the way things are going, he's gonna need some Bankai action. It is yeah, Yoruichi is just being prepared. We'll have to see about that, how Momo handles this situation.**

**rhinocaputo777; Here's the next chapter!**

**david teague 3950; That would be cool for Yuzu. Both of them are in it. Yeah, they're not in it, sorry.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! We'll have to see about that. He did yeah, Karin's beginning to understand more and more. Soi Fon and Takumi had some sort of relationship yeah. Kenpachi is yeah, though he still wishes to fight him haha. Orihime and her weird dreams~ Yeah, Momo goes through a lot in this arc. I can't reveal much about that, but there could be a different reason he goes to where Aizen is during that arc. Yeah, he's making plans alright, he has some information but not all of it, and he's gonna be showing more of his smarts through the story. Yeah, they're gonna have an explosive meeting. She wont acknowledge them yet, but I do know when she is going to do that. Momo's thinking about it yeah. Yeah perhaps she will. It surely is yeah. No problem. I've got ideas for Takumi's future abilities. Yeah, it sounds good to me. Sure he could. Yeah if he could help it, he wouldn't allow her to be captured. She could still do that for Grimmjow. Maybe he could have yeah. Soi Fon's got some complex feelings. She could do yeah, her Bankai didn't even kill anyone in canon. Sure that would be cool. Yeah it would be cool huh. That would be nice for them to have that kind of relationship. That sounds pretty awesome to me! It could be yeah, he could make it Chappy.**

**Andrew123456; I've never watched it before. I haven't watched it yet, and if that's true, that's sad. We'll find out more about his teachers in the future. Merry Christmas!**

**Guest 1; Yeah maybe~**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Captain Unohana**

Sitting within a room, looking towards what seemed to be a picture, was a young woman who had a cold look within her eyes. Her hair was short, but she had two very long braids wrapped in white, and a gold ring at the end of them, and she herself was a rather petite woman.

There was another appearance at the door that she had within the room.

"What?"

She said with a rather rude voice, due to her thoughts being distrupted by the new presence.

"I have important news, may I enter, Captain Soi Fon?"

Soi Fon let out a low snarl.

"Fine, come inside."

Soi Fon allowed the man inside, who presented her with a scroll.

She overlooked said scroll, before scrunching it up in her hands.

"Damn, Aizen's dead...Takumi, what have you done now…? To go this far..."

Soi Fon's spiritual pressure increased higher and higher.

It increased so high that it became visible, and she looked as if she was thinking about something deeply. The sadness that she felt, the deep depression that she had suffered in the past, and now the anger of what she was reading, what she had heard from the Seireitei and what Takumi was doing as well.

The man who delivered the scroll began to feel sweat pouring down his face from the intense feelings that Soi Fon was releasing through her spiritual pressure.

It became so high that in the end, he didn't know how to feel, and fell unconscious from the wild power that Soi Fon was releasing.

She had kept her power back for now…

But no more.

She simply couldn't do that anymore.

She was going to go and find Takumi herself.

* * *

In the 6th Division holding cell, Renji awakens, laying down in a bed with his Zanpakuto just outside of his cell, having been fixed now from his fight with Takumi, since it healed alongside Renji, he was glad, but he also was thinking about the fight that he had been through recently with Takumi.

He also thought about Rukia.

During his fight with Takumi, he remembered when he broke down, and how he was unable to fulfil the duties that he had set out to do.

Rukia was waiting…

Or if she had been rescued already, he didn't know.

He wished that he did but in the end, he ddnt know what was happening regarding that.

Did Takumi keep his promise to save Rukia?

"How long do you play to lay there?"

Renji's eyes shoot open, looking towards the left hand side of him, he sees a white baboon stood there, with a snake tail. Both of their heads turned towards Renji, while the baboon itself seemed to be more calm, the snake just looks scornfully towards Renji.

"Zabimaru, what are you doing here?"

The snakes eyes laid upon Renji, and showed a condescending look.

"Scumbag."

Renji bit his lower lip in slight annoyance.

"What a nice choice of words. We haven't spoken in a while, and you're starting with those words?" Renji exhaled slowly, seeing the snake not looking pleased. "So, what are you both doing here?"

The baboon raised his head towards Renji.

"I'm completely recovered now, I'm ready to fight. But I'm waiting for you. However, you're just laying there as if you are giving up the fight. Don't you want to go and fight that boy, Takumi Urahara, again? For Rukia?"

Renji breathed out slowly, trying to get his head around what the baboon was saying.

He stared into the eyes of both baboon and snake.

In the end, Renji shook his head.

"Idiot, did you not remember the fight at all? I already tried that, even if I wanted to fight him again, which right now I don't, he's trying to save Rukia, he also reminded me of the past a little bit, and remembered the times that we had shared together. So no, I don't want to fight now."

"If he isn't the enemy, then who is the enemy?"

At the baboons question, Renji couldn't respond.

He honestly wasn't sure who the enemy was anymore.

In a way, Takumi being the enemy gave Renji a reason to not think about it.

To not think about what had happened in the past years with Rukia, with Takumi, with everything that he had held inside of him for so long.

Instead, Renji peered out of the window of his cell, seeing that the sun was blazing in the sky, shining down its brilliant light.

It washed over him as time went on, and Renji began thinking what he was going to do next.

But in his heart of hearts, he was sure of what he was going to be doing now.

He was going to have to find Takumi, and fight together with him.

To rescue Rukia.

Now all he had to do was...find him.

* * *

Takumi stretched his arms, as he was about to leave for his mission, when Yoruichi came into the room, and moved closer to the young boy.

"Takumi, a word, before you leave."

Takumi turned towards her curiously.

"What's going on Yoruichi-chan?"

Yoruichi furrowed her eyebrows, folding her arms.

"I've got a few things to say to you that I hadn't had a chance to do before." Takumi nodded for her to continue. "First, it's about a woman called Soi Fon."

"Soi Fon, I've heard that name being mentioned before by Captain Shunsui. Is she someone that I have to be aware of? Is she powerful?"

"She's got a tricky ability with her Zanpakuto yes. Two hits in the same exact place, and you will die."

Takumi looked stunned by her saying that so honestly.

"W-Wow, that's quite the ability."

"Yes, it's an ability that her Shikai has. But that's not why I'm warning you."

Takumi appeared to be confused.

"Isn't that the dangerous thing? Why are you saying that isn't the thing you're warning me about exactly?"

"It's about Soi Fon herself. She is...well, lets just say that when you left the Seireitei the first time those years ago...and how she also feels about me personally, I can't say that you'd have a warm welcome from her."

"So, she's after me? As in, she's trying to kill me?"

"It's a distinct possibility, and now with Captain Aizen having 'died' she'll believe that you are the one behind it. She is someone that enforces the law without question, even against people that she used to care for. Just be careful of her, alright?"

"Sure, I'll be on the lookout for her."

He saw that Yoruichi seemed concerned, so he made sure that she'd be comforted by those facts.

Yoruichi then pulled closer to his form.

"Also, I need to say my thoughts regarding Nemu Kurotsuchi."

"Nemu-san? What about her?"

"You know that she was created by Mayuri, don't you?"

Takumi blinked, then nodded.

"Yes, she's told me that before."

"Then you also have met Mayuri, and how he can be. He is a person that...I'm not accusing Nemu here, I believe she genuinely wishes to have a better life than she does now, and finds it hard to express her feelings. However, she still is created by Mayuri..."

"You think she'll turn on us for him?"

Takumi cut to the chase, seeing where Yoruichi was going with it.

She didn't deny it, bobbing her head up and down a single time.

"Yes, that's right. I don't think she'll do it of her own accord of course. But he is the type that will try something if his creations turn on him. I'm only warning you in the event that something does happen with her."

Takumi could understand her concerns.

"While I get were you're coming from, I just can't see her turning on us. And if Mayuri did make some kind of switch to her, then I'll make sure that it is disabled. I'll find it myself, if she does have one. But if he has done that to her, then I think that's really disgusting. She is his daughter."

"That doesn't matter to Mayuri at all. To him, she's a mere puppet for him to control. A creation that he made to be his personal tool. He's the type of person that doesn't want perfection, but wont settle for anything than amazing. And I mean that in many ways. He will use her to attack you, he'll slice through her to cut you, he'll use her as bait for you to be into a deadly situation. He is the type of person who will abuse others to win a fight."

"I see...yes, I thought that from the first time that I met him. But Yoruichi-chan, I know Nemu-san, she isn't going to turn on us, and as I said, I'll check myself with her permission of course, and if she does have it, I'll do my best to disable it. But you're wrong about her."

"Wrong in what way?"

At his question, Takumi smiled lightly.

"She's not a puppet. She might have been made to be a puppet, but she isn't someone that's under the thrall of anyone, anymore. She's gaining individuality, she's becoming more independent, she wants things. She desires to have a better life. Before, it didn't seem like she even understood the concept of simply desiring to not be hit or anything. But now she's taking interests in many things. Mayuri created her yes, but he's not earned the right to call her his daughter. A Father wouldn't stifle their child in this manner, and wouldn't abuse them."

Upon hearing that, Yoruichi became content, showing an affectionate smile on her lips.

"It's something I've always liked about you, Takumi. Even when situations like this arise, you keep the thing about you that makes you wonderful."

"What's that?"

"Your compassion." At her response, she pulled closer, and placed both of her hands on his upper body. "It's what I think is something that most should have in the Seireitei. Compassion for your allies and enemies, yet always managing to understand that compassion can only go so far before you have to take action. It was best seen when you fought against Kenpachi, even though you and he had just had a fight, you also stepped in and defended Yachiru, who was on your enemies side, from an even greater evil, recognizing these things is someone that I find really wonderful."

Yoruichi's hands slid down his body, and then reached around, ending up lightly touching his butt, pulling him even closer to her form. One of her hands slid up his side, and ended up on his face, causing his cheeks to turn red slightly.

"Yoruichi-chan..."

"You're so cute, I'd definitely kiss you right now if we had time."

Takumi blinked in surprise.

"Yoruichi-chan, that's...I'm surprised, you want..."

Yoruichi allowed her soft lips to brush against his cheek, then petted his other cheek with her hand.

"You're so cute, stay alive Takumi, then come back to me."

Takumi felt his heart beat increasing more and more.

Feeling the warmth of Yoruichi's body, her embrace and her gentle touch.

"Yes, I'll come back, Yoruichi-chan. No matter what."

Yoruichi softly smiled, and groped his butt, as he let out a small gasp.

"Haha, then I'll see you soon, my adorable Takumi."

Yoruichi pulled away from his body, leaving the younger male blushing from the sultry way that she moved, wiggling her hips, and the way that she turned back towards him, and gave an alluring smile, she truly was a master of being able to tease others.

Once she was gone, Takumi exhaled slowly, while still having red cheeks.

"Taku-chan, are you coming?"

Orihime called, Takumi blinked several times, getting his stuff together, before leaving the room.

"Yes, I'm here, lets go."

Takumi announced, and with a final goodbye to the others, he left with Orihime, Hanataro, and Nemu together.

* * *

Two hours later, Karin took her group consisting of Yoruichi, Yuzu, and Ganju towards the large white tower that Rukia was being held in. Though their objective was simply to buy time for Takumi and the others, they also had to try and rescue Rukia at least, Karin thought it would be best to try and do that anyway.

"So, if we keep heading in this direction, how long do you think it will take for us to reach where Kuchiki is?"

At Karin's question, Yoruichi in cat form, pursed her small lips.

"That's a good question. At our current speed, it shouldn't take us more than a few hours. But be careful everyone, even though this is a rescue mission, they still will have some powerful people guarding Rukia."

Yuzu furrowed her eyebrows, clenching her fingers together.

"I know that you're right, Yoruichi-san. But I still think that we should try and rescue her. It would be best if we could rescue her, at least for Takumi-kun's sake, right?"

Yoruichi nodded.

"Yes, that's our main priority, then we'll have to be careful. We can't allow us to be captured. If Aizen truly is still going to be alive, and is going to be our enemy, then we don't know who he might or might not have under his control. It's been a hundred years, he could have convinced anyone to join his cause. With or without his Zanpakuto's ability."

Karin could hear the worrying tones within her voice.

It was clear that Yoruichi was definitely worried about what was currently happening.

But she still was keeping strong for the others, which she had to admire greatly.

"Right, when we reach that tower, we'll have to assess what's currently happening. Even if it is a dangerous situation, we still have to do our best, alright?"

"Yes, I understand."

Ganju said seriously, but Karin smirked, and jabbed his side.

"So, you're sounding serious all of a sudden. I also noticed that you were unusually quiet during the meeting before. Are you still scared of Takumi huh?"

His nostrils flared, shaking side to side from what Karin was saying.

"T-That's not your business!"

"Aah, I think that it is right after all. Don't worry, I don't mind if you're worried, it will be perfectly fine if you feel like that. I'll make sure that you're taken care of, I'm sure Takumi wouldn't kill you...although..."

Ganju gulped when Karin's face turned more sadistic as a fun time for herself.

"Well, I did hear that he wasn't pleased with what you did when you first met."

Yuzu glanced at Yoruichi sweat dropped.

"W-Wait, what…? Still…?"

"Yes, because of what you did. He thought it was rather unforgivable."

"N-No..."

"Did you not see, the coldness when he spoke your name. It was like he had daggers out for you. I mean, I don't want to assume anything but..."

Karin had a small joke with Ganju, she didn't expect however that he'd take it so seriously.

Ganju's face turned white, shaking side to side as if to deny anything that was happening to him.

"N-Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! He's going to sacrifice me to his research or something, isn't he?! I can't die by Takumi Urahara! Please Karin! Please give in a good word for me! I can't handle it anymore!"

Karin thought it was rather funny that he was freaking out the way that he was.

"D-Don't worry Ganju, I'm sure if you apologize, you'll be fine."

Karin assured him, but he didn't seem exactly thrilled.

In fact, he looked rather scared by what was happening.

Yuzu poked Karin in the side.

"Karin, it isn't nice to scare Ganju-san like that."

"I'm only teasing, don't worry about it." Karin said it with a smile on her face. "Ganju, I was kidding, he isn't going to kill you or does he hate you or anything like that."

Karin assured him, but it didn't make Ganju feel anything other than a real deep fear building up inside of him.

"Y-You can't do that! You know how frightened I am of him!"

Karin didn't really get it.

She never felt frightened of Takumi so seeing others being frightened was a surprise to her.

"Well, stop being frightened of him, he isn't going to kill you or anything like that. I don't even get you sometimes Ganju, being frightened of someone that you've never met. How can you be scared of someone that you don't know?"

"Actually, I kind of agree Ganju-san." Yuzu added. "While Karin is a bit brash, she's got a point, you shouldn't be afraid of someone you don't know. Like Takumi-kun, he hasn't done anything that's been bad, has he?"

Ganju shuddered.

"As soon as we get out of this damn place, the better. I can't stand being here."

Karin furrowed her eyebrows, seeing that Ganju's hand was shaking.

It didn't seem to be with fear.

It seemed to be more with...determination about something.

She recalled what had happened with Kukaku saying about their elder brother, and a Shinigami.

She just hoped that they didn't meet the Shinigami that had taken his brothers life.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi with Orihime, Hanataro, and Nemu were currently underground for their mission. Wearing cloaks around their bodies, they were able to hide their spiritual pressure from the world that was attempting to sense for them.

They crept through the Seireitei as if they were mice, trying to stay off the streets as much as possible, with Hanataro allowing them access to the underground sewer system, with him guiding the way towards Unohana.

He was honestly glad that he had Hanataro around, since he seemed to be a good asset in things such as this.

Though Takumi was unsure of what the future was going to bring, he still knew that he had a mission to do.

They had been walking for a good few hours now. They didn't risk using Flash Step in case their pressure was felt. The cloaks did cover spiritual energy, but it did have a limit, and using spiritual energy might also cause it to be revealed to the others.

"Wow Taku-chan, I've just been thinking. If we manage to save the Soul Society, we'll be super heroes or something~"

Orihime brought up, with Takumi chortling happily.

"I suppose that we would be yeah~"

"We are, going to be heroes, Takumi-sama?"

Nemu spoke with a confused face, with Takumi inclining his neck.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Don't you want to be a hero Nemu?"

He joked, as Nemu cocked her head.

"Yes, I understand Takumi-sama. I will be a hero also. Incidentally, perhaps after this adventure, we can also take a picture?"

"Picture?"

Orihime looked surprised, but Takumi thought that it was rather sweet that Nemu wished for something like that.

"Yes, it would be great if we did that, wouldn't it Nemu-san?"

"Yes, I have been reading that taking pictures is a sign of friendship and loyalty."

As they were talking, Takumi kept thinking about Captain Unohana, and how she was going to be.

If she was going to be a kind Captain.

Or if she was going to be vicious that could cause massive damage to him and his comrades.

So while they were walking through the sewers, Takumi turned towards Hanataro questioningly.

"So, Hanataro-san, what is your Captain like anyway?"

Hanataro cocked his head curiously towards Takumi.

"M-My Captain?"

"Yeah, is she like, kind and sweet? Or are we going to have to fight her?"

Takumi thought that it would be rather reasonable to know exactly what was, and what wasn't, going on with this Captain. He had heard some stuff from Shunsui, but he had been awfully quiet when he asked Shunsui what Unohana was actually like.

"Well, Captain Unohana is quite a sweet woman, she's very kind to Squad Four members."

"Ooh, that's great, didn't want to run into someone that was going to cleave off my head or anything hahahaha~"

Takumi let out a small laugh, with Orihime joining in on the laugh, believing that it would be quite a good way to keep up beat...not aware of what was about to happen.

* * *

"Please calm down!"

Takumi yelled as he was thrown through a door, and landed outside of the Squad Four medical treatment area, Unohana came outside with her katana swinging down towards him, forcing him to dodge out of the way, while turning to the side to see Nemu, Hanataro, and Orihime looking shocked.

When they had arrived, Hanataro promised that he'd get them in easily enough.

But when Unohana locked eyes with Takumi, she immediately took to fighting him quickly.

She didn't even back down for a single moment.

An aura radiated off her form, as they stood outside of the facility. Her sword had killer intentions.

Takumi turned to Hanataro with wide eyes.

"I thought you said she was nice!"

"S-She is, usually..."

"This isn't usually to me!"

Hanataro cried, bowing his head again and again in sorrow, as Isane, a girl that was rather tall, stood beside her Captain.

Unohana's eyes danced up and down the form of Takumi as he tossed some daggers that began to light up as he threw them around the area. It seemed to form some kind of dome, with Nemu noticing that the spiritual pressure from outside was being blocked off.

"_So, Takumi-sama is attempting to hide this clash. Yes, it makes sense. He doesn't want to be found out...but even then, Takumi-sama is in danger. Perhaps this time I should fight for him...but, I couldn't take on the Captain of Squad 4, from what I know of her. Takumi-sama..._"

Nemu's thoughts held her feelings.

Usually, she wouldn't think so...caringly about someone.

But since her incident in Karakura town, she had begun developing more of her feelings.

And because of that, the way that she thought also changed.

"So, you've changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you. You used to be a bit smaller than this, but you've grown to have the face of a man. I'm quite pleased to see that your face and body have matured."

Takumi placed his hand outwards in an attempt to calm down the woman.

"Wait, please. I need to talk to you..."

Unohana showed her blade to Takumi, effectively silencing him.

"You have killed Captain Aizen, haven't you?"

Unohana showed a creepy smile that sent chills down everyone's spines.

Even Takumi felt this killing intent was more than what he had experienced regarding this woman before him.

"N-No, I didn't kill him. Please, I just need to talk to you..."

"Did you win against Kenpachi Zaraki?"

Takumi wore surprise that she had asked that.

"Well, yes...I guess in the end that I did. But I got pretty banged up from that fight."

Unohana's face turned into a mixture of glee, and desire.

Her blade ran across the ground, slicing the stone that was there as if it was made of butter.

"That's good. You know, he's someone that I have also fought before."

"Really…?"

Takumi muttered, wishing that he didn't have to deal with this woman now.

She was terrifying to say the least.

"Yes, that's right. So someone that can fight and beat him, makes me feel excited~"

Takumi's face turned slightly red of a mixture of fear, and intrigue why she would feel like that, and the face that was alluring that she was using didn't help either.

"A-Ah...I'm sorry…?"

He didn't know how he was supposed to reply.

Was he supposed to be apologetic because of this?

Or should he be happy about this?

Either way, the way that she looked at him, he felt as if he was being looked at by a wild animal that was about to devour her prey, and could pounce in an instant, and that alone caused him to tremble a bit.

As for the others, Orihime felt immensely worried, Nemu didn't look worried but felt it, Hanataro felt like passing out at this moment in time. Like he was staring into the jaws of hell, and it was about to devour him.

"Oh no, don't be sorry. I haven't had a reason to pick up my sword in years. I haven't felt the desire to fight for a long time. But, seeing you before me, gives me thrills, and also chills. I'd like to see the man that clashed with Kenpachi Zaraki, and how he began also unlocking his true power that he had held back for so long."

Takumi wore surprise on his face.

"You also felt like that…?"

"I was the first one that witnessed him do so. He kept those psychological handcuffs on him without having killed me. He was someone that has been holding back since he was a child. He wanted to prolong the fight as long as he could to enjoy the battle he is currently in, and because of that, it was my sin that I locked away his potential power. However, you began restoring his power, which I am grateful for."

Takumi didn't know where this was going.

One second she seemed to hate him.

The next it seemed as if she was enjoying his company.

It was very strange.

"S-So, we don't have to fight, do we….?"

"I insist that we do."

Takumi cringed.

"But, I helped Kenpachi-san, that has to count for something..."

Takumi tried to play that angle, seeing that Unohana had some kind of, attachment to Kenpachi, if that was as a warrior, or something else, he wasn't quite sure. Whatever it was, he was hoping that him helping Kenpachi might make her listen to reason.

Though, he wasn't sure when seeing the look on her face.

"It does. You unlocked some primal urge for me to take up my blade once more. I want to see the man who began changing Kenpachi Zaraki."

Takumi shivered at the sight before him.

"E-Erm...y-you don't have to do that, do you…? Can't we just be friends instead? I wouldn't mind that..."

Unohana tilted her head left and right.

"You want to be friends?"

"Y-Yeah! It's better being friends, isn't it Orihime-chan?"

Orihime nodded, thrusting her thumb outwards.

"I agree! We should all strive to be great friends!"

Unohana gave a bemused smile as Isane saw the look within the eyes of Unohana.

She hadn't seen her Captain so excited before.

It looked as if it was a once in a life time opportunity.

"Isane, be a dear, and fight against the others, take them away from this area."

"C-Captain…?"

Isane wasn't so sure.

But seeing the way that her Captain was, she wasn't sure if she should question her.

"Myself, and this boy cannot fight with you around. We don't want to cause your death."

Isane could hear the seriousness in her voice, and in the end, had to obey what she was saying.

"Yes Captain."

Orihime looked towards Takumi, who gave her a thumbs up.

"Go, Orihime-chan."

"But Taku-chan..."

"Don't worry, I've been in life and death battles before. If I have to fight another to achieve what we need, then I don't mind. Make sure that Nemu-san has some back up Orihime-chan, and afterwards, I'll definitely need you."

Orihime was torn about it.

But feeling the power coming off of Unohana, it was definitely surprising and she knew she'd not be able to get involved.

"Yes Taku-chan, I'll do what I can for Nemu-san! Please be safe!"

Takumi nodded a single time, before Nemu rushed forward, quickly grabbing Isane who let out a cry.

"I'll be your opponent."

She said in her monotone way, and tossed Isane away from the others, while Nemu glanced towards Takumi.

"It's alright Nemu-san, you've got this, I know you can win."

Nemu continued to look over Takumi, her eyes seemingly displaying something that resembled worry.

"Takumi-sama, I'm not worried about myself. I am worried about you. The current woman before you is one of the strongest Shinigami in Soul Societies history. She is even stronger than Byakuya Kuchiki-san. If we retreat now..."

"Then I wont be able to see about Aizen's corpse." Takumi cut off Nemu, offering her a comforting smile. "I'm happy you're worried, and I know that people have had some doubts about you, but I trust you Nemu-san. With my life. With the lives of those I love. I'll leave that girl, Isane-san to you."

Nemu began feeling something more than she thought.

Rather than just use her, he was asking her to protect the others, and fight alongside him as a comrade in arms, someone that he trusted.

This was one of the reasons that she began liking Takumi more.

He gave her the ability to make her own decisions, and right now, all she wanted was to make sure that Takumi was able to survive.

"Takumi-sama, I shall defeat Isane-san, then I shall return."

Takumi nodded strongly.

"Alright, good luck Nemu-san."

Nemu nodded, and went chasing after Isane, as Orihime followed her. Hanataro looked unsure of what to do, so Takumi gave him a nod.

"S-Sir?"

"You also go Hanataro-san, this is going to be a bloody battle I'm sure."

"But sir..."

"Haha, why are you calling me sir? I'm not important enough for any sir talk."

Unohana let out a small laugh with what he said.

She then waved her hand at Hanataro.

"Do not worry Hanataro, this fight is something both warriors are going to experience together, so I'll have leave with the others, and do your job as a member of Squad Four."

"Y-Yes...Yes Captain!"

Hanataro bowed his body and ran out of the area, leaving only Takumi and Unohana to stand there together.

* * *

Meanwhile as that was happening, with Takumi's group gone, and with Karin's group gone, Kenpachi left with Yachiru, and Giselle. Giselle herself stood behind Kenpachi as they all wore the cloaks Takumi had made to imitate the powers of Takumi and Orihime, so they would be able to move easily enough through the area.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

Kenpachi gave a maniacal laugh as he crushed through the Seireitei, swinging his newly fixed sword around and cut through several walls easily. The shock wave of his power also destroyed the walls that were at a distance.

Giselle sweat dropped, with Yachiru grinned.

"Ken-chan's having so much fun right now, isn't he Zombie~?"

Giselle liked her nickname, it was something that made her feel good.

"He surely is sweetie~"

"Yup! But, if we can't fight strong enemies, Ken-chan might become unhappy."

Giselle thought that he probably would become dissatisfied.

Though seeing him smashing his way through the arena that was around them, and crushing the Shinigami that attempted to oppose them, Giselle looked on with a slight smile.

Kenpachi was content right now, destroying the foes that had opposed him, Giselle kept sensing for any serious threats coming her way, and right now, couldn't sense anything at all.

* * *

Nemu had caught up with Isane who faced Nemu with a serious look on her face. Orihime and Hanataro ran up from behind her, and showed that they looked rather worried about the fight that was happening back with Takumi and Unohana.

But for the sake of their comrades, they had joined here to help Nemu if she needed it.

But Nemu clenched her fists, and put her hands up into a fighting form, which surprised Isane quite a bit.

"Nemu-san...why are you working with Takumi Urahara? He is the enemy, you know?"

Though she said that, Nemu didn't even blink as she replied.

"Because Takumi-sama was the first person to help me explore who I really am."

Was it that simple?

That's the question Isane had held inside of her.

Seeing that Nemu was willing to side with Takumi, she wasn't sure if Takumi had done something, or that he was a genuine person.

Either way, she still had a job to do, so she stuck out her sword.

"Nemu-san, I have to fight you, so please prepare yourself."

"I am currently prepared."

Isane smiled awkwardly, as she nodded.

"Okay then." Her sword waved through the air as she activated her Shikai. "Run, Itegumo!"

Isane activated her Shikai's state, and took a stance against Nemu.

Nemu simply stood there without having anything on her face.

Nothing to give away.

"Then let us begin."

Nemu rushed forward, her speed surprising Isane who stabbed towards Nemu.

Nemu leapt up into the air, her foot rising higher and higher, as she stepped onto Isane's stretched out blade.

"Executing."

"D-Did you just say executing!?"

Isane yelled as Nemu's foot came down harshly.

Isane gasped, and attempted to pull backwards, when she saw that Nemu had wrapped her foot around Isane's blade, stopping her from moving backwards by yanking her sword towards her, allowing Nemu's foot to collide with Isane's shoulder, and a heavy pressure forced Isane's body down to the ground with a large thudding sound.

"Aaah!"

Isane cried out, as Nemu flipped in the air, attempting deliver another kick to Isane.

Isane quickly rolled out of the way, avoiding Nemu's foot, then slashed forward towards Nemu.

The young woman avoided the slash, though noticed that some of her top had been caught by Isane's slicing movement. Nemu wasn't deterred, seeing Isane sticking out her hands, gathering a red energy.

"Hado 31: Shakkaho!"

Unleashing her Kido spell, the red sphere travelled at Nemu at a good speed, but Nemu's speed was faster, simply stepping out of the way to avoid the blast, before heading right for Isane, who was beginning to feel the pressure.

Pulling back, Isane activated a Kido barrier to defend herself, but Nemu simply tightened her hand.

"My fist should be enough."

Nemu thrusted her hand forward, and her fist collided with the barrier before her, leaving a large crack within said barrier, surprising Isane.

"Y-You did that with your fist…?"

She was impressed with Nemu to say the least.

Nemu then reeled her fist backwards once more, before delivering a heavy strike to the barrier, shattering it all together, and continued on with her fist, Isane letting out a small cry, and raised her Zanpakuto in a defensive position, taking on Nemu's hit straight on.

But that proved to be a mistake when Isane's body was blown away by the intense pressure of the fist that she had used. Isane cried as she slammed against a building, and she began to bleed from her head.

"I am, sorry for harming you."

Nemu apologized.

She didn't want to kill Isane, or cause her unnecessary harm.

She just wished to disable Isane the best that she could.

Isane inhaled and exhaled slowly, feeling the blood trickling down her forehead, so she raised a hand to her head, and a green light began to form out of her hands, wrapping around the wound, and began healing it.

"She is a medical officer after all." Hanataro began to Orihime who looked worried. "Though we don't specialize in combat, we are able to heal in the middle of battle, and Lieutenant there, is able to heal rapidly, she's one of the best."

"What about t-the Captain back there?"

Orihime asked as Nemu adjusted her stance once more.

"S-She's the best healer...and she could heal wounds instantly. She's skilled enough to do it rapidly."

"Is Taku-chan in danger…? Can he win…?"

Hanataro didn't have an answer, as he honestly didn't know.

Isane healed her wound, but she didn't have time to get ready as Nemu was already on her. She jumped, and span rapidly, her body turning into a mini hurricane, and her foot went for Isane's upper body.

"Aaaaah!"

Isane received a hard impact from Nemu's kick. Despite even raising a barrier, she still received a hard kick that forced her body backwards, with Isane's body bouncing off the ground, and tore up the ground a little bit from the amazing impact that she had received.

Isane let out some cries as she came to a halt, seeing Nemu rushing towards her.

"N-No!"

Isane announced, and unleashed several Shakkaho's were released towards Nemu.

Nemu expertly dodged out of the way of the blasts, each of them shattering a small part of the ground with ease, before she managed to get up close, with Isane placing her fingers outwards.

"Bakudo 4: Hainawa!"

Allowing her fingers to go outwards, the yellow rope attempted to try and wrap it around the young woman, and managed to wrap around her form, binding her upper body with her arms being bound to the rest of her body.

"It seems that I have been bound."

Nemu noted, seeing Isane being curious.

"I-I just bound you, aren't you that bothered?"

"Currently, I am not. I intend to escape."

"B-But..."

Isane watched as Nemu used her incredible strength to being forcing the rope off of her body, showcasing her incredible raw strength that even surprised the others. Isane backed away slightly, attempting to gather her energy as Nemu's strength forced the Kido spell off of her body.

"Executing defeat assault."

"Please don't execute me!"

Nemu dashed forward, zipping left and right as she came at the woman. Isane placed her sword outwards, and slashed left, as Nemu appeared there, but Nemu jumped, and hopped into the blade as it sailed past, using it as a stepping stone, and jumped upwards, high into the sky.

Isane looked up as Nemu span in the air, and changed her body to point downwards.

"Ooh no..."

Isane turned around and began to run backwards with flash step.

But Nemu's descending body was faster than she had thought, and came in like a bullet, her body building up speed thanks to the natural gravity that helped her out, Isane attempted to raise a few barriers, to defend herself.

But Nemu crossed her arms into an X shape, and continued heading downwards, her strength and speed, allowing her to shatter the barriers within an instant, Isane cried as Nemu got close to her body.

"Please leave me alone!"

Isane used this chance to slash for the incoming Nemu…

But Nemu released her arms outwards from the X shape attack, and unleashed a massive amount of air pressure that forced Isane's body backwards, along with her sword, and ended up receiving a massive blow to her body from Nemu's dual fists slamming against her torso.

"Gwaaaah!"

Isane spat out some bile as she went flying through the area.

She smashed into the side of a building, passing out all together, with Nemu landing on the ground elegantly, Orihime and Hanataro looked on nervously while Nemu turned towards them, and offered her thumbs up, with a very awkward smile on her face that didn't look natural at all.

"I have accomplished the task. Please one of you heal this young woman named Isane."

Hanataro and Orihime glanced at the other, before Hanataro walked forward.

"Please save your energies to heal Takumi-san, I'll heal the Lieutenant."

Orihime nodded, allowing Hanataro to go forward, and begin healing Isane. Orihime looked back towards the area that Takumi was in, and hoped that he was alright. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him at all, it was scary to even think about it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi and Unohana confronted one another. Their eyes locked, and their hearts almost were in tandem with their beats. Both hearts were racing, but for completely different reasons all together.

Takumi went to speak, when Unohana raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you really here?"

"I'm here to see about Captain Aizen's body and I also need your assistance Captain Unohana, if you wouldn't mind. I don't want to fight you."

Unohana showed her sword as she moved forward.

"I wish to fight you though. So either show me your abilities, or you'll die quickly."

Takumi sharpened his eyes.

"Is that a threat?"

"I am attempting to understand a few things. So, please show me your sword."

Takumi ground his teeth, and stuck his sword up into the air.

"Alright, you asked for it." A thundercloud formed above his head and it began to rain a little bit as his sword glowed. "Ravage, Kinhime."

A lightning bolt shot downwards, and collided with the sword itself, coating it in a beautiful ray of light, and changed the shape to a thunderbolt. Unohana raised an eyebrow, as he swung down his sword, unleashing a mass of electricity that surrounded the entire area that he was in.

"Nice sword."

"Are you not going to release your Shikai?"

Unohana shook her head to Takumi's bewilderment.

"My Shikai isn't suited to fighting. Don't worry though, I can fight just fine with this sword of mine."

"Alright then! Have this!"

Takumi didn't waste anytime, and shot off a massive bolt of lightning right for Unohana.

He wished to end this quickly, and hoped the attack was going to take her down.

But he was surprised when she raised her sword, and merely said "Cut." as she sliced downwards, and the bolt of lightning was split in half when he unleashed his power against her, Takumi seeing the half bolts heading away from her, behind her, smashing into the building and caused two giant holes to appear.

"You have a good deal of power behind your strike, and your accuracy isn't bad either. I don't have many critiques behind the attack."

Takumi wasn't sure if he should be happy if he was being praised or not.

Either way, he didn't have time to stop, so he rushed forward while speeding as fast as he could.

Unohana allowed a small smirk to appear on her face as she swung her sword left, forcing Takumi to block with his own blade. Gritting his teeth, he pushed against her sword as sparks erupted from both blades.

"You saw my movements?"

Unohana nodded.

"I've been a Captain for many years, Takumi-kun. Though your speed is on par with a Captains, it still takes a little more than that to take me down." Unohana pushed against his blade, and forced him backwards with her incredible strength. "Now, perish."

Unohana with incredible speed got before Takumi, and swung in several different directions. Takumi ground his teeth, attempting to deflect each blade as it came, but as he was, Unohana revealed a small blade up her sleeve, tossing it at Takumi at close range for his upper body.

He went to deflect, when seeing Unohana's main sword raining down from up above.

Knowing he'd not be able to block both, he instead allowed his electricity to shine around him, deflecting the blade Unohana threw at him, while his sword smashed against her, allowing the electricity to form up her arm, tingling her fingertips, and began making them feel numb before she pulled away.

"Good trick, my hand has dulled a little bit." Unohana, to his surprise, allowed her medical Kido to shine through, and flexed her fingers. "A little nerve and muscle damage, it isn't difficult to heal if you know how to do it."

Takumi was beyond surprised.

She healed it within a matter of seconds.

Though the technique was supposed to cause the nerves and muscles to shut down, she still brought them back within seconds, when he has seen that it took his Father over half a minute to do so, showing that Unohana's skills in medical arts weren't a joke.

"Nice technique, it's clear you're attempting to disable me. But if you don't try and kill me, then you're not going to be able to win against me, understand boy?"

Unohana pulled forward, and unleashed her sword.

He went to block, when she changed her swords movements, spinning her body around and came at him from the right. Quickly moving, his sword attempted to intercept her own, when he used a knife from up her kimono, and attacked from the other side at the same time that her sword was coming for his body.

"If you don't use both hands during a fight, then you're wasting an opportunity."

Unohana's sword was blocked by Takumi's own, but the other managed to cut his hand before he grabbed her wrist, attempting to put pressure on her wrist to force her to drop the knife, but she still remained strong, pushing against Takumi's own hand, while other sword forced itself against Takumi's again and again, the pressure of the swing growing higher by the second.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to keep going on like this, Takumi breathed out "Shunko." and unleashed it for a few seconds, the Kido energy blasting the shirt he had off, but allowed him to increase his power, forcing Unohana's knife away from his body, at the same time he channelled lightning along with a cloak of water from his Shunko together, unleashing it against Unohana's sword wielding hand.

"Try that!"

Takumi unleashed a combination of water and lightning, causing a massive explosion against Unohana's sword, and body, erupting all around her, and caused some burns to appear on her body from the intense lightning enhanced by the water, and exploded the young woman backwards.

Unohana skidded across the ground, noticing that she was bleeding from the swords power that had hit her form like it did, as Takumi deactivated Shunko, so he didn't waste the power, nor did anything happen to his body from overusing it.

"My, that's impressive. You've caused me to bleed. I can see why Kenpachi was having difficulty with you. Honestly, that man is very powerful, he's stronger than I am. But currently, he's weaker than I am, does that make sense to you?"

"Yes, you're speaking about his sealed power again."

"Correct. You, also hold potential inside of you. Right now, the current you, couldn't beat the current me."

Takumi watched as she used her healing Kido to fix her injuries.

Takumi wore surprise on his face even more.

Even though she had moderate injuries, she had fixed them so quickly it was as if she didn't have any injuries at all. He was amazed, and also worried about how he was going to combat the enemy that was before him.

She then turned her blade towards Takumi once more.

"Come at me, show my the abilities that took down Kenpachi Zaraki."

Takumi breathed out slowly, and swung his sword outwards. Blades of electricity came off his sword, and shot for Unohana at high speeds, who smirked at the blades coming for her, as she quickly sliced each of them down.

Her movements were elegant, and the blade managed to cleave through them instantly.

But when she turned towards Takumi, she saw that he wasn't there.

"Diversion, clever."

She turned around to see Takumi coming up behind her, a mass of electricity in the shape of a hammer headed right for her, released from the blade. She went to raise up her sword, when she saw ropes of Kido being released from Takumi's electricity, also having the electricity surrounding the ropes.

She turned her sword right, and then slashed at high speed, swinging again and again to cleave through the rope, then she took on a dual handed stance, standing before the mass of electricity in hammer form coming for her.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

She swung her sword downwards, and her sword clashed with the electricity.

Even though it was sealed, Takumi saw that she was pushing back his electricity.

He didn't even hold back in his strike.

Yet she could see that he was still being pushed back.

So rather than allow her to win the push back, he aimed his fingers forward as he tossed his sword to the side of Unohana who seemed to be confused.

"Hado 4: Byakurai!"

Unleashing a simple lightning based Kido, the electricity was drawn to his sword, which happened to be in the path of Unohana who was still dispelling the electricity hammer that was before her, showing a small grimace.

"Definitely a clever boy. Fighting with his head, rather than with pure instincts. All he has to do now is combine the two and he'd be quite the force."

She said it while showing a calm smile on her face, as she disrupted the hammer, and attempted to jump, when she felt something binding her feet.

Turning down, she saw that it was Takumi himself that had used Hainawa to bind her feet to the ground.

"You're smart at mixing Kido with your swords abilities. Many seem to not grasp that, and has led to a fighting style all your own." Unohana stuck out her hand, and formed a barrier of Kido, blocking the incoming bolt of electricity. "But, I'm no slouch either."

Unohana cut through the binds of hers, and then lunged forward, dashing at a super speed, appearing before Takumi, and unleashed her heavy duty slash towards him, which he raised to parry.

But he was shocked when she turned her sword downwards, and cut through his leg, drawing blood out of him.

Though to her astonishment, he didn't even flinch when he unleashed his own power against her, his electricity coming out at her at high speed, forcing Unohana to block with her sword, taking the bolt of lightning head on, digging her body into the ground.

But she didn't lose her stance, and continued on, slashing through the electricity, launching several hidden blades at Takumi. He was forced to defend against the attacks, as she carried on with her sword, coming at him like a tornado, the spinning of her body and blade was like an art form.

She clearly had been used to many battles, and could adjust her stances accordingly.

She hadn't even used Shikai, and he was surprised by her strength.

He didn't even want to know what would happen if she had used Bankai.

With both attacks coming for him at once, Takumi knew he'd have to try something, so he stuck out his sword, and used some kind of drug, throwing it at Unohana who cut it down with her sword, but when she did, she saw sparks going off from Takumi's blade to her own.

"What is..."

Unohana watched as the blades she had launched, had changed trajectory and headed for her body instead.

She gasped lightly, and changed her sword towards her own blades, parrying them away from her, but she saw Takumi charging in like a bullet, his sword aimed for her shoulder with a mass of electricity building up around it.

She smirked, and turned her sword towards him, as her blade slid into his own shoulder, leaving a deep gash in his chest as the blade slid across his skin, but at the same time, his own managed to slice across her shoulder, digging in deep inside of her body.

"My, I've been penetrated by your sword, Takumi-kun. You are a wild boy after all."

Takumi blushed at the suggestive tone that she had used.

Despite having a sword inside of her, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

Takumi on the other hand couldn't deny that this was quite an experience.

It felt like he was able to fight hard and strong.

He was learning from her.

He pulled out his sword from her, as she did the same.

They both had wounds on their bodies.

But like before, Unohana's body began healing with her Kido, while Takumi took out some kind of drug, and ran it on the wound, beginning to heal it.

"Aah yes, you did have great chemistry skills, and knowledge of various drugs such as that."

"Your healing skills are fantastic."

Takumi complimented, Unohana bowing her head.

"Thank you very much. You know, I learned healing Kido to keep fighting for longer?" Takumi wasn't surprised by that. "It's true, though you don't seem to doubt it."

"I can see you're a fierce warrior, and learning how to self heal makes sense. It also makes you very dangerous."

"So it does, so come at me Takumi, let us have an amazing battle."

"Yeah, lets do this!"

Takumi and Unohana charged at the other, and continued their battle.

It raged on for several minutes, with each managing to land blows on the other, and cut deeply into their bodies, Unohana's skills in sword fighting were unreal, he knew that fighting this woman was going to end in defeat.

So after those minutes, Takumi took a stance with his sword.

He had wounds on his body, and he had a limited supply of the drug.

But Unohana seemed to be able to keep up her healing for quite a good while.

So he activated Shunko, speeding up his movements as he felt a tearing in his back.

He hadn't gained proper control over the power yet, and did damage his body when he used it.

But it gave him a good dose of power, allowing him to shine brightly.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Allowing the water to swirl around him along with the lightning, he turned his sword to Unohana, who looked quite pleased with what she was seeing right now. Seeing the energy before her, she could see that it wasn't a joke, and could see how Kenpachi would be damaged quite badly against this powerful attack.

"Are you going to show me an attack that could stop Kenpachi Zaraki?"

"If you want it, here it is!"

Takumi unleashed his strongest attack.

With the lightning and water flowing out of his body, he shot a massive wave of the combined abilities together, and attempted to attack Unohana, who merely made a stance with her sword, readying for the attack.

"Good attack, I can't complain about this."

Unohana was overjoyed by the attack, as she took it head on.

Her sword sliced into the power before her, and created a massive explosion of power.

The intense shock wave shattered the ground, and even began breaking down the building that was near them. Even Takumi felt his own body feeling tired from unleashing such an attack, and had to power through it with his Shunko.

He felt his skin beginning to tear off from the intense power that he unleashed.

But he still didn't back down.

Unohana herself was caught in the wave, and she felt her healing speed actually being overtaken by Takumi's attack.

"Hahaha, this boy definitely has potential alright."

She grinned, as she fought off the power more and more.

But the sword that she had suddenly flew out of her hand, and the attack landed against her body as she mumbled "Good..." feeling satisfied that he managed to do that to her.

Takumi felt the contact, and his own body draining, so he stopped the attack, deactivating his Shunko, collapsing to his knees, with blood coming out of his body.

His eyes attempted to adjust to what had happened, as the smoke began to clear.

Standing in the mass of smoke, a figure came out, Unohana.

Despite the attack, she still was walking.

She had injuries on her, but she still looked ready to fight.

Blood came out of her, and her injuries were being fixed, but she seemed a bit unstable on her feet, compared to Takumi who was down on his knees.

The clear endurance of this woman was fantastic, Takumi couldn't complain about that.

She walked over to her sword, picking it up, and turned it towards Takumi.

Takumi, despite feeling drained, turned his own blade back towards her...

* * *

When she raised a finger.

"May I tell you something?"

Unohana began, Takumi wondering where she was going.

"S-Sure, what's that?"

"It's a story, don't worry it wont take long." Unohana took a breath, before she continued. "It is about myself. I once was a woman that went around this Soul Society, searching for the ultimate opponent, that could stand up to me. But I never could find the right kind of opponent, until I found a nameless boy that didn't even have a single fear within his eyes. His sword clashed with my own blade, and through the battle, I was becoming more and more under the realization that I wasn't going to win. Though I was an adult, and he was a child, he still had amazing powers. As you might have guessed, that boy was Kenpachi Zaraki."

"Even as a child, he had power above yours? What is he?"

Takumi had to wonder that.

Someone that could beat an adult as a child and someone like Unohana.

Even though they had clashed, he could feel that she was currently stronger than he was.

She was probably even stronger than Byakuya and some other people he had met.

"He's something that's a monster. But because of that fight, he began handcuffing himself like I had told you before. Mentally, each time he fought an opponent, he stopped himself from going too far, and ending it quickly. However, the other day, I felt it...those handcuffs are beginning to come off. And that's because of you, the sin that I committed has been purified by your blade. In a way, your heart managed to awaken the monster inside of Kenpachi in a way that no one ever could. Challenging him not only on a physical level, but also questioning his beliefs, his ability to fight and his ability to understand the world around him."

Listening to what she was saying, Takumi exhaled slowly.

"Your sin...I don't think it was your sin Captain. Kenpachi might be seen as some idiot monster, but he's...he's something that even I couldn't be, and that was someone without any cares in the world, not denying who he is at the core."

Unohana looked slightly surprised, before she offered a cold smile.

"Perhaps my sin is that I didn't attempt to unlock those handcuffs before now."

"If you had, I'd be dead right now. I felt it myself, he's like a never ending well spring that I couldn't hope to fight right now. Even then, I'm pleased because it was amazing for me to fight against such a man."

Unohana twitched her neck.

"Also, there is something else that I have been dying to do, for a long time now. But only recently, I could acquire that opportunity, and that was to fight against you."

Takumi blinked his surprise.

"But, why…?"

"Didn't I say already? You also have potential deep inside of you."

Takumi blinked as she smirked.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Of course, I thought you had a way with the sword. How much do you truly know about your past here? Do you remember anything at all?"

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows.

"I get...flashback like things sometimes to the past. I remember certain things, but it feels as if something is blocking my mind...it's kind of hard to describe. But Captain, if you knew me from the past, then you must know that I didn't murder Captain Aizen. That I wouldn't-"

"Oh, I'm already aware you didn't kill him."

Takumi's face dropped instantly.

"W-Wait, you knew!?"

"Of course I knew. Though someone has tried very hard for it to be you, to paint you as the killer. Leaving behind your aura, attempting to leave marks on the body that would be reminiscent of yourself. That's what the sword battle was for. I wished to see if you could have made the marks that were on his body, but seeing your current sword stances, I can't see it being you. Whoever did do it though, tried to make it convincing, probably believing that I wouldn't investigate like this. But now that I have, I understand that you weren't the one who killed Captain Aizen."

Takumi inhaled and exhaled happily.

He was glad that she believed him.

But then she raised her head.

"However, even with this evidence, people wont believe myself. So you'll need more than my word that you aren't the one who committed murder against a member of the Gotei 13. But, I believe that you also seem to be ready to do just that."

Takumi nodded, attempting to stand, but he felt his knees wobbling.

Even then he still moved to stand, as Nemu with a knocked out Isane, Hanataro, and Orihime came running back.

"Yes...please, let me examine the corpse with you. Perhaps with my technology and your incredible skills, we can gain clues about what has really happened."

Unohana watched as Orihime came closer to Takumi. She glanced at Unohana who didn't say anything, as she then activated her healing ability, taking away the wounds that Takumi had, surprising Unohana at her skills.

She then conceded.

"Alright, I'll cooperate with you, Takumi-kun. I also wish to hear any stories you may have about what's happening in the Soul Society currently. I also have some suspicions, so please follow after me. I'm glad our battle wasn't interrupted, and was hidden by those blades of yours. But, when you gain Bankai, I'd also like to fight you once more, and show my own Bankai towards you."

"Ehehehe...I-I guess that we could do that..."

"Splendid. Then follow me."

Unohana turned around and began walking away.

Takumi glanced at Nemu, seeing that she didn't have any injuries.

"Nemu-san, are you okay?"

"Yes, Takumi-sama. I managed to defeat her, though there is something I'd like to say." Takumi nodded for her to continue. "Takumi-sama, there is one question in my mind that I don't know the answer to, and that is...who I am? It might seem trivial to most...but, I am trying to understand about myself. I know my name, I know my face, my body and my history. Yet, I feel as if I don't know much more about myself. People around me, have connections between others, and these connections, are becoming more fascinating to me."

"Haha, I can't tell you that Nemu-san, you're gonna have to figure out who you are. But I think you're already on the path to doing just that. Keep doing your best, Nemu-san. I'm sure you'll come to the conclusion, and I'll help anyway that I can."

Nemu gave a nod.

"Thank you, Takumi-sama."

Takumi smiled as he along with the others, followed after Unohana to do what they needed to do, and get some answers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin and the others had arrived at the tower, with surprisingly minimal efforts needed. They had knocked down a few people, but they didn't seem like anything more than grunts that even the weaker members of their group could handle with ease.

Standing before the large bridge, two guards were standing on the opposite side of the bridge to the place Rukia was being held.

The girls and Ganju were at the very bottom, and were using binnoculars that Takumi provided them to spy it.

"Is it clear?"

Karin asked, as Yuzu nodded.

"I think so, I can't see anyone else. They don't feel that powerful to me Karin, we should be able to take them down."

Karin glanced at Yuzu who nodded.

"Alright Yuzu, you take out the left one, I'll take down the right one."

"You got it."

"Karin, what should I do?"

Ganju asked, Karin showed a soft smile.

"You keep watch, with Yoruichi-san. We've got this."

Karin saw Ganju nod, so Yuzu from down below, gained two arrows, and tied some rope to them, firing them off up the tall building. She fired it off, and it went high up the building, but not to the point the guards would notice.

Then Yuzu and Karin scaled the building rather quickly with Yoruichi surprised by their swiftness.

Then once getting up high enough, Yuzu and Karin perched where they were, looking upwards.

Karin waved her fingers in a manner that Yuzu understood, then they leapt upwards.

"W-What?!"

One of the men attempted to use their sword, but Yuzu fired off her arrows, forcing the blade out of his hands, while also shooting off arrows very precisely for his clothing, pinning him to the wall, as the other guard was charged at by Karin.

"Try this!"

Karin raised her sword, and clashed with the guards, but Karin's strength overwhelmed the guard, and she embedded her swords handle deeply into the body of the guard, causing him to spit out bile, and knock him down to the ground.

She then brought out some green liquid, dripping it onto the guards face, who became whoozy.

"W-What's happen..."

He soon passed out, as Yuzu repeated the process on the other guard, knocking him out.

"Ooh yeah, sisters kicking ass~"

Karin said with a singsong voice, Yuzu smiling as she put the bottle away, signalling to Ganju, who hurried up the rope with Yoruichi.

"I'm glad that Hanataro-san gave us this Shinten stuff. It's just like a tranquillizer. It seems that they'll be out for a while."

Karin nodded strongly.

"Yeah, it works on people with weak spiritual pressure."

"Even then, we're making good time Karin. If we can rescue Rukia-chan, then we could even leave Soul Society soon~"

"Haha, I know, I can't wait to get back home, I'm missing soccer for this."

Yuzu let out a small laugh as Ganju got up towards them, looking slightly out of breath, while Yoruichi looked composed.

"R-Right, ready girls?"

"Yeah, lets get this over with."

Karin said as they rushed across the large bridge.

Because of the length, it took them half a minute, before they made it to the towers doors.

"Great, how are we gonna get in?"

Karin murmured as Ganju laughed.

"Hahaha, now this is where I come in~"

"You're gonna turn it to sand or whatever?"

Ganju shook his head, producing a weird looking key.

"Wh-Where did you get that?"

Yuzu was astonished, while Karin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you couldn't have gotten that from anyone we've fought."

"Actually, I got it off that runt Hanataro. He gave it me while saying that he wanted to help Rukia out, and he stole it. Gotta give the kid some props, stealing like that while not thinking about himself. This Rukia girl better be worth it."

"She is, trust us."

Karin said, as he unlocked the door.

Once it was unlocked, Yuzu and Karin pushed it open, revealing Rukia stood there, looking wild eyed at the sight before her.

"W-What are you guys doing..."

"Rukia-chan!" Yuzu beamed, rushing towards her, and hugged her tightly, to her surprise. "We came here to save you! T-Though it was hard, and everyone did their best, we've been going through so much Rukia-chan!"

Rukia looked baffled as Karin entered.

"Takumi sends his love~"

Rukia's face turned bright red while Karin smirked.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!? YOU COME OUT WITH THAT FIRST?!"

"Hahahahaha! I had to do it! To see your reactions!"

Rukia puffed out her cheeks, as Ganju began stepping in, looking eager.

"So, who is this Shinigami that everyone is fighting for..."

Ganju's grinning face, fell instantly when he locked eyes with Rukia.

He recalled an event from his past, Rukia stood there, with the corpse of his brother dragging on the floor, blood on her face, and a cold hard expression that had been steeled for many years, something that Ganju never could forget.

"Oh, who's this?"

Rukia asked, as Ganju's hand balled tighter and tighter.

"This is Ganju, he's a friend of ours. But we need to get going Rukia-chan, come on!"

Yuzu began pulling Rukia along who was in a state of unsureness.

As she did, Karin noticed that Ganju's face showed anger, his trembling hand told her quite a bit.

"Ganju..."

"She's the one..."

Karin knew what he was talking about, but she couldn't accept it.

"She couldn't be, Rukia wouldn't do that."

"What wouldn't I do?" Rukia asked, looking between the pair. But when she saw the symbol on his pants, she froze inside. "...That symbol...you wouldn't happen to be from the Shiba family, would you?"

Her voice was low, and filled with sadness that was coming back to her.

She thought about the night that Kaien had died.

What had happened to him.

How she couldn't save him in the end…

Noticing the tension in the air, Yuzu looked towards Rukia.

"Rukia-chan, what's going on…?"

"Yeah, tell them Rukia."

Ganju said harshly, as Rukia's head lowered more and more.

"Ganju, lay off. This girl isn't the one that..."

"But I did." Rukia said with a sad expression. "I am the one who killed his brother, if he is from the Shiba family that Kaien was from."

At Rukia's confirmation, both Yuzu and Karin were immensely shocked. Yoruichi didn't say anything, as she saw Ganju quaking with his rage, storming over to Rukia, and grabbed her by the collar, dragging her towards his hurt filled face.

"Whoa there Ganju!"

Karin snapped, moving forward, but Rukia waved her hand.

"No...it's okay, Karin."

"But, Rukia..."

Rukia shook her head.

"No, I did cause the death of Kaien. Though I...I attempted to do what I could, I did end him." Her eyes went towards Ganju who continued shaking his body with his rage. "What are you going to do to me? If you decided to kill me, then I wouldn't blame you."

Ganju's mind filled with many thoughts.

He didn't know what to think about in the end.

Even though Rukia had said no, Karin got between them, peeling off Ganju's hands, and pushed him back slightly.

"That's enough! No one is killing anyone here! We came to rescue you Rukia, we aren't going to let you die! Understand?!"

"But Karin..."

"You say you're his brothers killer, yet when you say it, your eyes display hurt, sadness. A killer doesn't display that, so there has to be a reason why it happened."

Yuzu nodded, moving closer.

"She's right, there has to be a reason Rukia-chan, Ganju-san. But we can't speak here, we need to go before we're caught. I'm sure Rukia-chan will explain to you Ganju-san...trust us, we know what it is like to confront a family members killer. We have done that before with a Hollow. But Rukia-chan isn't a Hollow. She isn't evil either. She has helped us many times in the past, she helped us grow stronger, and brought us together." Yuzu moved closer to Ganju, placing a hand on his trembling one, drawing his eyes towards her. "Please...for us? If not for Rukia-chan, then for us, your comrades?"

Ganju breathed in and out sharply.

Thinking about what Rukia had said, in the end he had to accept it, bowing his head in understanding.

"...Alright, for now I'll go along with you guys."

"Thanks, Ganju." Karin turned to Rukia. "Come, we're going."

"But Karin..."

"Don't you start, we're leaving, that's the end of it. Even if I have to drag you by your hair."

Rukia was surprised by her sudden words, but then conceded.

"...I shouldn't argue with you after all. I wouldn't win, I forgot about that with my time here."

Karin nodded with a smile on her face.

"Exactly, now lets get..."

Before she could continue, Yoruichi bowed her head.

"It's too late for that."

Yuzu also sensed what Yoruichi was feeling, and turned to the entrance.

"Karin...that power..."

Karin turned towards the door, and saw someone walking across the bridge.

"I...who is that person…?"

Rukia turned her eyes to the door, and saw exactly who it was.

"That's my brother...Byakuya."

At that they froze.

Karin and Yuzu remembered what Takumi had said about Byakuya, how even he couldn't take him down despite going all out. Now here they were, confronted with the Captain himself, and while Yuzu remained hopeful…

Everyone knew that disaster was about to come.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, Takumi and the gang have begun moving forward! Soi Fon cameo at the beginning, it seems that she's also gunning for Takumi. Renji made his appearance back in the story and is now beginning to side with Takumi and the others. Takumi, Orihime, Nemu, and Hanataro got towards the Squad Four area, only to be confronted with Unohana, who was in near full Kenpachi mode. Takumi fought against her, while Nemu fought off Isane and showed her skills, while Giselle is keeping her watchful eye on Kenpachi who's having fun destroying things and finally at the end, Karin, Yuzu and Ganju along with Yoruichi made it to Rukia, though as Ganju found out about Rukia, who almost resided to her fate, but Karin and Yuzu managed to stop him, but then Byakuya entered the scene. What's gonna happen next, we'll find out next time! Thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	26. Pushing forward!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; Indeed~**

**Clarent excalibur; Kenpachi's having a good time yeah~**

**Vizard Masky; She has a reason for thinking the way she does, and it's hinted that she's blinded by something to see the truth. No, it's not Yoruichi related, not really anyway. It's something else. Haha, what will they think indeed? They'll probably watch what they say in case they awaken her inner Kenpachi again. We'll be seeing Karin dealing with it this chapter, and what she can do. I could see a moment like that, it would be pretty funny. And thanks very much!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! Soi Fon's got her reasons, and we'll be exploring those in the near future about why she's acting the way she is. Haha, Kenpachi's gonna be quite happy doing his job yeah~ They might have a run in with someone~ Yeah, he thought he was going to be meeting this motherly figure, seems like that wasn't quite true. She does yeah, Unohana knows his fighting style well, and knows about how he'd deal damage among other things, and yup, when he gains Bankai, she might wish to do battle again. It's gonna get quite ugly yeah for Karin and the others.**

**Skull Flame; Haha, Soi Fon's surely on the move alright. Unohana doesn't hold back, does she? Lets see how it does yeah~**

**Guest 1; I've got a fun scene where that happens, and it could be earlier than canon.**

**Guest 2; Here's the update!**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! It seems that they do have some kind of bond huh? That would be cool if he could do something like that. Renji's on side yeah~ Because he didn't know much about Soi Fon. Seems like some girls like that haha~ They'll get a kiss eventually. You never know. Karin and Ganju have a nice relationship huh. That's Nemu for you~ Nope, Unohana jumps straight in there with the fights. Isane went through a few things huh~? Maybe in the future he will be used to it. Glad you liked the fight. Unohana had a fun time, and showing her abilities though she might show off more of her abilities in the future. Ooh yeah, Unohana is quite scary with what she can do with healing Kido and her sword skills. Maybe he did know of her past when he was a member of the Gotei. We'll be getting Bankai eventually. Yeah Rukia's in it alright~ It would be nice to see Soi Fon's Bankai be used to kill an enemy, maybe BG9. Shinji could have been like that. It surely is gonna be interesting huh. It seems that they are yeah. It's a cool design yeah. It could be something Takumi could do, he's quite intelligent, and might have done it alright. He could beat him~ It could be cool if he had a three way battle with them. Yeah, Kenpachi needs his fun haha. Maybe Takumi could do something like that with the Quincy's. Yeah, I always thought he should have died to Ywhach himself rather than a member of the Sternritter. Yeah they could stay with him. He could do yeah. It is pretty cool, I wish we could have seen it in the manga. He could do something like that yeah.**

**Andrew123456; Yeah, I could do, if I came up with a good idea for it.**

**Nirvash Neo; Yeah, I'll probably be doing the Bleach Movies, I'll just have to think when to slot them in.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Pushing forward!**

Soi Fon, was on the hunt for Takumi.

She was searching in different places that he could be, questioning every Shinigami that had gone past, and hoped that she'd be able to find someone that could help her out.

She even had her Lieutenant dragging behind her, and complaining.

Though when he did, she'd just punch him and told him to shut up.

As she was moving through the city, she came across Shunsui, and Nanao walking towards their own Squad Barracks with Nanao being annoyed by Shunsui's antics, keeping up pretenses about them being unaware of what had happened with Takumi and the others.

"Perfect."

She murmured with annoyance, flashing down before him.

Shunsui blinked several times, before pulling out a bottle of alcohol.

"Sake?"

"Save your alcohol. Tell me, where is Takumi Urahara?"

Nanao looked towards Shunsui while he wore a relaxed face.

"I don't know what you mean. How would I know?"

"Don't play your games Kyoraku. You would cover for him, even now."

"As I said..."

Before he could continue, Soi Fon got close, and grabbed him by the robes he wore.

"E-Excuse me Captain, you can't suddenly grab my Captain in an aggressive manner..."

Nanao argued against Soi Fon's treatment of Shunsui.

Even her own Lieutenant wasn't looking exactly thrilled about it.

"Soi Fon, you're acting aggressive. Why are you really being like this?"

"A man has died! Are you going to tell me Takumi didn't do that as well?"

"How would I know? I'm not a doctor, I haven't seen the body of Aizen. But if you're asking me if I think he did it, then I don't think he would, and deep down, neither do you, am I right Soi Fon?"

Soi Fon's facial expression didn't change.

But it was pretty clear that Shunsui might not be off the mark.

"My feelings do not matter, what does is the capture of a criminal, and you're impeding the capture of said criminal. I know you've contacted him, you wouldn't leave it alone, you'd try and see him somehow."

"Haha, you've got some imagination Captain~"

Shunsui laughed it off, Soi Fon wasn't amused, and tossed Shunsui's robes to the right hand side, while turning away.

"Keep playing your games, they wont hold forever. Once I've found him, I'll take him in myself."

"You do what you need to do Soi Fon, but can you live with yourself if you do this?"

At the question, Soi Fon was visibly stunned for a few moments.

Soi Fon's eyes went towards Shunsui who already began walking away with Nanao.

"Hey Nanao-chan, it seems that we'll have a free day, want to drink?"

"Honestly, all you think about is drinking Captain."

Soi Fon watched on for a few moments, before she flash stepped out of the area, with her Lieutenant ran away after her.

As she disappeared, Nanao turned to Shunsui.

"Captain, she couldn't possibly find Takumi-kun, could she?"

Shunsui exhaled deeply, knowing that it could be dangerous.

But he also knew that if he intervened now, then he would truly be compromised and hoped Takumi could defend himself from Soi Fon.

"I don't know, but if she does find him...then he's going to be in a hard battle for his life. She wont stop until she's found her answer."

"What is her question?"

"That, I don't know."

As he said it, Nanao felt a sinking feeling deep inside of her.

Soi Fon wouldn't let it go.

She was a trained assassin, she could follow people even if their Reiatsu was blocked.

If anyone could find Takumi, then it would be Soi Fon.

* * *

After their battle, Takumi, with Orihime, Hanataro, Nemu, Isane and Captain Unohana walked into the medical facility that was Squad Four. Takumi glanced at Nemu who seemed to be looking around curiously.

"Something wrong Nemu-san?"

"Mayuri-sama hasn't contacted me, I am surprised."

"Yes, I can see why that would be surprising."

"Should I contact Mayuri-sama?"

Takumi shook his head.

"It's too dangerous, we don't know what he's doing right now."

"Understood, Takumi-sama."

Takumi had to wonder why he hadn't contacted Nemu.

It did seem out of the ordinary.

Moving forward at a good pace, the group made it to the room that Aizen's supposed body was being kept.

"Do you have any medical expertise?"

Isane asked, she wasn't convinced about working with Takumi.

What she knew from rumours, made her worried that this could be a trick.

But if it was for her Captain, then she trusted her judgement absolutely.

Takumi shrugged his shoulders.

"I've got some, I'm no Hanataro-san or you or anything. But I do know my way around a body yes."

Unohana showed a slight smirk on her face.

"Hehe, is that so Takumi-kun? Do you know your way around a females body?"

Takumi's face turned slightly red when she said that suggestively.

"W-Well, I...I never said female specifically..."

"But, you don't deny it." Takumi went to refute it when Unohana glanced at Orihime who was showing a slightly jealous look on her face. "But, it seems that you also have something's going on here, with this girl, is that right?"

""W-We're not going to discuss that right now!""

The pair said it while looking at one another with a mild blush on their faces.

Unohana felt a small laugh escaping her throat while Isane scornfully looked towards Takumi.

But she stopped when Nemu raised an eyebrow.

"May I ask, why are you looking towards Takumi-sama in such a manner?"

"B-Because, he's still the most wanted person in the Soul Society! I-I simply am having a hard time dealing with this situation. I don't know how everyone else can be so calm right now, it's so difficult for someone like me..."

Unohana waved a hand to Isane.

"Isane, dear. Calm down. As you saw during our fight, he currently cannot beat me."

"Y-Yes Captain...but even then..."

"Even then, Isane. We have to work together to uncover what truly is happening within the Soul Society. We know something is amiss, I've had some suspicions myself, and I currently do not know which way I am supposed to turn. So, if we work together with Takumi-kun here, perhaps we can truly begin making moves in the right direction."

She did trust her Captain, she truly did.

But something inside of her was worried about what truly was happening right now.

With Takumi, with the others.

It just seemed so hard for her to accept that this was happening right now.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, and begrudgingly accepted what was going on.

Takumi then looked towards the corpse of Aizen with Unohana.

Moving closer, Takumi went into a bag that Hanataro was carrying, and brought out some equipment that he needed to examine the body that was before him. Orihime leaned forward with intrigue.

"Taku-chan, what will that do?"

"If I'm right, then this isn't Captain Aizen's real body. This device should detect even the slightest of flaws. Even the most elaborate corpse doll will have a flaw in them somewhere, and together, with Captain Unohana who understands more about the body than I do, she can understand the data better than I. With my tech and her knowledge, we should be able to come to some sort of conclusion on what this body is before us."

"Hmmm, it sounds good in theory. Lets try this out right now, Takumi-kun."

Unohana said it quietly, while Takumi set up his equipment, and then began scanning the body of Aizen.

The others watched on curiously, wondering what was going to happen next.

It seemed like only Isane seemed to understand what Takumi was doing, besides Unohana of course. Even Hanataro was a bit baffled, and wasn't exactly sure what they were searching for.

But it seemed that Unohana was going over the data quite well, and quickly.

As they scanned, Unohana knew exactly what was happening now.

She understood quite well in fact that she was staring at the information she wished wasn't true, but was unfurling before her eyes.

"So, it is a corpse doll after all. Such intricately designed, but with one fatal flaw. Without your device, I might not have found this..." Unohana inspects the corpse doll of Aizen's, and furrows her eyebrows. "This means that Captain Aizen is, most likely alive."

Isane looked shocked, as did Hanataro.

Orihime looked towards Takumi who's eyes were slit upon the doll before him.

"Taku-chan, if he's alive...does that mean he's going to be coming after you? Or us?"

"Most likely. But there's something that he doesn't know about that I do know about." His eyes went to Unohana. "Unohana-san, I need your assistance once more. It's to make sure that Aizen can't get his way."

Unohana wore more intrigue on her face.

"Interesting, then please tell me what it is."

Takumi then did just that.

He informed Unohana of what he wished to tell her.

It seemed like the others weren't exactly sure of what Takumi was telling Unohana.

But whatever it was, it seemed to be something that made sense to Unohana.

"Is it possible if we do that Unohana-san?"

Unohana got into a thinking position.

"But if we did that...from what you just said, it could..."

She trailed off, with Takumi understanding what Unohana was going to say.

"I know, but it's the only way. If I fail, then Aizen's plan can't succeed."

Unohana lowered her eyebrows.

"...Then we shouldn't do so right now. Lets research a way for us to do it safety. Isane, Hanataro, your assistance if you may. We have to keep this a secret, so the words spoken here, may not be repeated outside of these walls. Even if you believe you're alone, do not repeat them aloud again until this incident is resolved."

""Y-Yes Captain!""

Upon hearing that, Hanataro and Isane sprang into action and did what Unohana wished for.

Takumi went to the side of Nemu and sat down with Orihime on the other side.

"Takumi-sama, I do not understand. From your conversation, it sounds as if you're willing to risk it all on the chance you can't succeed."

Takumi nodded slowly.

"Yes, that's because I have to risk it all. We can't let Aizen win, my Dad said that if he did, then it would cause unknown chaos. We can still do something here. We can win against him. I just have to bet everything on this gamble."

Orihime looked disheartened by what Takumi was saying.

From what he was saying, it sounded as if he was going to be in a dangerous situation.

"Taku-chan, are you sure…? I mean, even if it..."

Orihime didn't know how to finish it.

She wasn't sure on how to say it.

But Takumi reassured her while holding onto her hand.

"Yes, I know that you're worried, but this is the only way that I can see that we'll be able to come out on top. This Aizen is unpredictable, the only way to outdo him is be just as unpredictable. Besides, my Father is Kisuke Urahara, I wouldn't be his son if I didn't also do crazy things sometimes."

Orihime didn't say anything else.

She just had to believe in Takumi this time.

She knew that whatever he was doing, he was going to do his best in doing it.

Nemu also wondered about what Takumi was doing.

She was sure that the way he was thinking was a little drastic.

But she had come to understand that having a free will allowed you to do things that others might deem crazy or insane.

Like Orihime, she agreed to do what she needed to do to support Takumi and what he was planning to do next.

* * *

Looking across the bridge, Karin, Yuzu, Yoruichi, Ganju, and Rukia all saw Byakuya moving forward. The pressure that was being released off of him, decked Rukia who had been in a place where she couldn't use her powers for a while, Yuzu and Ganju also felt the extensive spiritual power that was being released, and nearly fell down.

The only ones that were able to stay calm was Karin and Yoruichi. Yoruichi was mildly surprised that Karin could stay standing, despite how Byakuya was trying to use his spiritual power to floor him, but she didn't seem to be all that bothered.

"Yoruichi-san, what are the odds of us winning now if we go at him all at once?"

"If you and I went at him...we'd have a very good chance, and even though I'm unaware of his full capabilities, I believe that we'd probably win. However, this is a public area, we don't know who could come for backup. I advise that we run away from this location...though right now, it seems that only you and I could move at a good speed, and even then, he's fast, unfortunately he's faster than you are at the moment Karin."

Upon hearing the answer, Karin suspected that to be the case.

"I guess that we have to do something to hinder him long enough for us to escap-"

"Is Takumi Urahara not with you?"

At the monotone voice, Karin's eyes snapped to Byakuya.

"Sorry, he couldn't make it, can I accommodate you?"

Byakuya didn't look amused. Yuzu's eyes became slightly hazy, turning between Karin and Rukia. Rukia due to being floored, almost felt like she was going to keel over, Ganju didn't look exactly thrilled, he already didn't like Rukia for what happened in the past, and now that they were being faced by Byakuya.

"Hey, Karin..."

"What is it?"

She asked, while never taking her eyes off of Byakuya.

"This guy, who is he exactly?"

"Apparently, his name is Byakuya Kuchiki. Squad Six or something like that."

Ganju's colour drained from his face upon hearing that name.

"N-Not Byakuya Kuchiki...he's the strongest in the entire families history...as well as the most famous. He's the one that's opposing us...shit..."

"Cool it Ganju, we'll be fine if we don't make any stupid mistakes. Yes, he's powerful, but we have numbers...we need to do something to cause a distraction…"

"O-Or we should beg him to live. We can't beat him Karin, we need to try and survive another day."

Karin's eyes flicked between all four of them there, not including Byakuya, and thought about what Takumi would do right now.

She knew that the chances of winning would be difficult.

She thought that Yoruichi probably could take Byakuya or at least wound him enough for them to escape.

But they didn't think they'd have any chances to actually survive if they did defeat him, as more would come.

They couldn't take the entire Soul Society down...

"Yoruichi-san, is there anyway that I could hold him off while you get these three away from this area?"

Yoruichi looked between Karin, Yuzu, Rukia, and Ganju.

She knew that she could get two of them away at a time, but if she left Karin to deal with Byakuya…

She wasn't sure if she'd come back to find a corpse or not.

"It would be dangerous if I left your side now. Even then...you want to do it, don't you?"

Karin lowered her eyebrows.

"I have to protect my sister from anything that might want to hurt her. So I'll also fight him if I can for a little while. If we get them away from his range of effect, then they could begin running away by themselves, couldn't they?"

Yoruichi didn't think that she was wrong.

But she still wasn't sure about it.

Ganju however felt inspired by what Karin had said.

How she was going to fight, despite knowing her chances weren't the best.

She still knew that she had a few things to do, and she wasn't going to back down, so neither was he.

"Hey Karin. Would you, die for this Rukia girl?" His eyes went to Rukia who bent her head down. "She's the reason my brothers dead. Yet, you're still fighting for her, why are you doing it? Is she really worth it?"

Karin glanced towards Byakuya who didn't look like he was going to wait for much longer.

In fact, he looked as if he was going to be attacking at any moment.

"Ganju...I don't know about your brother, all I know is Rukia. I know that she might be obsessed with that stupid rabbit Chappy." Rukia's eyes flared towards Karin who wore a superior smile on her face. "But she's a good person, I know that deep down. She doesn't back down, she has risked herself for us time and time again. Whether she killed your brother or not...I don't think she did it, and if she did, then there had to be circumstances behind it. I don't expect you to give up your life for her Ganju. If you hate her, then that's your choice. All I ask right now is that you put those feelings aside, and escape with her, while I hold off Byakuya myself."

"Karin! T-That's suicide!"

Yuzu interjected, while Ganju felt sorrow entering him.

This girl was willing to do all of these things, and she still was fighting.

It brought happiness and also sadness to him at the same time.

"Even if I ran...there's only one way off the bridge..."

Ganju wasn't so sure.

He made up that excuse, he didn't feel right about leaving Karin behind like that.

"Then I'll carve a path for you. We came here for Rukia, you don't have to die for her, but I'll stall for time for both her, and you, and especially, Yuzu. I promised Yuzu that we'd be coming home back to our Dad. So that's what I'm going to do right now Ganju."

Yuzu, Ganju and even Rukia were surprised by what was being said.

Karin truly had matured quite a bit over her time during the Soul Society.

"But Karin, this is dangerous, don't fight him!"

Rukia yelled, but Karin just gave a sly smile.

"Rukia, do be quiet."

Rukia wore surprise on her face.

"W-What?"

"I'm not your Knight in shining armour, I'll leave that to that damn Takumi. All I'm here for is to make sure my sister survives. And I don't intend to die. Besides, I might have a chance to win here if I go all out."

Karin was bluffing.

She didn't know if she had a chance to win.

Byakuya becoming increasingly impatient looked displeased.

"Are we going to fight?"

"I'm getting to you!"

Byakuya was silenced by Karin and wore confusion on his face, though he hid it well with his usual stoic mask that he had.

Karin then began moving forward, with Rukia and Yuzu both panicking.

"N-No! Karin! Don't do this!"

Yuzu tried to move, but Yoruichi stopped her.

"Yuzu, don't. You can't become involved here."

Yuzu felt even more panic entering her, while Ganju's eyes tightened shut.

Remembering his sister, and how she had raised him to not be a coward, he simply couldn't allow her to do this alone, so he rushed forward, running past Yuzu, Yoruichi, and Rukia, while placing his hand on his own blade.

Karin cracked her neck back when she heard the shout "Damn it!" and saw Ganju attempting to get by her, but she grabbed the back of his shirt, and yanked him backwards.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm fighting as well!" He pulls out his blade from his back, and points it at Byakuya. "Come on then, I'll be your opponent today!"

Karin shook her head at the sight, worried that Ganju might be in over his head, and didn't want Ganju to die. She didn't want anything to happen to any of them, while Byakuya looked Ganju up and down, and placed a hand on his blade.

* * *

Back with Takumi and the others, with Unohana and the others busy researching what Takumi had asked them to do for him, he was currently working on a next plan of attack, and what they'd be able to do next.

Nemu leaned down next to Takumi, and saw that his eyes were going over a few reports.

"Takumi-sama, what are you thinking about right now?"

"I'm thinking about what has happened, and what our next move would be against the enemy. Now that we've found out that Aizen definitely is on the move, we can't be sure of his next move. He's very smart, I just hope the precautions that we're taking, are going to help us out."

Nemu could see that Takumi was trying quite hard.

He was thinking about every scenario that he was coming up with.

But then he turned back to Unohana, and pulled closer.

"Unohana-san, I'm going to have to leave you for the moment, there's something that I need to check on."

Unohana raised an eyebrow.

"Then how do we contact you?"

Takumi pulled out a map from his bag, and produced it to Unohana.

"Come here, when you've got the information. Don't worry, it's a protected area, and no one would suspect you knowing anything about this. If anything, myself, along with Orihime-chan and Nemu-san will have to move quietly around the battlefield."

"Yes, be careful to all of you, it will be dangerous."

"Right, then we'll be leaving."

Takumi gathered Orihime, and Nemu.

Hanataro went to leave with them, but Takumi stopped him.

"S-Sir?"

Takumi found it oddly nice that he was called sir, by Hanataro.

It seemed that he had relaxed himself a bit since their first meeting.

"Still calling me sir huh?" Hanataro looked sheepish. "I need you to stay here, Hanataro-san, your medical expertise could be needed. I also don't want to put you in anymore danger, stay with your Captain and help her with what I've asked. If you want to help, then that's the best way to go about it."

Hanataro nodded, tightening his hands.

"Y-Yes, leave it to me sir! I'll do what I can do help!"

"Right, I'll leave it to you. Orihime-chan, Nemu-san, lets get going."

"Yes Taku-chan, lets go!"

"Understood."

Takumi, Orihime and Nemu nodded at one another, and left the area.

As they did, Isane turned to Unohana.

"Captain, now that they've gone...can we really trust that boy? I don't want to sound as if I'm not trusting you, because I do trust your judgement. That boy on the other hand...after everything that's been said, how can we not assume he planted the corpse doll, and has Captain Aizen tied up somewhere."

Unohana didn't even move a muscle for a moment.

She thought about what Isane said, and could get why she was worried.

"Isane, I am glad you're being cautious, however I must remind you of something."

Isane cocked her head, while Hanataro looked on.

"Yes, Captain?"

"That boy, had several opportunities to slay a good number of people in the Soul Society, has their been a reported death?"

Isane gave a sheepish look.

"W-Well, no but..."

"And, did he kill Momo Hinamori?"

"Of course not..."

"Then, believe in my judgement Isane. I believe that Takumi-kun is here to make sure the Soul Society doesn't suffer anything terrible. I also believe in his ability to overcome adversity. Lets believe in him Isane. Hanataro already does, don't you Hanataro?"

"Y-Yes...I believe in him."

Isane wore surprise on her face.

But she could see both her Captain and Hanataro did believe in Takumi, so while she was cautious, she placed her belief in Unohana, and believed she believed in Takumi and that they were doing the right thing.

* * *

Back with Karin and the others, Byakuya glances between Karin and Ganju, ultimately turning his blade towards Karin.

"I feel quite a bit of your Reiatsu, it seems that you're at least Lieutenant Level of power. While your friend, I could barely sense anything. At first, I thought you were manipulating the power you had to hide it. But now I can see the truth, there's nothing for me to be worried about."

Byakuya's words stung Ganju while Karin narrowed her brows.

"That's not exactly nice. You don't know what power Ganju has. Yeah, he might not be the strongest, but he's got skills! He can...erm...he can..."

"I can turn things to sand."

He said with a deadpan stare to Karin, who nodded and snapped her fingers towards Ganju.

"Yeah, he can turn things into sand! And he can...erm, something to do with fireworks I think..."

Ganju felt like crying, at what Karin had said.

But he didn't give up, and withdrew his sword, charging Byakuya.

"Ganju, don't!"

Karin pleaded, while Rukia murmured "I don't think he even has a plan..." while seeing Byakuya disappearing from sight. Karin couldn't really see him, but she took the cloth from her sword, and tossed her Zanpakuto towards the right of Ganju, as he was moving his head in slow motion.

Appearing at the right of Ganju, was Byakuya who was forced to use his sword to block Karin's Shikai, surprise etching itself onto his face, as the force from the thrown Zanpakuto managed to push Byakuya back ever so slightly.

"You saw me, did you?"

While holding his surprise, Ganju comes slashing in with his own blade, but Byakuya parries it easily enough, and puts distance between them. Even Yoruichi was surprised that Karin managed to force Byakuya to block.

Byakuya then turned to Ganju who was already rushing him.

"My sword wasn't made to kill pests. Leave right now, or I'll be forced to kill you."

"Cowards that could be scared by your threat don't exist in the Shiba Clan!"

Upon hearing his clan name, Byakuya wore mild surprise. His eyes looked towards the clothing Ganju had, and saw that indeed they had the insignia of the Shiba Clan there, so his eyes went towards his blade while Ganju came charging in.

"I'm sorry about that, I thought you were a mere bug. But you're from the Shiba Clan, it must mean you have a warriors ability. Then I shall not hold back in my movements this time, and will make sure you wont walk away alive."

His sword goes upwards, and it began to shine a little bit.

"What's he doing…?"

Yuzu wondered, but Rukia already knew.

"N-No! You can't do that! Please Byakuya! Don't kill him!"

Byakuya ignores Rukia's pleas, and allows her blade to begin moving.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura."

From the way that his blade glowed, it suddenly split down to the handle, leaving only the handle of the sword left. The blades fly into the air, with the sun shining down onto them, and giving them a pinkish glow.

"It looks like falling cherry blossoms..."

Yuzu murmured, Rukia's panic for Ganju became even higher as the blades turned towards him. The blades quickly danced around Ganju, while he was stunned by the attack and couldn't move as the blades went to slice down Ganju…

"Haaaaaaaaaah!"

Karin unleashed her crescent shaped slicing move towards Byakuya, and unleashed a highly condensed wave of energy, which ripped through the bridge they stood on, and forced its way for Byakuya who stared on darkly, forcing his sword back towards him, and created a wall of his small blades, the pink blades stopping the progression of the blades themselves upon Ganju's form, Ganju's eyes widening in shock.

"K-Karin..."

Ganju looked thankful to the young girl, but Karin already rushed forward.

"Get them out of here Yoruichi-san!"

Byakuya looked stunned at the name.

"Yoruichi..."

Karin didn't allow him time to think as she came in with her heavy blade once more. The blade slashed left, but Byakuya blocked with a wave of his blades, then sent them towards Karin at a high speed.

Karin used her blade to cross over her body and take the shot of blades shooting for her, the blast wave of small blades pushed Karin's body back a good deal, but she didn't give up, and swung her sword outwards, allowing her energy to shoot out, at Byakuya who blocked once more with his blades, directing them with his hands.

In the meantime, Yoruichi quickly grabbed Yuzu, and Ganju, with Rukia saying "Take them first." to which Yoruichi agreed, since Rukia was the least likely to die in a scenario that they all couldn't be saved, and the Soul Society wouldn't want to kill her until the date of the execution.

Byakuya barely saw Yoruichi as she took away a protesting Yuzu and Ganju.

"You wont escape."

Byakuya attempted to stop her, but Karin came in from behind him, and swung her blade downwards. Byakuya didn't even look back as his blades responded by blocking off Karin's Shikai, and forced her backwards.

She then saw a few blades flying for her leg, so she lifted it up, when Byakuya used his speed to appear before her, and swing out his small blades, sending a wave of them towards her body, and she received a big gash across her arm.

"Karin!"

Rukia panicked, but Karin didn't even seem to be all that bothered, and allowed her swords energy to be released, sending a crescent shaped energy wave for Byakuya's right hand side, the energy coming in at a high speed.

"You're attempting to destroy me at close range, not a bad tactic."

Byakuya however managed to get his blades in the way and formed a wall to combat the energy wave. Even though he did, her energy managed to force him to use more blades than he previously thought that he would have to do.

Because of that though, Karin managed to send her foot towards Byakuya's torso, who was surprised by the speed, along with how she had used her energy attack to trick him into blast the power at him, and then attack from a different direction.

"No time to move my sword..."

Because of the short distance of the kick, and how surprisingly fast Karin was, Byakuya managed to block with his arm, the pressure of her kick however sent him flying backwards, where he flipped in the air, and skidded across the bridge while she herself landed on said bridge as well, looking at her wounded arm.

"This is nothing..."

Karin panted, seeing the man before him barely injured.

She was bleeding from her arm, and he still wasn't seemingly using much effort besides that last moment.

She didn't mind though, she was still going to show her strength.

"_Hey Karin, don't worry. If you let me out, I'll fight him for you. I'm sure together, we'll destroy him._"

She heard her inner Hollow speak to her in a casual manner.

It was as if she was goading Karin into doing it.

If she allowed herself to do it…

Then she was worried about the consequences of her actions.

"_N-No, I wont allow you to come out, I've got this on my own._"

A laughing could be heard inside of her mind, it caused her to feel sick.

She didn't want this to happen.

She fought down her inner Hollow the best that she could.

She wouldn't allow her to win.

"_Don't worry Karin, all you have to do is relinquish control over to me._"

"I said I wont!"

She spoke aloud, confusing Byakuya.

"You wont, what?"

Karin shook her head, her blade aimed towards Byakuya who wore intrigue on his face.

"Come on then Byakuya! Show me what you've got!"

"You're going to regret those words, Ryoka. I'll give you an easy death if you submit to me right now."

Karin laughed through her nose.

"Yeah, right! I'll get right on that! You think I'm that weak I'd die from you so easily?!"

Karin got ready to fight once more, and showed a willingness to fight.

Byakuya also got into a defensive stance with his Shikai, the blades floating all the way around him.

* * *

Soi Fon arrived at the place that Isane and Nemu had their brief little fight. She looked between the broken areas, where the ground had been damaged by Isane's Kido spell, and the attacks that Nemu had delivered.

"Huuuuh...C-Captain..."

Soi Fon's Lieutenant huffed and puffed as sweat came down his face.

Soi Fon wore a disgusted look, folding her arms.

She inspected the ground a few more times, along with the buildings.

She searched quickly

"This wasn't him."

"B-But, it's damaged..."

That's what he thought, but Soi Fon knew better.

"No, I can tell when it was him. There's no scorch marks on the ground, or on the buildings. There's no residual energy that was left over...so that means that it probably was Takumi who had been here in the first place...damn bastard, he's making us run around in circles..."

"So, what are we going to do Captain? We can't keep searching around aimlessly..."

"For once, you're right. That's why, we have to concentrate our efforts somewhere...he'd eventually have to go towards the Captain Commander. Assuming that he'd not have contact and couldn't know the outcome of his question to the Gotei 13, he'd have to get the answer...but, he wouldn't do it himself...he'd have to be close though..."

Soi Fon thought about the most logical step.

She thought that he'd try to go to Shunsui, but even she couldn't see that happening.

She knew he'd not be stupid enough to meet him now, as Shunsui could have warned him somehow that she was on the hunt.

She didn't rule out the possibility that he'd try and head for the place Aizen was killed either.

"...Right, we'll be using the forces for this, splitting them upon different locations in the Soul Society. We'll be going to Squad Four to see if he's appeared there, also outside of the Squad Eight Barracks, he also could potentially head for Squad Five, and the place Aizen was murdered, so head there. I also will be going to a location I think he might go as well."

"Uggggh, does that mean more running around?"

"You need to move more anyway, don't complain or don't bother following me."

He cringed at her words.

"B-But, I want to make sure you are safe my Captain!"

"Then stop complaining and do as I say. We're leaving, I have a hunch, and sooner or later, he's gonna have to go there. Also, send people to the locations that I list off. Chances are, he'll be at one of these locations eventually."

He knew that he'd have to do it to make sure Soi Fon was safe, and partly because he didn't want to anger her.

* * *

As that was happening, Takumi, Orihime and Nemu rushed through the Soul Society, moving quickly and swiftly, with Orihime on his back, they moved through the shadows, with Nemu guiding them to the location that Takumi thought would be the best.

"Taku-chan, where are we going exactly?"

Takumi thought about it for a few moments before answering swiftly.

"I need to go and keep up appearances with the Captain Commander, and that's to find out what Central 46 has said about my inquiry. We know the answer, but if I don't show up at least a single time, then I'll be endangering the likes of Shunsui-san and the others, so I need to go there, and send a Gigai to 'find out'."

"I see...yes, that makes sense Taku-chan. After that, what are we going to do? Search for this Aizen?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Not yet, there's a few places where he could be but right now we don't know."

Orihime understood.

"Then Taku-chan, when we find him, is he going to be arrested? Can we do that?"

Takumi shook his head.

"We don't have any evidence that I didn't do anything, and if we confronted him now, he could come up with some lies, perhaps I kidnapped him and had a corpse doll in his place, and kept him there to order around the Soul Society. The ways I believe that we can win is if Aizen confesses to what he's done, and perhaps we can force his hand..."

"Can we do that Taku-chan? Force his hand?"

"Aizen will have to make a move sooner or later, we just have to make sure that when he does, we're fully prepared. He wont be staying silent forever, that's why we'll be making sure what happens, the Soul Society will be prepared, and to answer your question, there are a few things my Dad and I thought about while we were in the human world, something's are coming true, and some aren't, I'll just have to adjust."

Takumi's words caused Orihime to bob her head up and down.

"Lets do it Taku-chan!"

Takumi was glad Orihime was quite spirited, and knew that he wouldn't be able to do it without her.

* * *

Back with Karin and Byakuya, the pair stared on at one another, before Karin rushed forward. Byakuya disappeared with a flash, with Karin readjusting her stance to move her blade left, just as Byakuya appeared there, and sent a barrage of blades towards her.

She managed to block with her Shikai, and sent off a powerful wave of her energy towards Byakuya.

The man dodged out of the way, as Karin tossed her sword behind her, just as Byakuya appeared once more. He was forced to block with his blades, but Karin was already rushing forward, catching her sword, and stabbed forward with sharpness towards the man's upper body.

Allowing more small blades to form a thicker wall, he had to admit that Karin was doing quite well.

"Your speed isn't that bad. I'll give you that much credit. You're able to see me."

Karin gave a light smile.

"I can see you, it's difficult but I've been trained to keep up with fast people like you."

Karin backed away, spinning her sword until it pointed downwards, then she stabbed downwards into the bridge.

"Now lose yourself!"

Karin unleashed her energy into the bridge itself, and sent off her power towards the footing below Byakuya, forcing him to dodge out of the way, but Karin already used her time to dislodge her sword, and come in left…

But when she did, he had already appeared right, and sent off a heavy barrage of blades for her body.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Karin was blown away by the powerful wave of blades, cutting into her skin like razors.

She was flung down to the ground, with wounds erupting across her chest.

"K-Karin! No!"

Rukia tried to stand up, but Byakuya placed more pressure onto the spiritual pressure he was releasing, forcing her body downwards.

He then turned to Karin who began standing up, despite bleeding.

"You can't win, you shouldn't try. Even if you can see me and attack me by knowing where I might be, it is meaningless if I can dodge out of the way."

Karin glared into his eyes.

"Shut your mouth."

Byakuya focused his eyes upon her own, seeing her determination.

"I understand Takumi Urahara's reasons for being here, but why are you here? Are you interested in saving Rukia? She isn't your concern. This isn't your life. You're not even a real Shinigami, are you?"

"Real, or not, it doesn't matter. You're a person who isn't even doing anything for his own damn sister! She is going to be killed, and you're actually stopping us?! You should be fighting beside us! I don't know what you're even thinking right now!"

Byakuya didn't change his face.

Though he did think about what Karin was saying, it didn't deter him.

He couldn't allow it to deter him.

"You're saying these things, but I didn't hear your answer. You only came for Rukia. Nothing to do with settling any scores."

"No, I don't have any scores to settle here. I was said I was needed here, and that's why I'm here. My sister came here, so I came here to defend her."

"Your sister, are you going to keep going to defend her?"

Karin nodded without hesitation.

"That's right, because that's what siblings do for each other. They don't let them get hurt, they don't let them die, and they don't betray them. I don't know your circumstances, and I frankly don't care about it either. But you're standing before your sister, and saying that she can't live..."

"My reasons for doing what I'm doing, is not your concern. However, I am intrigued. Do you have a Bankai?"

At the question, Karin thought about what was being said for a few moments.

"Bankai...I was told about that...a second release, is that right?"

"If you're questioning it, then I can't say that you have it. It is a shame, that you're going to die right now."

Karin narrowed her gaze, as Byakuya moved forward.

Suddenly, he disappeared, moving left and right across the bridge.

Karin couldn't even keep up with her eyes, nor could she predict where Byakuya was going to go.

So rather than try and take it, she swung her blade out before her, encompassing the entire width of the bridge, she unleashed her powerful energy, in an attempt to try and take down Byakuya's body before it could reach her.

But when she unleashed her body, Byakuya's foot landed on her swinging blade, her eyes looking up to see Byakuya's hand directing downwards.

"Shi-"

Before she could finish, his blades rained down on top of her.

They sliced into her skin, and blood began to erupt everywhere around her.

But still, she held onto her blade, and flipped Byakuya upwards, and causing him to be thrown into the air. With blood leaking out of her wounds, she directs a massive wave of her energy into the sky, to shoot down Byakuya.

Byakuya responds with his Shikai out before him, blocking the intense power that had been released, and was surprised that it was stronger than before.

Karin also noticed the same thing…

Before she felt something growing on her face.

Peering down, she saw that the mask of a Hollow was coming on her face.

"S-Shit, not now..."

She didn't want it to appear, but it was going to appear regardless of what she wished for.

She stuck her hand onto the mask, and began peeling it off of her face.

"_Come on Karin! Don't fight it! You need me to fight him! He's too strong for you!_"

"N-No, I wont use your power! I'm strong enough without you!"

Karin recalled what Takumi had said about her Hollow.

While she didn't think they'd be able to be friends right now.

She wasn't going to give in either.

But with fighting her Hollow for control, Byakuya managed to come down with his raining blades onto her form.

Rukia looked worried for Karin's future, and how she could die.

"B-Byakuya...please don't do this..."

She begged Byakuya but he ignored her.

He didn't even bother with anything other than what was before him right now.

Karin felt her body bleeding.

It felt sore.

But she still didn't back down either.

She pulled herself to her feet, and angrily stared into the eyes of Byakuya.

"I'm not going to die today!"

She yelled, and lunged forward, swinging her blade for Byakuya but he dodged it with not much effort on his part. She then got to her feet fully, and felt her blood coming out of her.

"You're resilient, I'll give you that. However, this is your time to-"

"Byakuya, what are you doing?"

Rukia recognized the voice.

It was her Captain, Ukitake, with a sickly appearance. Yet he still saw that Byakuya had his Shikai activated and also saw the wounded Karin using her sword to keep herself on her feet, so she didn't fall over.

"Releasing your Zanpakuto here is a first class offence. Even if you're fighting a Ryoka."

Byakuya, seeing the body of Karin bleeding, sealed his sword, cracking an eyebrow to Ukitake.

"This is a wartime situation, we've been authorized to carry Zanpakuto, and this Ryoka managed to break Rukia out of her cell. I am merely acting in accordance to what the Soul Society wishes, and that's for her capture, and execution. My personal feelings don't come into consideration."

Ukitake looked taken aback by what Byakuya had just said.

"I'm surprised that an invasion of a few Ryoka has ended up like this. Is this to do with the death of Aizen?"

"Perhaps, now I'll be finishing off this Ryoka. Even if it is a single Ryoka, aiding Takumi Urahara is a capital offence, I have to deliver swift punishment with her blood."

Rukia became increasingly more worried, while Karin took her sword, and got into a defensive movement.

Ukitake looked over Karin, and became intrigued.

"Who is this Ryoka? And what connection does she have to Takumi-kun?"

Byakuya pulled his sword in front of him while Karin narrowed her eyes.

"It's not important who she is. All that matter is that she's a Ryoka that invaded the Soul Society, I shall deal with this swiftly."

Karin huffed at the sight before her.

"I wont give up Byakuya Kuchiki. Even if you cut me down, I'll still stall for time for my sister to get out of here!"

Karin took her blade and rushed forward.

Even though she was bleeding, she didn't care.

She was prepared to fight to make sure that Yuzu was safe.

She had promised herself that she'd keep Yuzu safe and that's what she was going to do.

But that's when Karin's mask began to form once more.

The power that was taking over her, saw a moment it could do as Karin's tiredness along with her drive gave into the power of the Hollow, which allowed the mask to fully form, surprising both Byakuya and Ukitake.

Byakuya's hand stuck up and he announced "Byakurai." aiming for the mask itself to shatter it.

But Karin, now possessed by a Hollow, deflected the bolt of lightning with her sword, and forced it to dig into the ground below the bridge that was quite a ways up.

"Hahahahahahahaha! You're thinking too small you little bug! Come on Bya-kun! Show me what you've got!"

"_...Her demeanour completed changed, and that mask on her face...what is she? She isn't a normal Shinigami..._"

While he thought about it, Hollow Karin got close, and brought up her sword.

"Here's a new technique for you Karin-chan! Listen to this!" Hollow Karin laughed maniacally. "Getsuga Tensho!"

Unleashing her energy at Byakuya, he raised his sword and took the power head on. But the power was stronger than before, stronger than he had thought it would be, and it blew him backwards as a result, forcing him to hit the bridge hard as the energy slash continued on, shattering the building behind Byakuya.

"D-Damn..."

Byakuya murmured as Hollow Karin came above Byakuya, and thrust her sword downwards.

"Come on Bya-kun! You can't win against me!"

The sword penetrated the bridge, and she unleashed a mass of energy that completely destroyed a section of the bridge. Byakuya tried to avoid it all, but she was caught up in the waves of power that she had unleashed and he received an injury to his leg as a result, bleeding rather profusely.

But even then, he didn't stop, and placed up his fingers.

"Bakudo 61: Rikujokoro."

Six beams of light came out, and thrust at Karin's waist, pinning her there to stop her from going on a rampage. The six beams hit her, stopped her movements, while Hollow Karin's eyes twirled towards Byakuya's form.

"Meanie...pinning me like this, I thought we had a good rapport."

"I don't know what you are, but if you're intending to do something dangerous then..."

Hollow Karin opened her mouth, and red energy began to form at the base of her mouth, surprising Byakuya.

"Time to fire a Cero! Gotta protect Yuzu from you!"

Laughing maniacally, the Hollow Karin went to fire off a Cero…

When suddenly Karin forced her head up while announcing "N-No! I wont lose to you!" desperately holding onto the power that she had, and made sure that she wasn't ruled by it, and at the same time, shaking her head side to side to try and throw the mask off of her face.

Byakuya didn't quite get what was happening, but he flashed over towards her, and went to strike her down…

But Yoruichi flashed before him, with a cloth wrapped around Byakuya's sword, stopping it from moving forward, surprising everyone that was around. Byakuya and Yoruichi locked eyes with one another, and animosity came between them.

* * *

As that was happening, Takumi with Orihime and Nemu had continued towards their location using ways that many people might not know about, with Yoruichi informing him about it, and could feel the battle between Karin and someone, with Takumi knowing it was Byakuya. The battle raged on and their senses were bombarded by new developments.

Of course without seeing they didn't know play by play, but they felt spikes of power going off in the direction of Karin and Byakuya's fight. They'd feel Byakuya's power spiking, then Karin's, and they'd have a back and forth.

But suddenly, they felt Karin's spiritual energy suddenly drop considerably to the point it felt like it disappeared.

"Taku-chan, do you think Karin-chan is...her spiritual pressure just disappeared..."

"Karin-chan's tough, she's not going to die so easily. I have to believe in Yoruichi-chan for now, and hope that she's keeping her safe."

"Yes, I also hope the same thing Taku-chan."

He nodded at Orihime, and continued moving forward.

But as he did, he felt something…

Takumi paused when he glanced backwards.

Though he didn't see anything, he did feel something was off.

"Nemu-san, don't look back, but did you feel anything then?"

He whispered to her.

Nemu raised an eyebrow.

"I currently don't detect anything Takumi-sama. Shall I search?"

"...No, not yet. Come, lets go this way."

Takumi changed direction, to the surprise of Nemu and Orihime.

But when seeing his eyes, it seemed as if he had discovered something, and didn't say anything as they followed him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giselle walked across the Seireitei with Kenpachi who continued to laugh loudly, swinging his blade outwards, and shattered several walls with shock waves from his blade.

"If nothing else, he seems to take a joy in destroying things."

She muttered, with Yachiru nodding strongly.

"Yup, he's really into this right now! I think Taku did the right thing, Ken-chan is going to destroy everything that is before him!"

She didn't even deny it.

Kenpachi was having a blast right now.

She knew that.

However, as they walked, Giselle suddenly felt a presence coming in from the right hand side.

Quickly, she pushed Giselle into a different place as the man appeared before her.

Wearing a 69 on his cheek, his eyes went towards Giselle while Kenpachi was storming ahead.

"So, you're one of the Ryoka. I have to admit, you're not really the sort of person that I'd expect to see honestly."

Giselle placed her hands over her mouth and began laughing a little bit.

"Ooh my, are you really into that sort of thing?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"W-What?"

Giselle let out a small snorting sound, and then pointed towards his cheek.

"Are you into that? 69ing people~"

The man looked to his cheek, and saw the number being there.

His face turned red, pointing at her accusingly.

"D-Don't accuse me of being into that! Your mind went into that territory already! Seriously, what's wrong with you?!"

He snapped at her, but Giselle wore a goofy expression on her face.

Sticking out her tongue, and thumbing her hair, she gave a sway of her body as if she was dancing to some sort of song.

"There's nothing wrong with me~ I don't have that tattooed onto my face~ You're letting everyone know what you're into~"

She said while playing with her hair antenna.

The man didn't look pleased, and felt himself blushing as a result.

"N-No! You've got it wrong! This doesn't represent 'that'! It means something else entirely! You need to please not think of it like that! I wouldn't advertise that!"

Giselle let out a small laugh at the panicking man before her.

She found it rather funny that he was freaking out like he was.

"I don't know...it seems like you might be into those kind of practices. Though it's alright if you are, maybe I could do that with Takumi-kun…."

Giselle stared off into space, as if he wasn't really interested in what the man was saying, and imagining her and Takumi in bed together.

Her face curled upwards at the images entering her mind, and she didn't seem to be all that bothered about many things either.

The Shinigami before her was baffled.

Even though he was an enemy, she still didn't show anything troubling at all.

"A-Anyway, my name is Shuhei Hisagi! And I am going to defeat you, Ryoka-" Suddenly, Kenpachi came in and swatted Shuhei with his blade. "-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Shuhei went flying through the air, and landed several miles away from them in a crater his body's shape, while Kenpachi looked on curiously.

"What did I just hit? And why did it sound like it was scared?"

Giselle giggled awkwardly.

"You hit some guy that was into 69ing people~ And he probably was quite scared huh~?"

Kenpachi raised a brow curiously, before shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh...I don't know what that means, but whatever! More destruction!"

Yachiru came shooting into the light once more, and grinned.

"Yay! Ken-chan did it again! Well done Ken-chan! You didn't even have to look at your opponent to beat them!"

Kenpachi let out a large laughing sound, and continued his mass destruction.

Giselle shrugged her shoulders, and followed after him once more.

But as they walked, Giselle felt as if something was following them.

She couldn't sense much.

But what she did sense, it felt like a cold killing intent had begun making its way towards them.

"_Are we being followed?_"

She mused to herself, turning back but she didn't see anything.

However, in her heart, she felt as if something was coming from behind her.

She wondered what it could be.

What could be coming for them.

She could only think of a few things that could be coming after them, but she didn't want to make any wild guesses right now.

She just stayed alert, and hoped it was just her mind playing tricks on her…

But, what she didn't realize was that she was right to be cautious, as someone was trailing behind her, and the others, waiting for a time to make a move.

* * *

Back with Byakuya and the others, with the cloth firmly around his sword, his eyes met with Yoruichi's own who looked back towards him as she was held in a crouching position, Karin was desperately trying to fight off the Hollow's influence.

Rukia overlooked her, and recalled her from Karakura town.

"She's that woman..."

Byakuya scornfully looked down upon Yoruichi, who smirked right back towards him.

"I should have known you also would come here. Considering that Takumi was here."

Yoruichi showed a light smile on her face.

"Naturally, I wouldn't allow him to come without me." She appears by Karin's side, and quickly takes out some kind of needle, and places it into Karin's neck. "Sorry Karin, this is a countermeasure just in case."

"Counter..."

She didn't quite understand.

But her vision became hazy and soon, she fell unconscious. The group looked shocked that she had done that. Even Ukitake didn't seem to understand why she had done that. But he presumed it was due to the Hollow mask that had been forming.

Yoruichi broke off the Kido spell that had pinned Karin and hauled her over her shoulder, along with her Zanpakuto.

"Are you trying to save her right now?"

Ukitake asked, to which Yoruichi agreed with a nodding head.

"Correct, I did just that. She was losing control, it was a countermeasure Takumi make this for me in case something was to happen to this girl to make sure that she didn't lose herself completely. It seems that she still needs to train with her mask before she attempts to use it, even if it is subconsciously."

Yoruichi's reply made Ukitake nod in understanding.

Byakuya though didn't even seem to be bothered by their conversation and continued forward, while ripping off the cloth that Yoruichi used around his blade.

"Do you think I'll let you escape. She had a Hollow mask, it was similar to that incident in the past with Takumi Urahara. Has he also turned her into a subject?"

Rukia lowered her eyes, knowing Takumi wouldn't do that.

But she was just as astonished as Byakuya that Karin had a Hollow mask.

"You know as well as I Takumi wasn't inhumane to experiment on souls and use Hollow powers on them."

"I don't know what to believe when it comes to that individual. But that doesn't matter now, he'll surely come if the Princess is in the tower."

Yoruichi smirked as she pulled backwards.

"Are you talking about me, or are you talking about Rukia?"

At the question, Byakuya's face contorted into something else besides stoic, and showed his annoyance on his face.

"Are you going to really try and run away from me?"

"Since when did you talk big? I don't recall you being able to ever catch me in a game of tag."

Byakuya's face lowered slightly.

"Then, we should try again. Another game of tag, this time I'll win."

Yoruichi smirked at the challenge, and uses Flash Step to appear behind Byakuya.

Responding to that, he swings his blade backwards at a quick speed, but Yoruichi was faster, appearing behind Ukitake, with Rukia looking stunned that he could move behind Ukitake so fast despite her eyes on his form.

Byakuya fully turns towards her, and uses his own Flash Step to appear behind Yoruichi as she attempts to leap backwards, so she twirls in the air, bringing her foot down onto the blade that he had swung for her, and quickly kicks Byakuya in the face, and because of the injuries Karin gave him, he was a bit slower than he usually would be, sending him flying a good distance.

Rebounding off the bridge using his hand to flip his body around, Byakuya gets to his feet, seeing that Yoruichi had appeared on top of his head, Byakuya didn't seem amused at all, aiming his finger upwards to shoot Kido at her, but she had already vanished by the time that Byakuya had raised his finger.

"If you're trying to catch me with that level of speed, then you best think again, Byakuya."

Byakuya turned back to see that she was on top of the remains of the shattered building Karin destroyed beforehand.

Yoruichi's eyes went to Rukia, and moved towards her...

But then she saw that Komamura, a man with a large helmet on, along with Tosen also appeared, and stood before Rukia, and slashed at Yoruichi at the same time, who backflipped.

"You're not moving anywhere closer! Sensing some strange pressure here, it seems that coming here wasn't futile after all."

Komamura demanded, with Tosen resting his hand on his blade.

"One cry from my sword, and you'll be down. I wont let you escape."

With them, and Byakuya stationed nearby, she knew she couldn't get to Rukia and keep Karin safe.

"Yoruichi, what is Takumi currently doing? He isn't here, what is he up to?"

Byakuya demanded this time.

Yoruichi showed a hint of a small smile on her face.

"Proving innocence takes a while. He didn't do it Byakuya, no matter how many disbelieve."

"If that's true, then he should come and state what he believes to be the case before us all."

"So he could die? I don't think so. No one is that stupid, there wont be a fair trial, unless he has evidence. And you'll soon see that for yourself. If you're itching to fight him, then he'll be ready to take you on, and by that time, I'll make sure that he wont lose against you unlike last time back in the human world. Until then, you'll have to wait." She turned away from Byakuya who went to move, but a grin appeared on Yoruichi's face. "If you want to follow me, any of you, you may do so. But remember, the Goddess of Flash doesn't lose so easily either." With one last look of sorrow for Rukia, Yoruichi announced. "Takumi's coming to save you, he wont give up until you're saved."

Rukia's eyes went wide.

She didn't want Takumi to be in danger anymore. She wished that he'd forget about her, but that was their reality now, he wouldn't forget about her, he'd save her, or he'd die trying, that was just the man Takumi was after all.

Byakuya wondered what kind of tactic that they were playing.

Announcing that out for others to hear, it almost sounded intentional and that it was more of a message for him than Rukia.

Though, at the same time, he also knew that Takumi was crafty, and there could be any number of hidden meaning's within his words and that the message could mean something else entirely, which bugged him to no end.

Yoruichi then flashed out of there with Karin with Tosen and Komamura taking her up on the challenge, and tried to capture her.

But Yoruichi was simply too fast for them and while they tried, they couldn't get to her in the end.

Byakuya looks to the place Yoruichi disappeared, with Ukitake raising an eyebrow.

"Are you not going to chase after her?"

Byakuya didn't reply as he began walking away from Rukia.

Ukitake also asked "Where are you going?" but Byakuya didn't seem interested in answering.

Byakuya then walked away from the area, murmuring "Do what you please." and didn't spare a look for Rukia, who looked on.

But then it felt like her energy left her, and the breath she didn't know she was holding released out of her mouth, her body becoming weaker by the second. Ukitake looks towards Rukia, and could see the sorrow on her face, and shakes his head.

"_Rukia...it seems that you also became attached to Takumi-kun during your time in the human world. It must be so hard for you to know that this is for you. You're thinking about it from all angles, and believe that Takumi-kun is going to die. So, I don't know what to think about that._" Exhaling deeply, he turns his head around. "Kiyone, Sentaro, come out. You're there, aren't you?"

As he said it, two people jump before him. A young woman with short hair, and man with dark hair turned up, bowing before Ukitake.

Ukitake looks between them, then cocks his head to the right hand side.

"How long have you been there?"

Sentaro pushes Kiyone back a little bit, antagonizing her a bit.

"We're sorry Captain, I know that you told us not to, but it's because I respect you so much that I had to make sure that you're okay."

Kiyone slaps Sentaro backwards, placing a hand on her chest.

"Well, it's because I respect you even more Captain, I might even say that I really love-"

"Seriously, doing such cheap things like that."

The pair glare at one another, and show angered looks between them.

Ukitake rolls his eyes at the sight.

"Kiyone, call the Fourth Division and make sure that Byakuya's wounds are healed, and Sentaro, please take Rukia to her cell."

He said it while having a heavy heart.

Kiyone looks back towards Rukia, and speaks with a passionate heart.

"I'm worried for her, more so than Sentaro."

A tick mark appeared by the forehead of Sentaro, snapping back towards her.

"You don't have to copy everything I do!"

"You didn't even do anything then, I said it first!"

"I was thinking about it!"

Ukitake moves closer to Rukia as the pair fight one another, bending down towards her and adopts a kind expression on his face.

"Rukia, I'm sorry about what's happening to you. If there was anything that I could do..."

"Captain...not for me, but could you...as a last request...I know I shouldn't ask, but I'm worried about him...Takumi, I don't want anything bad to happen to him, he doesn't deserve to die...I know what others think about him, but I've spent time with him...he's not like how everyone thinks he is...he wouldn't cause those horrible deaths to anyone...he wouldn't experiment on anyone..."

Hearing her heartfelt plea, Ukitake knew Rukia was speaking truth.

At least the truth that she thought was the truth.

"Rukia, I don't know what Takumi-kun is currently doing, I can't say for sure that he is right. But there is one thing about that boy that I know, and that is, he's very intelligent. He has a plan for everything he does. Even now, he's got plans upon plans, planning for every little detail that could happen. He's like his Father, and he wont give up until he's done what he came here to do. If he came to save you, then he'll stop at nothing to save you."

"Captain..."

"I know this, Shunsui also knows this. We believe that he had nothing to do with what happened in the past. He was the sweetest kid that I had met, so earnest, and generous."

Rukia's face curled upwards, but she began crying to Ukitake's mild confusion.

"That's what I'm worried about. His kindness to try and save me, might get him killed."

Ukitake didn't confirm or deny that he also felt like that.

All he did was bow his head, and began walking away.

Rukia remained unsure of what to feel at this point, as she was taken away back to her prison cell.

* * *

Travelling to a different part of the city, Takumi and the others came to a very secluded area, with Orihime being unsure of what Takumi was doing. This wasn't the location that they had talked about, so it didn't make sense to her.

Nemu was on the same boat, but she presumed he had a reason for doing what he was doing.

Landing in the centre, Takumi looked around before calling out.

"Come out, I know you're there."

Both Nemu and Orihime became alert when he said that.

Peering around, they couldn't see anything, until a small shadow shot out from the right hand side, appearing before Takumi himself.

The person who appeared, was Soi Fon.

"Did you think that I wouldn't know you'd use those movements through the blind spots that Yoruichi told us about a hundred years ago."

"You guessed I'd be going to see the Captain Commander, didn't you?"

Soi Fon didn't deny it.

"I thought that it was a possibility yes. Though it was a small chance, I knew I'd have to take it. You'd go into a situation and subvert expectations if you could do that. You've been leaving a path in your wake, haven't you?"

"I couldn't possibly know what you mean, Soi Fon-san."

Soi Fon's eyes slit themselves.

Controlling the anger that she had deep inside, she didn't allow it to show, and kept on a composed expression.

"I'm impressed that you managed to find out that I was following you. I was being careful, I didn't make any kind of mistake, and if I did, point it out to me, so I can correct it the next time."

"Well, it was more your buddy than you, I didn't notice your presence until he made a mistake."

Soi Fon let out a small sigh.

Her annoyed eyes went to her Lieutenant who stayed in the shadows.

He felt a shivering up and down his spine from the glare Soi Fon had for him.

"Seriously...of course it was, damn bastard..."

Takumi raised an eyebrow at the young woman before him.

"So now that you've found me, what are you going to do?"

Soi Fon pulled closer, and showed a calm expression on her face.

"You killed Aizen, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't."

Takumi denied it swiftly.

Soi Fon's face contorted angrily.

"Save everyone the lies, and confess. You could get an easier sentence if you confess right now."

Takumi thought that Soi Fon was either trying to end it peacefully (which he doubted) or she was so convinced that he had done it that she wouldn't accept any other way of thinking besides that certain way.

"Confess to something I didn't do? I couldn't do that, and I wont do that either. Even if it is to satisfy anyone, and I can prove it as well. If you give me sometime that is."

"Sometime to hide evidence against you, I don't think so." Takumi furrowed his eyebrows. Soi Fon pulled closer as she began leaking her power. "I'm taking you in, whether you like it or not."

Orihime and Nemu felt the intense power that she was using.

Even Takumi felt it, but he didn't allow it to rule him.

"I can't let you take me in, and even if you're a Captain, I'll have to fight against you."

Upon hearing those words, Soi Fon was mildly surprised.

It sounded like the old Takumi that she had known a long time ago.

But she had to fight those feelings down.

The sadness that was bubbling inside of her.

Her eyes then went towards Nemu.

"Also, I didn't expect you'd be working with a known murderer. I'll have to kill you for your treason."

Nemu's face didn't change, but Takumi's did.

He wasn't pleased in the slightest.

"She has nothing to do with this."

"She's helping a known criminal, she will have to face punishment."

Takumi let out a small sigh.

"If you target her, I wont hold back, Nemu-san's been through a lot in her life, because of Mayuri, I wont let her suffer anymore because of me."

Nemu's eyes broadened when he said that.

Care...

He truly did care for her.

Even to go against Soi Fon for her...

"How kind, you do have something inside of you besides your wicked intentions."

"You must really hate me if you're speaking about me like this. And if you do...why do you hate me? What did I do to you for you to feel this much hate for me? Target me, fine. But saying you'll target my friends, I don't think so."

Soi Fon felt a reaction within her heart.

She didn't know what it fully was, but it did feel as if something had shot inside of her briefly.

She however wouldn't be ruled by it.

She couldn't be ruled by it.

She was going to show her strength and resolve to not give up.

"Don't try and talk me out of anything, I gave up my feeling for you long ago, and if you fight me, then you will die, am I making myself clear?"

Takumi nodded.

"Perfectly, Soi Fon."

Soi Fon and Takumi locked eyes.

Their powers increased as the pressure around them became staggering.

Orihime and the others presence felt the intense wave of power that was before them.

They weren't messing around.

Soi Fon and Takumi were about to fight.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So Karin fought against Byakuya, and did quite well with predicting where he'd be among other things like that and even managed to force Byakuya to get more serious. But then Hollow Karin came out when Karin was getting tired, and couldn't hold her back, and had some of her fun. Takumi and Unohana are working together on something that will be revealed quite soon, while Isane is a bit distrustful of him, as she doesn't know him, but has decided to believe in her Captain. Meanwhile, Giselle's been going on with Kenpachi, who swatted away Hisagi, while she also feels as if something was following them. Soi Fon's been hunting down Takumi, and by the end, she managed to find him, and has confronted him, so next time, a fight between Soi Fon and Takumi!**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	27. Soi Fon's heart!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Vizard Masky; Soi Fon's feelings are complex, she abides by the law, she doesn't have any real evidence that he isn't guilty of the crimes set up for him, yet she knew him personally, and as we'll see through the chapter, he earned her respect, and they became friends, then the shock of this happening, caused Soi Fon's heart to become hardened, and will be fighting feelings deep inside of her. Glad that you liked it, perhaps in the future she will be, Karin was more concerned with getting Yuzu and the others away before anything happened. I'm sure that Giselle is going to be showing a few things soon enough. And thanks!**

**Derek 23; I'll try my best!**

**Clarent excalibur; She will eventually learn Bankai yeah. We'll be seeing some of Takumi's past with Soi Fon, and though no Shunko, that's saved for Yoruichi, perhaps Takumi and Soi Fon will be teaming up in the future against an enemy.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; She did yeah, Karin tried her best, and managed to get off a few hits, surprising Byakuya. She was just wanting to get Yuzu and the others away, if she had the time to roast him, then she probably would have done, she was more caring about keeping him back. Haha, Kenpachi didn't even see him there~ Yeah, Giselle and Mayuri are going to have a fight soon enough. Soi Fon's got complex feelings inside of her. Maybe she'll see reason within this fight.**

**Skull Flame; It did yeah, Karin got taken over briefly, she'll be learning how to control that in the future. Haha, he surely did yeah, Shuhei got blindsided by Kenpachi, while Giselle was being casual with him. They do yeah, we'll be seeing some emotional beats this chapter.**

**Kurosaki shun; Thanks! Here's the next chapter!**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! She is yeah, we'll learn more about why this chapter. Isane will eventually begin to see that Takumi isn't evil. Unohana surely does come out with some stuff huh. It's suspense, we'll see it in the future. It seems that he has to accept it haha. Karin did quite well huh. He was yeah. Kenpachi's having some fun alright. And Giselle's having her own kind of fun to~ Yeah in the future we will do. It was yeah, they believe he did that to the Visored along with Kisuke. Yoruichi did her job well. Byakuya could do. He did yeah, he could see Rukia's feelings on the matter. Takumi and Soi Fon are going to be going through quite a bit. Yeah, I alwasy felt that was a bit cheap since Yamamoto was strong and fell to someone other than the main bad guy. Yeah maybe he wont do. Those seem pretty awesome to me. The weaker ones he could do yeah. If it did it could be loyal. Maybe he will meet her.**

**Andrew123456; I don't know, I like them all for different reasons, and enjoy writing them about the same amount.**

**sundown923; Thanks very much! Yeah, we'll be going through the Soul Society arc right now.**

**LucasVAMP; Yeah, she'd be pretty interesting add.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Soi Fon's heart!**

With the situation becoming dangerous, Shunsui was becoming increasingly worried about what was happening with Soi Fon. If he made a move, then he knew it could cause problems, he still had to stay in the place he was and be the Captain for a little longer to find out more information.

But he could also see that Nanao kept looking towards the door, as if she was going to take off, and try to find Takumi.

He couldn't keep her away, especially at a time like this.

She had been waiting for one hundred plus years for this, so he got her attention by coughing into his hand.

"Nanao-chan, you're thinking about him right now, aren't you?"

"Captain, I don't know what you're..."

She tried to speak about it.

But in the end, she couldn't and just lowered her head.

"Captain, it's crazy. If Captain Soi Fon gets her hands on Takumi-kun and she uses her Shikai...she could end his life, and if she did then... Her feelings for Takumi-kun are volatile right now, she's not thinking straight."

"I tend to agree Nanao-chan. That's why, you should go if you want to."

Nanao was stunned that Shunsui would even consider saying something like that.

"But Captain..."

"I can't go, but you can. I still have to attend meetings and find out as much information as I can for Takumi and the others. But you, you care about Takumi-kun. Haha, you know that kid needs your support Nanao-chan, it's always been like that after all."

Nanao placed a hand over her heart.

"Captain..."

Nanao didn't know quite how to respond.

Clearly Shunsui was being considerate of Nanao's feelings right now.

He also understood something that many others might not understand at first glance.

And that thing was…

"Go, Nanao-chan. Don't worry, I'll make sure that we'll meet again soon. Do what you need to do, and make sure that blonde haired boy survives."

Nanao quickly got to her feet, and bowed her body to her Captain.

"Thank you Captain, I'll be there soon."

"Just be careful, Nanao-chan."

Nanao nodded, and took off.

Shunsui felt conflicted about letting her go.

But he knew he couldn't stop her.

She was a woman that wanted to be with the man that she admired, and possibly even loved.

He wouldn't stand in the way of that.

* * *

Standing face to face, Soi Fon's eyes didn't leave Takumi's own. It was as if she was trying to drill holes into his body with a look alone. Though Takumi remained calm and composed, he knew Soi Fon was going to be a dangerous opponent for him to fight.

Seeing Orihime and Nemu there, he didn't want either to be caught, or used, in a fight against him. If Soi Fon so wished for it, she could use Orihime or Nemu as someone that could be used as a hostage and that could spell trouble.

"Nemu-san, take Orihime-chan back, and I'll deal with her."

Nemu's face didn't change, but her eyes couldn't hide her astonishment at what Takumi had said.

"Takumi-sama, it's highly dangerous. It would be best if we attempt to escape. We have a good percent chance that we could escape if we move at maximum speed."

Takumi while wanting to believe in Nemu, also knew that he couldn't take the chance.

He knew that Soi Fon wouldn't stop in her pursuit, and he couldn't have either of the girls be hurt by her or worse.

"I know, she's a Captain, but I have to fight her. Besides, she seems to be gunning for me, so if you two wish to go right now then I'll be alright here. I can stall for time to let you get away from here."

Alarm bells rang within Orihime's head.

She didn't like the idea of leaving Takumi behind like that.

"T-Taku-chan! You can't! She's...She's dangerous! If you fight her..."

Takumi showed a kind smile to Orihime, Soi Fon's eyes picked up on it, and began thinking about something.

"I know...but I have to fight her. I can't have Nemu-san become hurt because of me. And I can't let you become hurt either. Take off while she's focused on me, I'll make sure that you're able to escape this area freely, alright?"

"Taku-chan..."

Orihime didn't want to leave.

She felt worried, naturally so.

But even then, Takumi was sure that Soi Fon wasn't going to pull any punches this time.

Soi Fon showed an unimpressed face, and tapped her foot onto the ground.

"If you're finished then-"

"You could have attacked at anytime, why didn't you?"

Soi Fon paused for a moment.

In that single moment, Takumi pushed Orihime into Nemu's arms, and pointed.

"Go, I'll meet you there! I promise!"

"B-But Taku-chan-"

"Understood."

Nemu, on the protest of Orihime, lifted the orange haired beauty into her arms, and took off at a high speed into the air, the young woman kept protesting and yelled "Taku-chan no!" but Takumi knew it was too dangerous for Orihime to stay and if she did, she could be killed by Soi Fon and she couldn't have that.

"Sorry, Orihime-chan."

He murmured to himself, knowing that it must be hard for her.

But from what he knew about Soi Fon, she definitely was an enemy that wouldn't hold back.

Soi Fon angrily looked towards her Lieutenant who was currently eating some potato chips, Soi Fon showed a disgusted face by what she could see before her.

"Oi, fatso! Go and get them, now!"

"R-Right!"

The large man attempted to move, when Takumi appeared before him, his hand stretched out with Kido energy swirling within his palm.

His eyes went down, and then he attempted to slash at Takumi, but he merely countered it with a single sword swing, breaking away the man's stance with the blade shooting up into the air with the pressure of Takumi's incredible strength and swinging motion.

"N-No!"

"Sorry about this."

Takumi quickly chanted a Kido spell, and shot off a high powered spell at the man before him. Soi Fon watched as the man was caught in the wave of energy, blasting him all the way into the back wall of the enclosed space they were in, his consciousness was beginning to fade from the powerful attack that Takumi had released.

Soi Fon shook her head in disappointment at her Lieutenant's attitude and movements.

"Seriously, he's useless."

"Hey, isn't that your Lieutenant?"

Takumi asked her, Soi Fon rolled her eyes as if to say that she didn't care.

"He is, but it seems that he couldn't even see your movements. I saw them perfectly, you'd not pull off an attack like that against me. I would have avoided it instantly before you could have fired that off."

"Even then, it doesn't matter if he could or couldn't, shouldn't you be worried about him?"

Takumi wondered.

He honestly couldn't get a good read on Soi Fon.

She was good at hiding her true intentions.

Though he thought that was befitting a girl like her who according to Yoruichi had been trained by her and could handle herself quite well. Even Yoruichi thought that Soi Fon probably had grown to become quite powerful, and Takumi could sense that she did indeed hold great power.

It wasn't Kenpachi level in physical power, but he knew she had skills that could probably do a lot of damage and end up if he wasn't careful, she wasn't a joke.

Soi Fon eyed Takumi up for a few moments, before shaking her head side to side.

"Worried about him? He'll be fine, you didn't kill him, did you?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Of course not, I didn't come here to kill anyone. I came here to prove my innocence."

Soi Fon let out a long drawn out breath, then sharpened her gaze upon Takumi's form.

Those eyes that she had, Takumi definitely felt as if she was attempting to intimidate him.

But he wouldn't allow himself to be intimidated.

"I'm someone that's very fast, I take pride in my speed. I'm probably one of the fastest members of the Gotei 13, due to my nature as Captain of Squad 2, and also head of the Stealth Force. Soi Fon, is my name, if you had forgotten. Though I doubt that's even true. You're pretending with this whole amnesia thing, aren't you?"

Takumi shook his head to her annoyance.

"That's not it Soi Fon-san, I'm not pretending anything. According to Yoruichi-chan, we have had a previous relationship, right? I'm not sure what kind of feelings we had with one another but-"

"Wait, Yoruichi? Is she here, in Soul Society?"

Takumi raised a questioning brow.

She seemed...excited, and also, angry that Yoruichi could possibly be there.

"And if she is? What are you going to do?"

Soi Fon showed a sadistic sneer on her face.

"Then I'm going to find and defeat her, and bring her before the Soul Society for what she has done. Tell me the location of Yoruichi, and I'll let you go."

"Sorry, I can't do that. If you're intending to harm her, then I wont be able to let you get to her."

Soi Fon angrily stopped onto the ground.

"You dare speak to me like that! You have no right!"

"And you've got no right in trying to harm Yoruichi-chan either!"

"Calling her something so casual, you still have the same nerve as back then, don't you? She was our commanding officer, and you call her 'Yoruichi-chan' like you can naturally do that!"

Takumi could hear the rage in her voice.

Clearly, she didn't sound happy in the slightest.

"Of course, she told me to call her that. Wouldn't it be disrespectful if I didn't call her that? Should I call her something else, like Yoruichi-sama or something?"

Soi Fon scoffed.

"Seriously..."

"If you're going to attack me, then go and do it. But, if I may ask something?"

Soi Fon became slightly curious about what he was suddenly thinking.

"And that is?"

"Do you truly hate me?"

Soi Fon stopped at the question.

She went to answer, but she had to stop herself at the last second.

Hating him…

Could she bring herself to say something like that?

She didn't reply, and just took out her sword.

Takumi readied himself, but she merely stabbed the ground before her, when she did that, suddenly over twenty men and women appeared around Takumi, all wearing ninja like outfits. Takumi's eyes widened while Soi Fon showed a smirk on her face.

"Now that I've summoned the Stealth Force, they'll end you. Though these aren't all of the members, it should be enough. Basically, you're going to be ended without me having to lift a finger against you."

Takumi looked left and right.

Seeing all of the ninjas are at the ready, he twirled his blade within his hand.

"Ooh, a challenge, I like challenges Soi Fon-san. Though if you know me, I'm sure you're aware."

"Your point being?"

Soi Fon demanded angrily, while Takumi let out a small laugh, something that she knew Kisuke would do and it did anger her for him to do something like that.

"Quantity, over quality? I'm shocked, I heard from Yoruichi-chan that you were smarter than that. From what I can tell, these ninjas of yours aren't even Lieutenant level in power, so I can take them down without much effort. In fact, even weaker members of the group here could take them down with time. But we don't have time at all, so I'll take them down within a minute."

Soi Fon's eyes widened and she went to speak, when Takumi announced "Ravage, Kinhime!" and a large bolt of lightning erupted from the sky, sending it down onto the blade, and created his Shikai once more.

"G-Get back!"

Soi Fon jumped away, as the ninjas attempted to.

But Takumi's smile grew as he twirled his blade around, and announced "Shocking Blades!" and from his swirling blade, bolts in the shape of electricity began to be released from the blade, at such a speed that even Soi Fon had to admit that she was slightly impressed, but she managed to dodge them expertly.

However, for the other members of the Stealth Force, they ended up being pierced by the blades, in different areas. Some got their chests, some got their arms, some got their legs, and some got their stomachs.

Takumi made sure to avoid their heads, he didn't want to kill them.

But when he managed to get them, Takumi sent off a more stronger bolt of lightning while also sending out the daggers to stun the enemies, and caught them in several places, blasting them away with a single bolt of lightning that was enough to knock them out.

Soi Fon had to watch with stunned expression that her members of the Stealth Force had been taken down by Takumi's blade.

Then he stopped, and turned his blade onto Soi Fon who stood a good size away from him.

"Soi Fon-san, I can't hold back this time. I don't know what your beef with me is, but you threatened Nemu-san and Yoruichi-chan, I wont let you get either of them. I'll defend them with my very life!"

Soi Fon's eyes widened when he said that.

It brought her back to a time where he had met her...

* * *

_More than a hundred years ago, running down the corridor, a young Soi Fon was getting ready for her day of the usual. She trained, for Yoruichi, and became strong to be strong for Yoruichi, and she wasn't going to stop, for Yoruichi either._

_However, by the time that she had gotten to the place she was supposed to be, she came across Yoruichi, stood together with a young blonde haired boy. He appeared to be around her age, though he did look a little younger than she did._

_Questions came over to her mind, while Yoruichi began to laugh._

"_Aah Soi Fon, you're punctual as always."_

"_Y-Yoruichi-sama! Yes, I'm sorry for being a few seconds late!"_

_Yoruichi waved her hand side to side._

"_You're to rigid Soi Fon, calm down once in a while." Soi Fon bent her head. "Anyway Soi Fon, we've got a new recruit here." Her hand brushed against the boys hair, while Soi Fon watched curiously. "This is Takumi, he's going to be joining this Squad as of today, I'll be training him personally myself."_

"_Training...him?"_

_Soi Fon was surprised that Yoruichi was going to train him._

_Was he special?_

_She didn't know._

"_Yes, he's got much potential, he's graduated the Shinigami Academy with excellent marks within just a year! Naturally, I scooped up that potential for myself hahaha~"_

_Yoruichi laughed loudly, Soi Fon became quite surprised._

"_He graduated within a year? T-That doesn't happen often."_

"_Yes, it seems he's put in a lot of hard work and effort into becoming a Shinigami, isn't that right Takumi-kun~? Hard work pays off~"_

_Takumi showed a slightly shy smile as Yoruichi grinned._

"_Y-Yes, I wanted to...be like my Father, a strong Shinigami."_

"_And you will be~ Now, this is Soi Fon Takumi-kun, she's someone I'm also training to become a personal bodyguard of mine. You'll be training with her also, she's highly skilled in many areas. Though she does have a hot head sometimes, and can allow her anger to cloud her better judgement."_

_Soi Fon bowed her head once more._

"_I-I'm sorry Yoruichi-sama! I-I don't mean to let my emotions get the better of me!"_

"_Geez, relax Soi Fon, it's alright to be passionate." Yoruichi chortled out. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll get along great, wont you Takumi-kun?"_

_Takumi glanced at Soi Fon who looked on curiously._

"_Ah, yes, I hope we get along."_

_Soi Fon looked the young boy up and down, then turned to Yoruichi._

"_Yoruichi-sama, are you sure about this boy? I don't know if he's dedicated to your protection."_

_Yoruichi chortled at Soi Fon's unsure feelings._

"_I'm sure Soi Fon, doubting me?"_

"_N-No! I'd never do that! But if he isn't dedicated then..."_

"_I will protect Yoruichi-sama with my life!"_

_Soi Fon was caught off guard with what he had said._

"_Excuse me?"_

"_I said I'd defend her with my very life, please don't doubt me! Yoruichi-sama accepted my offer to join this Squad, she is my Captain, I'll defend her with my last breath!"_

_Soi Fon showed a light smirk._

"_Yeah right, you have to be ready at anytime to defend her, like now!"_

_Soi Fon suddenly went to rush Takumi, with her sword out, intending to show Takumi that he wouldn't be able to protect Yoruichi._

_But he got before her with a burst of speed, and blocked her incoming strike with his own Zanpakuto, grabbing her wrist and held his sword out before him in a defensive manner, surprising Soi Fon while Yoruichi grinned._

"_And that's why I wished to have him here Soi Fon. He might be a newbie, but he's been training hard. There are a few flaws I can see, but with the right training, I'll make sure that he becomes a good member of this Squad, and also, because of his kind heart, he'll be able to become a very good Shinigami, don't you think?"_

_Soi Fon couldn't believe that he had managed to surprise her._

_She had been training for a long time, and yet…_

_This boy had managed to do something not many others could do in her age bracket._

_She huffed, pulling away from Takumi and narrowed her gaze at him._

_Takumi gave a small smile but Soi Fon didn't seem to be amused._

_Yoruichi got close, placing a hand on top of their heads._

"_It seems you're going to be getting along rather well~"_

_Soi Fon just stared at Takumi while he smiled up to Yoruichi._

* * *

Back to the present, Soi Fon remembered that time.

The first time that she met him, and back then, she didn't know what to think about him. His skills, the way he smiled, it caused her to feel half annoyed, and half intrigued. He simply could speak to Yoruichi so openly, while she always, as Yoruichi would often put it, would be rigid.

More than that, back then she didn't know if he could be strong enough to defend Yoruichi.

"Are you going to make a move, Takumi Urahara?"

Soi Fon watched Takumi like a hawk.

He didn't move.

With her men and women down, she knew that she'd have to fight and couldn't hold back either. However, she also was haunted by the memories of what Takumi had stirred inside of her, memories that she had wished to keep buried deep inside of her.

He didn't say anything.

He just stared at her, as if he was trying to work her out.

Shaking her head, she points forward to Takumi.

"You, are going to regret coming to the Soul Society Takumi Urahara."

"You hate my Father, right? Is that why you hate me? If it is, then it seems like you don't have the full scope of what's going on. My Father and I are different people. You need to listen to me Soi Fon-san, I don't want to be at odds with you, I want to make sure that the Soul Society is-"

"You're the reason people died Takumi!"

Soi Fon angrily announces to Takumi's surprise.

"No, I didn't do anything Soi Fon-san. Please you have to listen-"

"I'm done listening. I stopped listening the day that you left."

Those words felt like needles in his skin, and he couldn't exactly pinpoint why that was.

It felt distant, more as if she was saying it to herself than saying it to Takumi.

She then disappeared from sight, Takumi lost her for a single moment, but that moment was what she needed, as she appeared behind the young man, with her sword at the base of his neck, and her hand gripping his sword wielding hands wrist tightly, attempting to force him to drop his blade, while keeping him from moving.

"See Takumi? I've also improved quite a bit. I'm much faster than in the past. Now, you're going to die."

Takumi's eyes went towards Soi Fon who's head rested near the right side of his face.

Her eyes went into his, and rather than seeing the feeling of satisfaction on her face...

He saw within her eyes, that she had some conflicting emotions within her.

He thought that it was truly something Soi Fon didn't know how she was going to proceed.

Was she going to kill him?

Was she going to spare him?

Or could she simply not make up her mind and she was going to let out her feelings?

* * *

Meanwhile, Yoruichi brought Karin, Yuzu and Ganju towards the hidden location that was going to be acting as their base.

With Takumi and the others not there, she was left to take care of them. She could do that easily enough, she had made sure that she wasn't followed, and she also made sure that the others weren't injured, the best that she could.

Yuzu overlooked her sister who was still unconscious.

"Karin..."

"Don't worry, it was just a sedative. It was used in case she had lost control of the Hollow inside of her."

Yoruichi assured her, Yuzu offering a kind smile on her face.

"I know, I'm sure that she'll wake up soon. She wouldn't stay asleep for too long."

"Exactly, she's the type that will not give up. I'm sure though she will be disheartened when she does wake up."

"Because of the Hollow, you mean Yoruichi-san?"

Yoruichi inclined her neck in agreement.

"Yes, the simple fact about it is that she was getting taken over. After this incident, we'll have to train her even more, in being able to control the power of her Hollow. For now though, I'd say she did pretty well. She fought off Byakuya for a good amount of time, she should be proud of her achievement."

"...Though she should, she'll still be down about what happened with Rukia."

At the mention of Rukia, Ganju had more conflicting feelings within him.

The fact that he had lost himself in his anger, and because of that, Karin was in this state.

Ganju held his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault that this happened in the first place. If I didn't let my anger get the better of me, then we could have ran away with..." He paused as he thought of his elder brother. "...with her, that Rukia girl, Karin wouldn't have ended up in a situation like this."

Yuzu gave Ganju a comforting pat on the back.

"Don't blame yourself. As Takumi-kun said, we didn't have to rescue her, we came close, and we should be glad we got as far as we did. Together, we'll save Rukia-san...though Ganju-san, do you really hate Rukia-san?"

At the question, Ganju's head went lower.

"...Honestly, I don't know what to say about her. She...She's different to how I thought she was. I always saw her as this bloodthirsty monster that killed my elder brother without remorse. But when I looked at her today, she didn't resemble that at all."

Yuzu could understand that, and so could Yoruichi.

"Ganju-san...when Rukia-san is saved, you can speak to her then, can't you? To get out all of your pent up emotions, to make sure that you aren't overtaken by your feelings again like that. We have to be level headed, I'm sure Karin would say the same when she wakes up."

Ganju showed a hint of a smile, and slowly began nodding his head.

"Maybe you're right. Still, I regret what happened back there, it wont happen again."

"I'm sure it wont Ganju-san~"

Yoruichi was amazed by the way that Yuzu showed her kindness.

It was quite lovely to see someone like her being able to lift up the spirits of the others.

She thought it was rather important for the group to have someone like Yuzu there.

But then she felt the pressure of Takumi fighting. It was faint due to the distance she was at, but it was unmistakable that she was feeling the fight Takumi had, and if she was right, then he was fighting against Soi Fon.

Yoruichi bit her lower lip, knowing that it was going to be dangerous if he stayed fighting her.

But if she left the others unprotected…

She knew that she'd have to leave it to Takumi this time.

Even if she didn't want to do that, she had to trust Takumi would be able to overcome Soi Fon, one way or another.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Soi Fon, still within her grasp, Takumi's body attempted to move, when Soi Fon locked his leg with wrapping her own leg around his own, stopping his movements. Takumi's hand felt as if he was going to release the blade due to how she was holding onto his hand.

"You might be fast Soi Fon, but I have some tricks up my sleeve."

Takumi's blade twitched as a spark of electricity dripped off said blade.

Grimacing, Soi Fon pulled backwards as a huge bolt of lightning rained down from up above.

Soi Fon glanced upwards, and could see the remnants of a Kido spell within the air.

"A transportation spell, but it seems different to the forbidden one..."

"I learned this straight from Hacchi!"

Takumi answered her inner doubts, and unleashed many bolts of lightning towards Soi Fon's body with precise movements. Soi Fon responded by simply using her Flash Step to avoid all of the attacks, using various acrobatic movements to dodge the intricately laid out attacks that Takumi was sending to her, while also setting up a few things to help him against the woman before him.

Soi Fon didn't hold back, pointing her fingers towards Takumi as she received a spell of Kido, shooting off small blasts of energy for his body, which he dispelled with a wave of his sword, and unleashing much electricity that encompassed the area around them.

"That's not enough Soi Fon-san!"

Soi Fon showed a dirty smirk on her face, and dashed forward.

However, while she did, Takumi saw that her body began to split apart, as if she was cloning herself.

Surprise overcame him, as he slashed at the first one that came for him…

But his sword went right through the body of Soi Fon and disappeared as if she wasn't even there.

He saw that these clones began speeding around him as if they had a life of their own…

But they were moving in the same way as Soi Fon, so he began understanding what this cloning ability was.

"Interesting."

Takumi stabbed into the ground, and unleashed a large mass of lightning through the ground to force the real Soi Fon to come out, and the clones were effected, disappearing as soon as the lightning passed through them.

Soi Fon leapt upwards, just as she saw Takumi sticking up his fingers.

"Bakudo 4: Hainawa!"

Unleashing a yellow rope to bind Soi Fon, the ninja woman began to laugh ever so slightly.

"If you're going to be fighting me like this, then I can do this!"

Soi Fon turned her hand downwards, and announced "Shakkaho!" unleashing a red sphere of energy, which broke through a portion of the electrified ground, which disrupted the flow of electricity for a few seconds, and in those seconds, Soi Fon landed on the ground and pushed off said ground to shoot off high into the air, Takumi ground his teeth, knowing she was doing that to avoid his Kido spell to trap her.

While in the air, Takumi saw that Soi Fon was drawing in the air, creating a triangle with three fang like triangles of yellow energy coming off of it, with Soi Fon's eyes focusing in on Takumi's body, and she didn't seem to even to be slowing down.

"Bakudo 30: Shitotsu Sansen!" Firing off the three fangs for Takumi to pin the young boy, she smirked at him dangerously. "You wont be escaping this time, Takumi Urahara."

Takumi quickly stuck out his hand, and announced his own Kido spell.

"Bakudo 37: Tsuriboshi!"

From his extended hand, a star shaped net of spiritual energy, with six ropes springing off around the area, and anchored itself before Takumi, with the three fangs of yellow energy sinking into it, but as if it was like elastic, sent the energy fangs right back at Soi Fon's body.

Soi Fon grasped her teeth angrily, sticking out her hands.

"Bakudo 39: Enkosen!"

From before her, an orange shield erupted in a spinning motion, and blocked off the rebounded Kido spell that Takumi sent her way, but while she was doing that, Takumi waved his sword into the air, and created a large cloud above Soi Fon herself.

Seeing the darkened cloud covering the sky, Soi Fon glanced up to see the cloud sparkling with electricity, and gathering into a single point within the cloud, her eyes broadened exponentially, her eyes shooting for Takumi.

"Oh shi-"

Her voice was cut off when a massive lightning bolt shot down towards her body.

Takumi tried to put a good deal of strength into his attack.

But as the bolt of lightning came down onto Soi Fon, her body suddenly flipped in the air and she stuck out her hands, gathering her power into a single point.

"Hado 73: Soren Sokatsui!"

She didn't have time to chant, so she had to fire off the Kido spell at a quickened pace.

Because of that, the power wasn't what she wished it to be, and released the intense power, and clashed with Takumi's bolt of lightning, with the powers mixing together at the clash, the intense air pressure slammed Soi Fon down into the ground, as the bolt of lightning continued travelling down towards her body.

"Sorry Soi Fon-san, but I can't lose here!"

Soi Fon ditched her Kido spell, and attempted to dodge, but as it moved at the literal speed of lightning, Soi Fon's shoulder got clipped by the electricity, and sent shocks through her body, along with burning her skin due to the extreme heat of the electricity that had been sent.

Soi Fon avoided most of the damage though, as the electrical bolt destroyed the ground behind her, and created a sizeable hole in the earth, along with the earth itself being scorched by the power of Takumi's Zanpakuto's Shikai.

Panting as she turned her eyes to Takumi, her anger grew higher, and higher.

The scowl made itself known on her face, her eyes turned darker by the second.

Looking at her burnt shoulder, and her fingers felt tingly.

Takumi definitely could have taken her own if she had taken that attack head on.

She also saw that Takumi was panting ever so slightly.

"...I see, so you intend to also show your power like this. I suppose I shouldn't hold back anymore, should I?"

Takumi watched as she held her sword outwards.

The sword allowed itself to begin to change form.

"Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi."

Along with an ominous feeling, Soi Fon's sword glowed white, and began to shrink. It wraps around her arm and hand, and now has taken on the form of a black and gold gauntlet, with a small chain linking it to a stinger-like blade on Soi Fons middle finger. The stinger is about twice as long as the normal length of Soi Fon's fingers, slightly increasing her striking distance. The colors and pattern of the Shikai resemble those of a hornet.

Soi Fon's finger then pointed towards Takumi.

"Are you flipping me off?"

Soi Fon's face turned side to side in annoyance.

"Oh yeah, I'm giving you the finger alright. This finger, will sting you to death."

Soi Fon disappeared with a flash of speed, Takumi's eyes turning left to see that Soi Fon had appeared there, so he swung his blade outwards, and went to cut Soi Fon down, but she merely flipped onto his blade, her stinger heading right for Takumi at high speeds.

"No!"

Takumi unleashed lightning off the blade, but Soi Fon had already flipped over Takumi's body and stabbed towards his right hand side, Takumi placed out his hand and deflected her hand away from his body, but she quickly turned the tables, wrapping a leg around his body while turning her body upside down, and then she quickly brought Takumi's body upwards with her incredible strength, and flipped the young blonde away at a high speed, smashing him down into the ground.

His mind rattled for a second, but in that second, Soi Fon got above the young boy, and jabbed downwards.

His sword stabbed upwards, and forced itself against the stinger, with sparks going across their blades, but Soi Fon then slammed her foot down into Takumi's chest.

"Gwah!"

He spat out blood from the heavy impact, with Soi Fon seeing her chance, and stabbed into his chest. She didn't get to go all the way into his heart as he unleashed a massive discharge of electricity, but Soi Fon managed to avoid the powerful electric energy and got back a good distance.

Takumi panted at the feeling of being stabbed.

But then he looked down, and saw that a butterfly like design pattern formed at the base of the stab on his body, Soi Fon couldn't contain her smirk at the sight before her, and waved her stinger towards him.

"One more stab, and you're going to die. You can end this now, if you give up Yoruichi. If you do that, you can live a little longer, isn't that a good trade? Isn't that what people like you do, leave your comrades behind?"

Takumi felt the heat of the situation that was within him.

"I told you, I'd never give her up! I'd never abandon a comrade! I don't know what you think of me, but leaving a comrade behind is terrible!"

Soi Fon gasped when he said that, and it brought her back into the past.

* * *

_Half a year had passed since Takumi and Soi Fon had met, and during their time together, Soi Fon kept him at arms length, even when he tried speaking to her, she'd always ignore him, and concentrate on training. _

_He didn't know exactly how to approach her, she wouldn't budge an inch when she was _

_Soi Fon and Takumi had been cornered by many Hollows while they were within a woodland. They were unusually strong for Hollows, though while they were training (though Soi Fon simply had come because Yoruichi had forced her), these Hollow had unexpectedly come and disrupted their training._

_Despite their best efforts, they could only damage the Hollow a good deal, but it still could fight against them. Their bodies had suffered wounds, both had deep gashes on their bodies, Takumi had blood dripping down his face with the wound on his head, Soi Fon however angrily gripped her sword._

"_That's it!"_

"_No, wait!"_

_Takumi said it with worry on his face, but Soi Fon didn't mind, and jumped the large Hollow. The single protrusion came out of the Hollow's arm, and sent off a stab towards Soi Fon, who narrowly avoided it, but the Hollow came back with opening its mouth, and shooting off an acid like liquid._

_Soi Fon announced "Damn!" and tried to avoid it, but Takumi jumped up, tackling the girl to the ground, protecting her from the acid, which melted the ground, Soi Fon inhaled and exhaled slowly, then turned to Takumi._

"_What do you think you're doing?"_

"_Erm...protecting you?"_

_Soi Fon crossed her eyes at him._

"_Do I look like I need protecting?"_

"_Geez, I was only looking out for a comrade."_

_Soi Fon pushed Takumi off her, and gripped her sword tightly._

"_I don't need your protection, I don't need anything from you."_

_She dismissed Takumi, and charged for the Hollow herself. Quickly dashing over to the Hollow, she avoided a round of acid spit, before she got in low for the leg...but the stinger of the Hollow suddenly grew in size, and became like a tentacle, coming in from behind Soi Fon to stab her in the abdomen._

"_Soi Fon, behind you!"_

_Takumi yelled, trying to get towards her._

_But he wasn't fast enough and couldn't make it in time for Soi Fon to get pierced…_

_Luckily, she had managed to jump backwards out of the way of receiving it in her abdomen, but it went right through her leg, and caused a good amount of blood to leak out of her leg, as she fell down to the ground._

_With Soi Fon's injured leg, Takumi stepped before her, and held out his sword for the hulking Hollow before them._

_His small body with his blade became her shield, something that half angered her, and half surprised her._

"_W-What the hell do you think you're doing?!"_

"_I'm going to protect you Soi Fon-chan!"_

"_I don't recall when I said you could call me that!"_

_Soi Fon said it angrily._

_His eyes turned back to her and offered her a kind smile._

"_Seriously, you need to relax and rely on others more. You can't do everything yourself, right?"_

"_You're one to talk."_

_Soi Fon huffed, but Takumi showed a small smile._

"_Don't worry, I'll protect you with my very life."_

_Soi Fon felt blown away by what was being said._

_She watched as Takumi blocked off the stinger with his sword, and twirled around, his Zanpakuto cutting off the tentacle like stinger, impressing Soi Fon, as he ran forward, jumping up, and cleaved the Hollow in half._

_But while he did, another Hollow came and attempted to attack Soi Fon._

_She attempted to move, but she winced at the feeling from her leg._

_She couldn't move, and could only put her sword outwards to defend herself…_

_But Takumi got before her, and received a hard blow to his body. His body went up into the air, surprising Soi Fon immensely. She couldn't imagine why he would do anything like that for her, when she didn't consider themselves to be on friendly terms at all._

_Yet still, he then was slammed into the ground by the Hollow whipping his tentacle like stinger down into his body, smacking him across the face, and smashed his body down into the ground, Takumi coughing up a bit of blood._

"_...Idiot, seriously, doing something like that..."_

_Soi Fon muttered, but did hold concern on her face for what was happening._

_Despite being in pain, Takumi lifted his body once more, and pointed his blade towards the Hollow._

"_Seriously you idiot, just run away!"_

"_I can't! You're a comrade! I wont abandon my comrades!"_

_Soi Fon was blown away by what he had said._

_It seemed insane._

_But she also felt...something deep within her._

_As he rushed forward, and managed to get off a few attacks, he also received many attacks. The attacks pierced his skin, and dealt a good deal of damage...yet, he kept getting up, over and over again._

_She couldn't fathom what he was doing._

_He was being pummeled down into the ground time and time again._

_Yet he was still fighting._

_The Hollows kept bombarding them, and he was still fighting them off all by himself while defending her._

_Wounds appeared on him, and he slayed Hollows left and right, yet he still kept fighting._

_Soi Fon couldn't help but admire his will to fight._

_Even when he was knocked down, he merely said "No problem..." and got up once more, and fought as hard as he could._

_In the end, he couldn't fight anymore, and dropped down to the ground._

_Soi Fon thought for sure that they'd end up being killed._

_They didn't have a hope to survive…_

_But then Yoruichi came shooting in from the right, and quickly used her Flash Step and delivered savage beatings onto the Hollows in no time flat. Neither Takumi or Soi Fon could tell how fast she was going. It felt like she was moving at hyper speed with the way her elegant movements were._

_When she had finished dispatching the Hollows, Yoruichi landed before the pair, and exhaled deeply._

"_Geez, I was worried about you two. But it seems you managed to hang on for a good while." Yoruichi bent down, and poked Takumi's cheek. "It seems you got roughed up a fair bit Takumi."_

"_Y-Yes, I tried my best Yoruichi-sama."_

"_Haha, I'm sure you did. You did well, both of you."_

_Soi Fon's eyes turned to Takumi, while shaking her head._

"_Yoruichi-sama...I don't deserve the praise, Takumi's the one who lasted longer than I."_

_Yoruichi raised an eyebrow curiously._

"_I'm surprised Soi Fon. I was under the impressed you didn't get along."_

"_...Well, that's a mistake, I made that mistake Yoruichi-sama, he's more than capable of being a bodyguard for you."_

_Yoruichi let out a small laugh, seeing that Soi Fon was coming around to the idea that Takumi was capable. Soi Fon herself looked towards Takumi, and could feel newfound respect entering her body, it seemed that she truly did appreciate him in many different ways._

* * *

Back with Soi Fon and Takumi, Soi Fon recalled that from the past, and she remembered how from that moment, she did have respect for him. He had fought hard, and did it all while protecting her. It was that moment she knew that he could defend Yoruichi, that he'd be reliable, and it allowed herself to open up more to the young boy.

But that had been shattered now.

The day that he had disappeared...

Soi Fon stated it clearly, "One more sting, and you're going to die." and because of that, Takumi knew that he was in a situation that could be considered dangerous, he'd have to be very mindful to avoid being pierced in the same place or he very well could forfeit his life to her.

"Soi Fon-san, I know I'm not going to convince you to stop trying to kill me, so I'm not going to bother."

"Finally, you're seeing sense. Perhaps you do have a good mind after all. If you gave up now, then I'll take you in. or if you give up the location of Yoruichi, then I'll let you live for a little while longer."

"Either of those options would result in my death in the long run, and the second option would result in danger to Yoruichi-chan. So I wont be going along with that."

Soi Fon laughed.

"And I thought you had learned your lesson. I guess I was wrong."

"No, you're asking me to be lead to my death. You think any sane person was going to agree to that? Would you do that?"

"I'm not the one who's on trial here. You caused this, you disappeared and left..." Takumi noticed that she hesitated for a few moments. "...The Soul Society. Now I have to make you pay, and if you're not going to give up, then I'll have to finish you off!"

Soi Fon, fighting down the mixing of emotions deep within her, shot forward at a high speed. Making several jabs for Takumi, he blocked each of the strikes, barring one that went for his right hand side to stab him.

But at that moment, a barrier came out of his side, and blocked off Soi Fon's attack, the young woman clicking her tongue "Tch, a timed released barrier." something Soi Fon had noticed, but she didn't give up, and began running around him so fast that clones began to be made once more.

But the clones began to also run in different directions around Takumi. Some would run clockwise, some would run anticlockwise, among others. He wondered how she did that, while Soi Fon didn't seem to wish to share.

"_Moving things like this...it seems that she might be doing the same thing to confuse me. The clones she makes are supposed to go in the same direction as her...so she must be moving in both ways so fast that she's trying to confuse me._"

Takumi understood that Soi Fon was getting faster.

It was like she wasn't holding back now, and he had to admit, while she wasn't Yoruichi level, she was still rather fast, and could move faster than he currently could do, so he had to be creative, and keep her at bay.

While attempting to take down the clones, they swarmed him from all sides.

He couldn't tell which one was the real one, so he stabbed the ground, creating a dome of electricity around his body. The power pushed itself strongly around his body, and expanded outwards, taking out more and more clones by the second.

However, Soi Fon smirked, and managed to use that distraction to slip into his personal space, with Takumi turning to see Soi Fon's body next to his own with her finger going towards him.

"I saw through it Takumi! I've trained with you years and years ago! I know you'd have to leave an area around you save! A safety area!"

Takumi knew he couldn't move his sword in time, so he pulled his body upwards, being pierced underneath the area she had first stabbed him, so she couldn't use the ability of her Shikai, but it did create another butterfly like mark across his skin and clothing that the area had been affected by.

Back flipping away from Soi Fon, Takumi twirled his blade, and sent off a number of lightning daggers towards Soi Fon within a second, Soi Fon raised her finger, and used that along with what else was on her arm to block the blades of electricity.

However, as she was, Takumi got above her, and gathered a good deal of electricity.

"Electrifying net!"

Swinging down his blade, a net of electricity came out of it in an attempt to bind Soi Fon.

Soi Fon saw it coming and was able to move out of the way of the net…

But then, she realized Takumi wasn't above anymore, only the remains of him was there, and she knew it was a clone, of electricity, something she hadn't seem him do, but honestly, she was quite taken aback by what had happened.

"A trick!"

She gasped, turning around to see Takumi swinging his blade for her body.

Turning to stab him, Takumi flipped over her body while still gathering electricity in his blade.

Soi Fon made several stabs upwards to pierce him, but he released a cloak of lightning around him, getting down to the ground and turned towards her with the built up electricity, his eyes locking with the young woman's own as he came at her with a huge burst of electricity.

Soi Fon quickly moved backwards using Flash Step as the huge wave of electricity swam outwards, and encompassed the entire area, smashing through several buildings as Soi Fon rushed backwards to avoid the massive wave of power coming for her.

Knowing she'd not be able to dodge it all completely, Soi Fon activated a barrier Kido around her in the form of an upside down prism, with the huge burst of lightning washing over the barrier, breaking more and more of it down by the second.

"_He knows he can't keep up with me, so he's trying to take me out with power. It's a sound technique, but he knows he'd have to catch me with the power, that's why he's using tricks to get close. I forgot how damn smart he can be. I can never predict what he's going to do next. Even now, this huge burst of lightning might not even be the real attack..._"

Soi Fon watched as the barrier shattered completely from the intense power of the electricity, but she saw an opening towards the right hand side so she took it, speeding out of the wave of electricity so she wasn't caught up in it…

However, at that moment, she saw before her, Takumi had appeared, panting slightly and had his hand extended.

"Shit!"

She went to pull back...but saw that the wave of electricity was still there.

Buildings separated her right and left, and only Takumi stood before her.

She couldn't go up either, as Takumi had created a barrier above them both, effectively trapping her.

"Hado 1: Sho!"

It was a simple Kido, but because he was so close, and she was stuck, she received the Kido in the torso, while she managed to get a stab off on his right hand side, creating a new butterfly design on his body.

The power sent Soi Fon right into the huge bolt of electricity, and shocked her body so much that burns erupted across her body, and caused a mass explosion, with Takumi falling down to his knees, and began panting more and more.

He had exerted a lot in the fight, and he hadn't fully recovered from his fight with Unohana either, so he was already fighting at not his best.

He had made sure that the power wouldn't kill Soi Fon.

While the lightning was dying down, Nanao managed finally come up, and saw Takumi's form.

"Takumi-kun..."

Takumi turned to see Nanao stood there.

"Nanao-san, what are you..."

"I couldn't...I couldn't simply stay back anymore. I'm sorry but I had to come and...I don't know if I can help, but I can't leave."

Takumi showed a ghost of a smile.

"Haha, it seems that we must have been close, huh?"

Nanao pushed up her glasses.

"Yes, very close, and very reckless as well. Seriously, fighting a Captain like this, did you not think of the consequences at all?"

"Hehehe, sorry, I didn't have time to think about it Nanao-san, I just had to protect Orihime-chan and Nemu-san-"

"So, another traitor then..."

Takumi and Nanao were stopped with those words.

Their eyes turned to see Soi Fon stood there, her eyes going between the two of them.

While she did have her body being hurt by Takumi's power, she hadn't fallen to the attack.

Soi Fon, panted and glared forward.

"Takumi...you truly are someone that has gotten stronger...but, I can't give up either." Soi Fon looked at her Shikai. "My Shikai's ability is going to be hard to get off on you, but I could resort to my Bankai." Takumi began backing away as she let out a small laugh. "Don't be surprised, every Captain apart from Zaraki has a Bankai. Though I do hate using my Bankai, my ability is more for assassination and my Bankai is something that doesn't fit that kind of life style."

"Captain, you can't use Bankai here-"

"You be quiet traitor, you're next if you get in my way!"

Nanao was silenced and felt her body tremble at the pressure Soi Fon was releasing, it was causing her to feel weaker and weaker, but Takumi directed her attention to him.

"Leave her out of this, your fight is with me." He turned to Nanao with a kind smile. "Go, Nanao-san."

"Takumi-kun, I can't...I'm not leaving!"

"I don't want you to get caught up in this. Please...go."

"Takumi-kun..."

Soi Fon's eyes slit themselves upon Takumi's form while Nanao placed a hand over her mouth.

"It's alright, I'll be fine."

"But her Bankai is...it's something you currently couldn't take Takumi-kun."

Nanao expressed her worries.

She didn't want Takumi to be killed.

Takumi could understand that. Though he didn't know what her Bankai was, he knew that it was going to be dangerous, her Shikai already was dangerous, so seeing her Bankai...but still, he knew he couldn't have Nanao caught up in that kind of attack.

"Then if it's me...you wont be hurt. You know the truth about me, and so do the others. That's enough for me...besides, it seems that I've got some history with Soi Fon-san here, it's time for us to settle it once and for all. Also, could you take her Lieutenant over there?" Takumi waved his hand right. "I avoided him during our attacks, and I managed to push her Stealth Force members away a good distance during our fight."

Soi Fon became stunned.

"_He did that while we fought...I didn't even notice._"

While thinking about her what had happened currently, Nanao looked conflicted by many different things.

"Takumi-kun...though I'm against it, I'll do this for you. But if you don't make it out of this alive, I seriously will….I'll seriously bring you back from the dead, only to slap you, understood?"

Takumi let out a small laugh at Nanao who gained a flustered face.

"Understood."

Nanao took a look at Soi Fon, then went over towards her Lieutenant, and Flash Stepped the pair out of there.

Once they had gone, Takumi turned back to Soi Fon.

"Soi Fon-san-"

"You shut up!" Takumi was surprised when Soi Fon began to let her feelings go a bit more, and her eyes began to become wet. "You keep saying my name as if we're friends! We're not friends! We've not been friends for over a hundred years! Ever since you left! I trusted you, I believed we'd always fight together, and protect Yoruichi together! But you and Yoruichi just disappeared!"

Takumi could see that she hadn't meant to say that.

She looked stunned she even let that out.

"Soi Fon..."

"No, stop saying my name like that. As if you care about me." She growled out. "You think me just seeing you telling those women to leave, is going to change my mind?"

"No, I never said that in the first place. I just don't want them to get caught up in this. You have issues with me, fine. But Nemu-san, Orihime-chan and Nanao-san aren't going to be hurt because of it. You take out your feelings on me!"

Soi Fon bit her lower lip.

But then she placed her hand outwards.

"I don't need Bankai for you, you've got enough marks on you. One more hit, and you'll be deceased!"

Soi Fon took off running at Takumi.

Takumi however saw that the young woman had many conflicting emotions inside of her.

The way she ran felt like it was a burden on her Psyche. This fight more than just physical, it felt like it was a mental battle that she couldn't afford to lose.

"I will win! I will beat you! I will surpass you Takumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Soi Fon screamed at Takumi who saw her body beginning to take a noticeable dip in her speed. She wasn't as fast as she was before, she was moving as if each foot step was her last one, and that in of itself was worrying.

While she was running, Soi Fon's mind kept going to something deep within her memories, something that she had thought she had buried long ago that crawled its way to the surface.

* * *

_Sitting atop of a large building, a young Takumi's eyes went over the entire Seireitei, and his keen interest was always expanding. Even as young as he was, he still had the same eyes that Soi Fon had thought about for so long._

"_There you are."_

_Soi Fon said it with a surprisingly causal expression._

_She usually was on guard._

_But now that she had been getting closer to Takumi over the time they had been together, she felt herself relaxing more and more._

"_Soi Fon-chan, what are you doing here?"_

"_We have an assignment from Yoruichi-sama. I came to find you."_

"_Oh I see. Haha, thanks for letting me know, I'll be there soon enough."_

_Noticing a change within his usual voice, Soi Fon questioned it._

"_Alright, what's wrong with you? You being anything other than upbeat is suspicious."_

_Takumi curiously raised an eyebrow._

"_I've just been thinking."_

_Soi Fon showed a light smirk._

"_Honestly, when you do that, things tend to happen."_

"_Are you saying I intentionally cause trouble?"_

_Takumi playfully pushed Soi Fon who wore slight annoyance on her face, but mostly she seemed to accept it._

"_Yes, you do."_

_Takumi lightly chuckled._

"_I promise, I'm not trying to cause trouble now. I'm just thinking about...what I'm going to do in the future."_

"_What do you mean? Do you intend to leave Yoruichi-sama's side?"_

_Takumi shook his head immediately._

"_No, I'd never do that. She's the one who gave me a chance. Even though, I am someone that's not a noble, she still took me into her personal Squad, and is helping me in many ways...but, I also have things I need to do. I have..."_

"_I see, are you intending to leave the Seireitei? If you did..."_

"_I know, and no, I'm not planning to leave the Seireitei, I'm just thinking of what I should aim for, if I should attempt to become a Captain to accomplish my goals or...hey, Soi Fon-chan, how about we both compete to see who's going to become a Lieutenant first?"_

_Soi Fon adopted a light smirk on her face._

"_You're challenging me now, Takumi?"_

_Takumi playfully stuck out his tongue._

"_Yeah, why not? You always like being challenged, don't you?"_

"_That's more you than me." Soi Fon weighed up her hands. "Besides, it wouldn't be a challenge."_

"_Hey, I've improved a lot Soi Fon-chan."_

_Soi Fon raised a curious eyebrow._

"_Really? Prove it then, and become a Lieutenant before me."_

"_I'll do one better, and become a Captain Soi Fon-chan!"_

_Soi Fon released a laugh she usually wouldn't do around others._

"_Captain huh. You're shooting for the stars, but you'll fall at the clouds, but I wont stop you trying, you might get lucky. I'd go for Captain, but I'm intending to protect Yoruichi-sama always, even serving as her Lieutenant would be enough for me."_

"_Yeah...well, I'm always going to defend Yoruichi-chan, so I'll become her Lieutenant then."_

"_Try it, and I'll wave to you as I become that first."_

"_You're on, Soi Fon-chan. Besides, I've got to be beside you, you'd probably fall into depression if I wasn't around."_

_Soi Fon huffed._

"_You saying I'm depressing?"_

"_I'm saying you're closed off."_

"_Yeah well...I only like talking to people I appreciate."_

"_Then you appreciate me?"_

_Soi Fon shrugged in an uncaring manner, and pinched her fingers together._

"_Perhaps a little bit."_

"_Haha, then I guess I'll have to stay around always then, huh Soi Fon-chan~?"_

"_Is that a promise?"_

_Takumi cocked his head._

"_Do you want it to be?"_

"_I don't care either way."_

_She played aloof, though Takumi got the hidden meanings within her words._

"_Then lets say you and I will always defend Yoruichi-sama, together."_

"_Yes...lets do it, together."_

_Takumi smiled brightly, while Soi Fon's lips curled upwards._

_Though they seemed to have a competition with one another, that was just how their relationship was. They drove the other to succeed, while also praising the others abilities, and in the end, it seemed that even though both couldn't be Yoruichi's Lieutenant, it wouldn't matter which got the job, as they both had confidence in the other that they'd be able to protect Yoruichi, together._

* * *

Back in the present, continuing to rush at him, Soi Fon's mind began to fill with more and more memories that were quite overpowering.

The time they first spoke, the time they fought together, the time that they made their vow, the time that they tried food from the human world, and how they had been moving up the ranks together.

How they both had promised to be together...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

She let out a scream, and thrust her finger towards him.

So many emotions filled her.

Anger, sadness, fear, hatred…

In the end, the moment her finger was going to pierce him…

She stopped.

Her eyes leaked tears, her body trembled as she looked towards him.

"...In the end...I can't."

Takumi could see the sadness and confusion within her eyes.

"Soi Fon-san..."

Soi Fon collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from the fight and her emotions heavily weighing on her heart.

Soi Fon punched the ground as her Shikai was deactivated.

Takumi also saw that the marks on his body also had disappeared.

"I'm a failure...I'm Captain of Squad 2, it's my job to capture you, and bring you in...but, I can't...why can't I do it…?"

"Soi Fon-san...I'm sorry."

Soi Fon's eyes went towards his own.

"...What did you say?"

"I'm...sorry for leaving you."

Soi Fon's body continued to tremble more and more.

She didn't say anything, but she did begin to cry even more.

Takumi couldn't fathom the emotions she was going through right now.

It seemed even Soi Fon didn't quite get it either.

Takumi tried to move closer, but she quickly swiped at him with her hand, forcing him backwards.

"Soi Fon-san..."

"Just...Just leave."

Takumi bit his lower lip as Nanao came back over.

Her eyes went to Soi Fon who just kept her eyes on the ground.

"Soi Fon-san, I'm...I don't remember the circumstances of our relationship...but, you stopped yourself killing me. You couldn't kill me in the end..."

"...Just go, I can't...I can't do anything this time...just leave, but the next time I see you..."

"I know, thanks...Soi Fon-san."

Takumi bowed his head to her, and turned to Nanao.

"Takumi-kun, lets go."

"Yes..." His eyes turned to Soi Fon who just stared at the ground. "Soi Fon-san…I promise, I'll prove to everyone that I didn't do what they believed I did. I'll protect the Soul Society, that's all I want to do."

Soi Fon felt passion in his voice.

The truthfulness behind his words.

His demeanour proved to her that he wasn't lying.

After all these years…

"Then lets go, Nanao-san."

"Yes."

Nanao and Takumi glanced at Soi Fon one last time, before shooting off through the air at a good speed.

Soi Fon was just left there, and she couldn't do anything other than sob loudly.

She was thankful that she was alone.

She...let him go in the end.

She knew that she shouldn't.

It defied all logic within her.

But she just couldn't do it…

She had to let him go.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giselle who was with Kenpachi and Yachiru, had been feeling the battle raging on for a good while now, but now that it had stopped, she felt relieved that she could still feel Takumi and that he was alive.

The area they were in was cramped, the walls were high, and the roads were long.

Giselle though didn't need to see where she was going, as she could sense quite a good bit around her. She was in her element with sensing.

"Wow, it seems that everything's died off down there, huh~?"

Yachiru sang out, Kenpachi raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly, I missed Takumi fighting?! Damn it, I wished to get in another fight!"

Giselle gave a playful stare.

"Not until the end of this series of events Kenpachi..."

She paused when she felt the new presence.

She definitely had been feeling it for a while now.

But now that the battle with Takumi and Soi Fon had stopped, she definitely could feel the presence behind them.

Her eyes quickly darted backwards, but nothing was there visually. But Giselle didn't let that deceive her, and she unleashed her bow from her belt buckle, and placed it firmly in her hands.

"Giselle-chan, why are you getting out your cute bow?"

Yachiru asked innocently, Giselle showed a calm and elegant smile.

"Just being prepared for, whatever is going to show up, that's all."

She replied while trying to remain cautious and on the ready.

Yachiru cocked an eyebrow upwards while Giselle kept looking in different directions.

Her senses were being thrown off.

But she definitely knew that she was being followed now.

However, while she was looking around, a few Squad 12 members began moving closer from around the corner in front of them.

"Captain Zaraki! What is the situation here?"

"Yes, we've heard that the Ryoka have been spotted here."

They strolled forward while Giselle held back in the shadows.

She felt something suspicious about this, she knew that this wasn't right.

Kenpachi clicked his tongue.

"I don't have any time for you weaklings."

He said it while giving a dismissive wave of his hand.

But they still attempted to get closer to Kenpachi, with Giselle remaining more and more suspicious.

But then she realized what they were trying to do, so within a second, she fired off strong arrows that stabbed through their robes of a Shinigami, and dragged him through the air at high speeds while they complained…

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!]

But then they released a very poisonous cloud from their body which seemed to drain their bodies of all of its life. They turned from having healthy skin to being very pale, corpse like, with blood leaking out of their mouths.

They became limb within moments, while Giselle forced Kenpachi and Yachiru away from it, the girl knew all too well now that they were caught up in a dangerous situation, but she didn't hold back, and directed her hand towards the upper left hand corner.

"There, swing!"

Giselle ordered Kenpachi, who didn't seem to have a reason to not do it, and swung down his blade with a good deal of force, which released a highly wild level of energy that shattered the very ground that was below them, along with the large wall that he unleashed his power to…

But then a barrier came up and dealt with someone of Kenpachi's level of power.

"W-What's that?"

Yachiru asked Giselle who ground her teeth.

"It's a barrier that's made from Kido, isn't that right Mayuri?"

Kenpachi's lone eye narrowed considerably.

"Kurotsuchi..."

"You rang, oaf?"

Mayuri's voice could be heard echoing through the area.

Giselle continued to feel disgusted with his appearance around them.

Then he showed himself.

From the wall, his body seemingly detached itself from the wall. It was like a second skin, at least that's what Giselle thought. Kenpachi didn't seem to care about that, and wanted to cut down Mayuri while Giselle was being cautious about it.

"Mayuri Kurotsuchi, it seems that you've finally shown yourself."

"Sense me, did you Quincy girl? My interest in Quincy's died out a while ago after I finished my research. But you've piqued my interest once more, it seems like we could learn a bit more about Quincy's from you girl."

Giselle showed a half smile that could even cause the toughest person to crumble.

"Is that so? You're going to try and learn more about Quincy's?"

"Perhaps, you've gained my interest. Your skills in sensing are magnificent, you even managed to detect the men I sent to take you down. It was going to be quick and painless for you, but you had to ruin it, didn't you?"

He started off calm, but towards the end his voice dipped into the mad scientist territory.

"Sorry about that you mad clown, but I simply couldn't have others die. Though your death-"

"Enough talking! I wanna cut him up!"

Kenpachi growled out, and came at the shield Mayuri had with his Zanpakuto, slashing again and again against it. But the fact that he couldn't get through began to anger him all the more, but Giselle glared hard at Mayuri.

"You killed them, sacrificing them as your own pawns."

"So what? They're under me, they knew what they were getting into. Now all I have to do is find Nemu, that idiot girl."

"Why? So you can kill her?"

Mayuri shook his head.

"She's too precious for me to kill. She's a being that I've spent many years creating. I couldn't get rid of her now. Though she does become useful for a shield for me. As long as it is the body that I've made, she'll always come back!"

"Come back, to being your shield?"

Giselle demanded harshly, Mayuri snorted.

"Why does it sound like you care?"

"Using people...forcing them to become your shield, you're a disgrace of a Shinigami, you know that?"

As she said it, Giselle pulled back her bow string, and formed a powerful arrow. But it also had some markings running across the arrow, it seemed like some kind of vein like pattern.

"What are you doing girl?"

Giselle didn't reply, and shot forward the arrow, which pierced the barrier, and caused it to begin to shatter, surprising Mayuri even more.

"It's a Quincy ability, a trade secret asshole."

Kenpachi smirked as he swatted the barrier with the already large crack within it, causing it to be disabled all together, and then leapt for the man himself.

Mayuri himself would admit that his skills in swordsmanship wasn't the best, so he couldn't take Kenpachi in a fight, that's why he simply took out a bomb looking device, tossing it at Kenpachi, which the man himself slashed apart, but it caused a giant explosion that forced Giselle, and Yachiru onto their backs, Kenpachi was flung down into the ground with light burns spreading on his skin.

Gritting his teeth, Kenpachi gazed up at Mayuri angrily.

"Tricks, you bastard?"

"Naturally, I have to since I don't have overwhelming power like you, you oaf. The intelligent outlast the stupid for a reason. The reason why we have modern technology isn't because of people like you. I'll thrive while you wither away. Surviving only on combat, you're a joke Zaraki, and I'll prove it right now!"

Giselle scowled at Mayuri.

She knew that this was going to be dangerous.

She didn't know if they'd be able to win.

Mayuri seemed to come prepared this time.

Giselle knew she'd have to pull out all the stops if she hoped for them to win this time.

* * *

Dashing through the city and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Nemu was carrying Orihime in her arms towards the destination that was agreed upon by Takumi and the others, with emotions running through Orihime, and Nemu simply kept calm, but even she felt something bubbling up inside of her.

Orihime kept turning her eyes to the location that Takumi was, and even from the distance they were, which was miles and miles away, she could still see the mass of electricity that was being used.

Until it eventually stopped, and Orihime became more concerned about what was happening over there.

"Taku-chan, I hope that he's okay..."

"Takumi-sama indeed would have a difficult battle. It seems that the battle has now ended."

"Y-You can tell?"

Orihime seemed surprised, but Nemu inclined her neck.

"Yes, I can currently sense the decrease in both spiritual pressures, while neither have disappeared. The battle could have been resolved. And it seems that since neither have been killed, that they ended the battle by choice."

"That's good...I thought Taku-chan might have...but he's going to be okay. I'm so relieved."

Nemu went to incline her neck…

When she felt the pressure of someone that she was very familiar with.

A pressure a few months ago she would have followed without question.

But now that she had begun changing, it was a pressure that she didn't like to even think about.

"Nemu-san, is something wrong?"

"...I can detect the presence of Mayuri-sama in the west direction. And he's not alone."

Orihime raised an eyebrow.

"West from here...if I'm remembering right, then isn't Giselle-sans group over there…?"

"Correct, Giselle Gewelle, Captain Zaraki, and Lieutenant Yachiru is also in that direction. They might be engaging Mayuri-sama in combat."

"Isn't it good that they're together? I mean...Zaraki-san seemed to be really powerful, and your Captain..."

Orihime didn't know how to speak about Mayuri.

She didn't know how Nemu truly felt about Mayuri now.

She knew that Nemu could recognize what he had done to her was wrong, but if there was any lingering emotions she wasn't sure. He did still create her, and he was in most aspects, her Father, so it was tricky to judge what was currently happening.

"His dangerous aspect is not his power." Nemu began, then clarified to the perplexed Orihime. "Mayuri-sama's most dangerous aspect, like Takumi-sama, is his intellect, and working around his opponents. The only unknown for Mayuri-sama would be Giselle-san and her Zombies. However, Mayuri-sama always has gadgets on him to fight most situations. I am...I believe the word is, worried, about our comrades."

Orihime could understand that.

But she also wondered, because it was Mayuri, Nemu might feel subconsciously that she should go over towards him.

"Nemu-san, do you...want to go over there?"

"To make sure that Mayuri-sama doesn't kill the others, perhaps it would be best if we move over in that direction. Though it would deviate from our current path, Takumi-sama also would head over there if he was with us, and we should also follow that kind of example."

Orihime also thought that was rather true.

If Takumi was there, he'd want to go and help out also.

They were too far from where Takumi was now to head back, and they were closer to where Giselle was.

Orihime also wished to provide some kind of assistance, and she knew that Nemu also wished to do the same thing.

"Then...maybe we should go towards that location..."

"Then we should hurry."

Nemu turned her body towards the location and proceeded to go in that direction.

She hadn't seen Mayuri for a little while now, she had to wonder what his current mindset was, and most of all...what she was going to do when she came face to face with the mad scientist.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we learned a bit about Soi Fon and Takumi's relationship. Though at first she didn't think he'd be able to be good enough to defend Yoruichi, but after he had defended her, and showed he wouldn't give up, she began to appreciate him more, and while they were fighting, memories of the past filled her, and while she thought she was prepared, she had been deluding herself, and couldn't finish him off, yet couldn't reveal her feelings, Soi Fon's going through quite a lot.**

**Then towards the end, Giselle, with Kenpachi and Yachiru, were confronted by Mayuri, who's got them firmly in their sights, and Mayuri being Mayuri, has some plans up his sleeve, but Giselle also has some tricks Mayuri might not see coming, while Orihime and Nemu have turned their attention towards that battle.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	28. Mayuri vs Giselle!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Oblivious IJ; It seems that she has yeah~**

**Clarent excalibur; I'm glad you did! Yup, we're getting Mayuri vs Giselle. Nemu's going to have a moment yeah, to show Mayuri that she's not his personal slave anymore. She is going to say something like that yeah.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! They did yeah, Soi Fon got out her emotional feelings, and expressed them to Takumi while thinking about the past, and how they had a fairly close relationship. He did yeah, fighting Soi Fon after not long fighting Unohana did tax him quite a bit. Haha, Giselle is going to show Mayuri alright, they're going to have a fun fight.**

**Skull Flame; Thanks! It is yeah, Soi Fon's been through quite a bit. Even Giselle would be creeped out yeah.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yeah, Nanao seems to care quite a bit about Takumi. He did yeah, he wouldn't let either of them get hurt. Yup, seems like Takumi started off in the Second Division with Yoruichi recognizing his talent, and Soi Fon coming to accept him more and more as he proved he wasn't just somebody that was weak. It's because he knew that Soi Fon didn't like his Father, and by extension, him as well. Yeah, he was still catching his breath from his fight with Unohana, and then Soi Fon was using her incredible speed, so it did place a tax on his body. In his current state, Takumi couldn't do what Aizen did, maybe in the future. Maybe he did win that bet, perhaps we'll find out in the future if he did or not. In the end, she couldn't deny her feelings, and decided that she'd let him go. Mayuri's a bit different from those Captain's though where he doesn't fight with full force, and we've seen in the last arc where he caught Kenpachi by surprise and stopped him from moving with his Shikai alone. He is yeah, she's going to tell him her emotions. Yeah, they look pretty good to me! Yuzu could get some letters. I can't reveal that just yet, we'll get more of it in the future. We'll have to find out if he does have any other powers.**

**Andrew123456; I am thinking about doing it yeah. Yeah, that could be a fun way of doing it. Flare would be quite interesting to have there. Yeah she'd be cool as well~ Yeah, I'd be up to doing them.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Mayuri vs Giselle!**

Sitting within her cell, Momo kept bringing up the past in her mind. How she went to the academy, how she had met people like Renji, how she had learned more about her power, how she had visited Toshiro often, though Toshiro didn't seem to want anything to do with meeting her.

Even then, Momo still liked being with Toshiro, it felt nice.

But she also remembered meeting Aizen, how he had saved her from the Hollow…

How he had been there for her when she needed advice, when she needed someone to speak to about her feelings...

"Captain...I'm so confused..."

It brought tears to her eyes, as she overlooked the letter once more.

She didn't know what to feel.

She didn't know what to do…

But she felt as if she had to find out.

She had to know what was happening right now.

Because she wasn't able to take it.

She looked at the note again and again, and saw the message that Aizen had written her, telling her how he was going to meet up with Takumi to resolve their old feelings, at a place where not many people would know about, but Momo could see it clearly within the message itself, exactly where he was speaking about.

"Captain...what I am supposed to do…?"

She sobbed.

She didn't want to deal with this anymore.

She just wished that her Captain was safe and sound.

That she could see him once more, and ask him why this was happening.

But she knew that she had to do something.

Anything to find out the answers.

If she went to the location that Takumi and Aizen had their 'meeting' then…

Maybe even she could begin to understand why this happened, and if she could get anything from this meeting. She knew realistically that if she tried to fight Takumi, then she was going to probably lose the fight.

Drying her eyes, she placed the note within her outfit, and stood up.

Conviction filled her, calling to the guard "Excuse me." and said guard turning around to see that from up above and around, purple petals began to fall down, with a purple aura around Momo's body.

"Hakufuku."

Those words caused the man's mind to be eclipsed by the power that she had, and he was forcibly placed into a slumber. With the man dropping down to the ground, Momo used her Kido to break through the door, and went towards the location that her Zanpakuto was, so she could use it to help her in deciding on what she was going to do next.

If she was going to fight Takumi, if she was going to speak to him…

Or if she had to go beyond that, and kill him.

* * *

Facing down Mayuri, Giselle knew it would be difficult. Not because he was strong, but because Mayuri was extremely cunning as an individual, and that was something that could backfire on them, especially with Kenpachi's attitude of just slashing down what he believes is in his way.

"Now then clown! I'll give you to the count of five to run, then I'm coming for you!"

Kenpachi declared with a battle thirsty smile on his face.

That caused Mayuri to let out a small laugh.

"Really oaf? You're going to be the one who ends up fighting me, are you? That's really sweet, I was hoping you would. I could use you as a personal slave."

Kenpachi's wild eye became angry, his hand tempting to go for his eyepatch to unleash his full power.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me oaf! The strong like you, need a Master to reign you in, you wont be useful in any other way. I'm sorry moron, but that's just how it is in this world. The intelligent lord that over the idiots like you."

"Insulting others, is that how you get your frustrations of knowing people are better than you out?"

Giselle said with a wishy washy expression.

That did cause Mayuri to feel anger for her.

"What did you say you little girl?"

"I said, you feel inferior to Takumi-kun and his Dad, right?" Mayuri glared at Giselle's challenging expression. "It's alright, people like you can only feel superior by attempting to mentally abuse people who you believe are inferior. To be honest, Kenpachi-chan here is superior to you in pretty much every way. You might be smart, but you've got nothing beyond your intelligence to fall back on. No comrades, no friends, no family. Not even your gadgets can keep you warm at night~ If you ever wanted to know why you suck, then I could give you a run down on your many, many faults~"

Giselle, in an attempt to make him lower his guard, continued to berate him.

Mayuri...actually began feeling anger for what was currently happening right now.

He wasn't pleased by Giselle's words in the slightest.

In fact, he wanted to wring her neck for the words.

Giselle twirled her hair with an apathetic look on her face.

"So, tell me about yourself Mayuri-chan. Why do you put people down so much? I bet it must have been so awful to realize that Takumi-kun, a kid no less, possessed quite a great intellect, while you, a criminal, couldn't do much at all. Am I in the ball park?"

Mayuri tightened his hand more and more.

He didn't want to fall for her taunts.

But they were very convincing.

He truly wished he could make a move, and stab her.

But he stopped, and smirked.

"I know what you're trying to do, girl. You're attempting to anger me to get some kind of advantage over me. I'm not someone that falls for such taunts easily-"

"Kisuke told me about you."

Giselle said, Mayuri's face turned downwards.

The sting of hearing Kisuke's name caused him to pause.

But then developing a condescending expression on his face, Mayuri turned up the creepy factor quickly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, because we were coming here, I asked about the Captains and he told me about you, the mad scientist. Though he told me that he was a better scientist than you while acknowledging your achievements, but because of your crazy mental state, you aren't able to live up to the potential that you have, you always come up short due to your inability to see beyond gain for yourself. Well, that's what he said anyway."

Mayuri couldn't tell if she was being truthful, or telling a lie.

Either way, it did make him feel anger at her words.

With his hand tightening, Kenpachi couldn't wait anymore, and jumped up at a good speed. Even Mayuri was blind sided by what had happened, and saw the incoming blade mere inches from his face, ready to slice him down the middle, right in half.

However, an automatic barrier erupted around his form, something that blocked Kenpachi's sword, albeit with a large crack erupting through the barrier, almost breaking it in half, Kenpachi showed a dissatisfied expression.

"So, you're going to be an annoying kind of person who hides rather than fight straight on? It's people like you that piss me off on the battlefield. I hate your kind. You should just perish already. You're not even like Takumi in the slightest. He's smart, and yet fights straight on. That's the kind of opponent I like."

Kenpachi's words cut deep into Mayuri's psyche.

The thought of being compared to Takumi from someone like Kenpachi.

But, not wanting to appear as if the words had bothered him, he simply showed a degrading smirk.

"Hahaha, we all don't die on the battlefield, so tricks like this are to be expected oaf." Mayuri simply goes into his outfit, and brings out what seems to be a vial. "And now, as for you oaf, you're about to be incapacitated, for good."

Mayuri tossed the liquid at Kenpachi, who went to bat it away with his blade.

But Giselle quickly shot a few arrows at Kenpachi's outfit, tied to some kind of wire, and brought him away with a good yank of the wire, with the liquid hitting the ground, and dissolving it instantly, breaking through the ground and dripped down through the ground a good distance.

Giselle gave suspicious eyes at the sight before her.

"That liquid, it does more than normal acid, doesn't it?"

"If you're referring to the break down of spiritual matter, then you're right girl. This liquid would have little effect on humans, but spiritual bodies such as myself, or that oaf, it eats away at the spiritual body. Even the ground here is made of spirit particles, so it would even eat through that. Isn't it effective?"

Giselle wasn't exactly thrilled about seeing that in action.

It did seem to be quite worrying.

But Kenpachi didn't care, and jumped at Mayuri once more.

"Zaraki-san! Seriously, didn't you hear what we just said-"

"This kind of battle bores me! I want to cut him up! I don't care about mind games! Eventually, everyone goes down with a good slice to their body!"

Giselle let out a small sigh, seeing Kenpachi getting close to Mayuri. Mayuri took out his blade, and blocked Kenpachi's sword, but the pressure of Kenpachi's swing did push Mayuri back a good deal, even he would have trouble with him.

But Mayuri wasn't someone that fought directly with his opponents either, so he brought out some kind of bomb looking device, and tossed it at Kenpachi, while forcing his body backwards.

Kenpachi simply sliced through it, which set off a massive explosion, Giselle having the mind to grab Yachiru and get out of the way in time before she was caught in it, but Kenpachi was at the heart of the explosion, which ripped through an entire street of the Seireitei, turning it into a destroyed mess.

Mayuri smirked from his position.

"Silly oaf, thinking that he could simply..."

Mayuri was left with his mouth hanging open when he saw Kenpachi stood in the middle of the explosions smoke, with relatively minor injuries on his person. His body had some burn marks, but nothing that would cause pain and misery.

Mayuri ground his teeth as Kenpachi dusted off his clothing.

"Is that weak ass explosion the best you got?"

Kenpachi goaded Mayuri into making a move.

Mayuri was stopped for a few moments, before a deranged look spread on the clowns face.

"...You are a monster, that would have stopped most people. Then again, that amazing spiritual energy of yours would cloak your body and give you a sort of armour against attacks like this. So, that's why I am glad that I came prepared, just in case-"

"Shut up you bastard, and die!"

Kenpachi shot for Mayuri before he could pull out a new device, and swung downwards. The large amount of spiritual energy came from his blade in the form of a yellow skull, and unleashed directly onto Mayuri's form.

Mayuri was forced to create several barriers to defend himself, but the barriers couldn't hold off Kenpachi's wild attack, smashing through each of the barriers as if they were made of paper, something Giselle was pleased about.

But Mayuri didn't pause when seeing the barriers being cut down like that, and simply placed his hands outwards, gathering spiritual energy, blue in colour, in both hands, and announced "Soren Sokatsui!" unleashing the mass of Kido energy for Kenpachi who had shattered the last barrier.

But even then, Kenpachi just cut through the energy like butter.

However, the moment that he did, he noticed that ice was beginning to grow across his blade, and towards his hand.

"What is this..."

He murmured attempting to shatter the ice, but Giselle stopped him with a few arrows.

"Stop Zaraki, that is freezing you down to the core. If you shatter it, you'll lose your hand. It's some kind of rapid cooling agent, like liquid nitrogen or something even scarier than that!"

"Then, how do I get this shit off me? It's growing more and more!"

Giselle quickly went into her bag, and brought out some kind of liquid herself, shooting for Kenpachi, and poured it on the iced sword, along with the ice growing across his hand and up his arm, which gradually began to drain out the ice, and return his hand to normal.

Mayuri looked beyond surprised while Giselle smirked towards him.

"And what's that girl? Did you invent it?"

"Heh, it was someone that you despise invented it. Knowing you'd be coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas. He put you freezing people like this at number 12."

"...Then it has to be, Takumi Urahara! Wasn't it you little bitch?!"

Giselle wagged a finger at Mayuri who was growing in his anger.

"Wow, such language, aren't you supposed to be a gentleman~?"

Giselle sang out, while playing with her hair, wearing a goofy look on her face.

Mayuri was pissed off, he was sure it was Takumi that had invented the solution that stopped Kenpachi losing his hand, and even his sword.

Mayuri shook his head angrily, and revealed some kind of device that Giselle was suspicious about. He then casually tossed it towards Kenpachi and Giselle, the former went to cut it, but Giselle knew better than that, and forced them to dodge out of the way, with it releasing some kind of gas.

"Don't breathe it in!"

Giselle warned, covering her mouth, while Kenpachi growled at the sight.

But Kenpachi didn't seem to care, and swung his sword outwards several times, Giselle thought that he might be trying to get some kind of powerful gust going from his intense swings…

But she saw that in fact, he was merely trying to reach Mayuri with his blade.

"Come here, I'll slice you apart!"

Kenpachi went wild as Mayuri simply took out a handheld fan.

Becoming suspicious, Giselle covered her mouth, and went to cover Kenpachi's own mouth, but by the time her hand neared his face, the gas had been blown towards them, entering Kenpachi's mouth, Giselle quickly darted away as Kenpachi fell down to his knees.

She went into her bag, and brought a gas mask type device out, holding it to her face, and equipped it immediately.

Kenpachi suddenly began shaking, a sensation of pain like no other ripped through him.

"...What have you done?"

Giselle demanded from the crazy scientist.

Mayuri however kept looking at the mask Giselle had on, and also thought about the anti freezing agent that she had to save Kenpachi's arm before.

But then, Mayuri showed a dark expression on his face, and began laughing dirtily.

"Oh, I see it now. Takumi Urahara...that little bastard. Always there, being so nice and kind, and pissing me off constantly."

"He pisses you off because he's nice and kind? That doesn't even make sense~"

Mayuri shook his head.

"Of course a neophyte like you wouldn't understand it. That boy...that boy, his whole crap about using science to help others. Science is something you do to fulfil your own desires, to further your own goals."

"Well, if it wasn't for people like Takumi-kun doing their research for others, we'd be living in a very different world. People wish to help others, and to make sure that they're alright. It's people like you that aren't real scientists. Using your experimentation to hurt people, to take their bodies apart and destroy them on every level you can do."

Mayuri showed a disgusting smile.

"Naturally, a Quincy like you would say that. Quincy's really do piss me off after all. Even after I've finished my research on them, they still try and get in my way like this."

Giselle raised an eyebrow.

"...What do you mean by finished your research?"

"Hmm? Didn't I explain last time? The Quincy's are people that I had been interested in for a while. Though I stopped my research about...hmmm, maybe seven or eight years ago now. After experimenting on over 2000 Quincy's, I just lost interest in them."

Giselle's mind began to go blank.

Mayuri words had penetrated Giselle's mind and it felt like a large knife slicing her from the inside out.

He had been experimenting on over 2000 Quincy's.

All of them died, innocents had died.

"Though you girl, seem a bit different to the ones that I had experimented on. You seem to hold a different kind of potential within you. So, if you'd like, I'd be able to experiment on you? I treat the females under my care very well."

"Yeah right."

Giselle spat out, Mayuri putting on a faux hurt expression.

"My, it seems that you don't believe me. It's true, I only experiment on the girls, five times a day for a two hours at a time. I'd give you lots of water, maybe even a cup full for an entire day. That's more than most people get." Giselle continued to feel her anger rising within her. "I'll also only do body mutations that don't kill you. They might make you look horrible, but I'll share my findings with you. I promise girl."

Giselle felt her anger reaching its peak.

Tightening her hand, she felt as if she was going to explode with her anger.

But then Kenpachi body stopped, with his eye becoming heavier and heavier, his body slinking down to the ground.

"W-What's going on?"

Giselle demanded from Mayuri, but he simply laughed.

"He's shutting down. He'll be dead within the hour."

Both Giselle and Yachiru gasped at the sight.

Whatever Mayuri had done, it was very serious indeed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takumi was moving away from the fight with Soi Fon to head back to the base of operations where Yoruichi and the others were, with Nanao beside him, seeing the young man breathing a little hard.

"Takumi-kun, you've been through a lot of fights today, perhaps we should take a break."

"Hehe, and if Soi Fon-san has a change of heart?"

Nanao sweat drops, thinking of Soi Fon hunting them down.

"Perhaps you're right, we should escape from here. Though Takumi-kun, I feel on edge, if we run into anyone else, with your current condition...especially if it is a Captain Class..."

"Don't worry, I've still got fight in me Nanao-san."

Nanao pushed up her glasses.

"Naturally, you always seem to be able to pull more tricks up your sleeve. Though I wish you wouldn't be so reckless. Fighting not one, but two Captain's today, along with Captain Zaraki the other day, it becomes worrying for people such as myself, you know?"

Takumi knew that he had worried Nanao and some others, and he did feel sorry about that.

"I know, I'm sorry about that Nanao-san. I wish that this was over, but there's a few things..." Pausing, Takumi felt the pressure of Giselle, and Mayuri's energies clashing. "...it feels as if there's a fight going on over there."

Nanao turned her expression into a more sturdy battle hardened look.

"...Yes, if I'm not mistaken, then that's Captain Kurotsuchi heading in that direction. But that other power...is it the Quincy girl? Not Yuzu Kurosaki...but, Giselle Gewelle? If that's the case, then they're in danger. But it is a bit of a distance from here...what should we do? Should we go that way? But in your condition, fighting another Captain is..." While Nanao was mumbling about what they should do, she saw that Takumi was already heading in that direction. "...w-wait one second, I'll also be coming with you!"

Nanao quickly shot for Takumi.

Getting close by, she glanced towards him.

"You could have said something if you're just going to leave."

Takumi showed a sheepish smile, seeing the tic mark on the young woman's forehead.

"Mehehehe, you were speaking so I thought if I began moving, you'd follow me. It seems to have worked, right?"

"Maybe you're right. But next time, don't dash out without informing me first."

Takumi became more focused with what she had said, knowing that he'd have to take it seriously.

"Understood."

He said with a serious expression on his face, and continued moving towards the location with Giselle and the others there.

* * *

Back with Giselle, she was watching Kenpachi slowly drawing in breath, with Yachiru who was in the background became confused by what was happening, attempting to reach out while calling "Ken-chan…" but Giselle stopped her from moving forward.

"Yachiru-chan, he's still in that gas. If you attempt to go near, you could be infected."

"B-But, Ken-chan is in danger!"

She argued, attempting to get by Giselle, but she kept stopping her.

"Perhaps, but clown bastard up there has done something to him. You heard what he said, it is something that is going to...kill him if we don't sort this bastard out soon enough."

Giselle said it while glaring towards Mayuri.

Mayuri placed a hand to his temple, showing a disturbing smile on his face.

"Aaaah yes, I got the oaf did I? Aah well, I was hoping to get you all in one fell swoop and have you die while I carve you up. But it doesn't seem to be the case after all. Well, I don't mind that now, I'll have to finish you off by the power of my Zanpakuto. I had wished to end this easily, but you're not being easy. That drug was made for Takumi you know? It painfully, agonizingly destroys your body from the inside out. I wanted him to be in as much pain as he possibly could be. Now you made me waste it on the oaf...well, that's alright anyway. He was a tricky one to deal with. If he unleashed his full power, we'd all be in serious trouble, wouldn't we? But that doesn't matter now, I guess that I'll have to make some more for Takumi. Aaha, maybe I could make it even better, and tear him asunder, wouldn't that be great?"

Giselle felt disgusted by what he had said.

It also angered her that he was trying to do something like this.

Mayuri stuck out his blade, and began summoning his power.

"Now, Quincy girl, behold my power. Rip, Ashisogi Jizo!"

Releasing his Zanpakuto, it became something that Giselle found terrible. Even she was looking at the baby face being made, and how it breathed out some poison, knowing she'd have to keep on the mask in case she was poisoned otherwise.

Giselle released a small breath, glancing at Kenpachi, then towards Yachiru.

"Yachiru-chan, take Kenpachi Zaraki away from here."

"But Giselle-chan, you..."

Yachiru wasn't sure.

Even she knew that Mayuri was deranged, and could come up with many different plans to attack.

Giselle offered a cute smile, trying to reassure her of everything currently happening.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. Make sure that he is able to survive. In fact, take him towards the right hand side of my body. If you keep going that way, you'll eventually run into someone that will be able to help him."

Yachiru wasn't sure about it.

But she knew that Giselle had serious eyes, and that caused her to do what Giselle had asked.

Giselle quickly fished Kenpachi out of the gas, or rather she attempted to, when Mayuri unleashed a number of Byakurai's towards her body, so she quickly took out some arrows from her bow, shooting them off at the lightning for her body and caused them to cancel out the other.

"Damn girl."

Mayuri clicked his tongue, and quickly shot into the gas itself.

Giselle turned to see a sword heading for her body, so she dodged right, and pulled an arrow from her bow, shooting it off at a close range for Mayuri's face, his head flinging itself backwards, just as the arrow went above his head, passing by his face.

"Close call."

He murmured, turning back to see Giselle was beside Kenpachi, while turning towards Mayuri's form.

"Have this!" Giselle unleashed a number of arrows for Mayuri, who quickly sliced through the arrows coming for him. "Oh, no barrier Mayuri?"

She mocked, seeing how he was fighting off the arrows again and again.

"That was something used against sword attacks, not your arrows. Besides, they are moving slow enough for me to hit so easily. Even these arrows can be destroyed if I slash them the right way, you know?"

Despite saying that, Giselle wasn't deterred in the slightest, and took an arrow, holding onto it like a blade, and swung it for Mayuri's own blade, clashing with it while kicking Kenpachi's body away from them, out of the gas, and to Yachiru.

Yachiru glanced back at Giselle who leapt out of the gas, and got high into the air, bringing her bow string back, and gathered a number of arrows.

"Eat this you creepy clown!"

Releasing a number of arrows, they rained down towards Mayuri.

Mayuri glanced upwards, before pulling out what seemed to be some kind of cloth, throwing it up into the air, and it began expanding. As the arrows hit it, they simply disbursed through the cloth, something that Giselle was beginning to feel annoyed about.

Yachiru shook her head, and yelled "Please stay alive!" then she grabbed Kenpachi, dragging him out of there.

Giselle got down to the ground as Mayuri saw Kenpachi and Yachiru getting away.

"Damn bastards, I'll get them back!"

Mayuri used his fake arm to shoot it towards the fleeing Yachiru and Kenpachi.

But as the hand got near, Giselle's arrow hit the arm, and destroyed it instantly, forcing Mayuri to look at the cable where his arm should be, and let out a small laugh.

"You truly are an annoying girl, aren't you?"

"Heh, and you're one sadistic evil man aren't you?"

Giselle shot back at Mayuri who didn't even deny it.

"Ooh yes I am. But do you think this will stop me? I have something that can regrow my arm again and again. I can repair my body, and all you can do is wait for your own destruction. You can die while I-"

"You really like hearing yourself speak, don't you?"

Giselle said it with a sweat drop, causing Mayuri to snicker.

"Yeah, now look at this girl."

Mayuri went into his outfit, and brought out a syringe with a green liquid inside.

Looking over it curiously, Mayuri pierced his shoulder with it, with the lost arm giving a faint glow, before growing it back once more. Giselle just watched on without even looking worried about what had happened.

"There, my arms back now. See? This is science little girl, what you are going to do is-"

"Honestly, I hope you didn't bore others with this kind of crap, you speak so much, my ears are literally bleeding. All I care about is killing you, for those who you have killed. Killing so many Quincy's, killing those innocent people from your squad beforehand, you must be truly evil to do that."

Mayuri gave a small thinking pose.

"Does it anger you? I killed them while dissecting them. I made them die several times, bringing them back, only to kill them again to test their abilities, see what would be their true breaking point and see the potential of their powers. They cried for their fellow Quincy's, and the stupid Quincy honour. Quincy this, Quincy that! It gets so damn annoying!"

"Couldn't agree with you more."

Mayuri...was stunned.

He definitely didn't expect her to say something like that.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, like it's so annoying when people think they're superior to anyone else. Quincy's, Shinigami, Hollows, they're pretty much similar with minor differences. It doesn't matter about that. People speaking about others in a negative way is terrible. Though you said you killed these Quincy's, they're my brethren, my blood, and you slaughtered them needlessly? You think saying that is going to get me rallied up? In fact, it only makes my convictions stronger."

"Why aren't you all about the honour of the damn Quincy anyway? Do you hate Quincy's?"

Mayuri guessed that.

But Giselle showed a scary smile on her face.

"No, I don't hate Quincy's, nor do I hate Shinigami or Hollows. I've got Quincy friends, I've got Shinigami friends, and I even have Hollow friends, so I don't hate any race. What I hate are people like you, people that abuse others, and use them, for your own gain."

"Speaking from experience? Have people used you before little Quincy?"

Giselle paused when he said that.

Her eyes closed for a brief moment, before opening them with more conviction.

"No one uses me, and I wont let you use anyone ever again."

"You and what army little girl?"

Giselle smirked, waving her hands outwards, which summoned Zombie members of the Gotei 13, including that of Ikkaku and Yumichika. With vacant eyes, more than twenty members stepped forward with Giselle seeing Mayuri's face curled downwards.

"This army. My army of Zombies~"

Mayuri did feel a nervous bead of sweat rolling down his cheek, and then down his neck.

Truly, he was becoming a little worried.

He hadn't expected something like this to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nemu and Orihime kept going towards the location that Mayuri was in.

Nemu had many conflicting emotions running through her body. She knew that it was going to be dangerous, she also knew that it was going to be difficult for her to face Mayuri, she knew that she'd have to do it.

Her feelings about Mayuri were complex. He had been a force in her life that she had to rely on, now she was beginning to emerge her own kind of personality, and had decided that Mayuri's way of life wasn't a thing she wished to be apart of.

Orihime could also see the conflicting feelings within Nemu, and wondered if she should say anything about it.

But as they moved, they saw that Yachiru carrying Kenpachi away from the battlefield, Orihime gasped.

"Nemu-san, we need to help her!"

"Yes, let us go."

Nemu quickly dashed to the side of Yachiru, letting Orihime down who was riding on the young woman's back.

"Ken-chan's been hurt! Boobies, you have to help him! You can, can't you?"

Yachiru said it with teary eyes.

Seeing the fact that he was barely moving, they both had to wonder what was happening. But Orihime immediately tapped the top of the building.

"Place him here, I'll try my best."

Yachiru let out a small sob "Hurry..." so Orihime did just that, as he was laid down on the roof.

"Ken-chan..."

Yachiru spoke with a sad expression on her face.

But the young woman simply showed a kind smile.

"Don't worry Yachiru-chan, we'll do this together." Placing her hands out, her hairpins began to glow. "Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

Summoning her Soten Kisshun, she began placing it around the large man before her, and began healing him. Though she noticed that as she was healing him, the damage was just kept steady, and she couldn't get rid of the damage so quickly.

Nemu looked on and could feel Mayuri's power growing more and more.

She also felt Giselle fighting with some of her Zombie's.

Orihime looked on at Kenpachi, and could tell that her power was only holding off the death of Kenpachi. She kept trying to use her power, but something was interfering with her ability to return Kenpachi back to normal.

"I don't understand..."

Nemu exhaled slowly.

"Orihime-sama, I have to go and confront Mayuri-sama. By my calculations, Takumi-sama should arrive here in a few short minutes. Please take care of Captain Zaraki."

"But Nemu-san..."

Orihime called, worried that if Nemu went, and Mayuri was going to hurt her…

But Nemu knew what she had to do, and simply took off, having some more of her own agency now.

She had to go and do a few things, leaving Orihime and Yachiru to Kenpachi.

* * *

Back with Giselle, she had just revealed her army of Zombie's to the baffled Mayuri. He hadn't seen something like this before, and it made him all the more curious about where this was going, and what he could do with this information, how he could experiment more and more on Giselle.

"Now, what are you going to do, Mayuri-chan~?"

"Hahaha, I know what I'm going to do little girl. I want to see what's within your body to create these magnificent creatures. Zombies, make me more interested than anything else. I wish to see what kind of things you can turn into Zombie's. What's the process? If you tell me, I'll make sure you have a room all to yourself."

Giselle gave a light scowl.

"Yeah right, as if I'm going to reveal that to you."

Mayuri's interested face, began to turn into a scowl.

"Don't mess with me little girl."

Giselle showed a daring smile.

"Why not? I'll do as I like. So, why don't you try my Zombie's~?"

Giselle waved her hand, and sent off the normal Shinigami towards Mayuri, holding back her stronger Zombies for the moment. Mayuri scowl grew more and more, and turned his blade towards the incoming Shinigami.

"These people are weak fools. You can't hope to defeat me with imbeciles like these!"

Mayuri announced as Giselle took out her bow.

Mayuri jumped towards the enemy Shinigami, and began slashing them down more and more, using his sword to paralyse their bodies, cutting their chests, stabbing their legs, and other parts of their bodies while fending off their sword strikes.

"_Hmmm, it seems that they haven't lost their proficiency despite being so called Zombies. Are they dead? Are they alive? I can't tell without studying them more._"

While thinking about it, Giselle fired off a number of arrows towards Mayuri's form, forcing him to block with his blade, cutting down the arrows, just as a few Shinigami attempted to jump him from behind to cut him down.

His eyes scarily turned towards them, and gave a single swing outwards, slashing all their torsos, and dropped them down to the ground.

"Do you think these weak fools can fight me?!"

While he yelled that out, Giselle prepared an arrow that had some strange markings on them, firing it off at a high speed, and went towards Mayuri, who turned to see it coming, and raised a barrier with his Kido.

But the barrier simply shattered, forcing him to dodge out of the way, as the arrow continued on behind him, shattering a few walls along its path, surprising Mayuri quite a bit, turning to see that said bunch of walls had crumbled down to the ground.

Mayuri turned back to Giselle who was charging up another arrow for Mayuri.

Gritting his teeth, Mayuri charged for Giselle this time, hoping to slash her before she could get close with the arrow.

However, just before he could get close, Ikkaku jumped down and slashed at Mayuri instead, forcing him to block with his Zanpakuto. The naginata like weapon stabbed at Mayuri several times, who admittedly wasn't the best at sword play, was having a slightly difficult time in keeping up with the increased number of stabbing that Ikkaku was giving off.

"Naturally, it seems like their skills haven't dulled. A member of the Eleventh Squad is a dangerous person to fight up close anyway."

Giselle thought that Mayuri was a little too relaxed despite having to spar with someone like Ikkaku, who while wasn't the strongest, had sword, or in this case, staff skills, above Mayuri who specialized in Kido and poisons more than anything else like this.

Mayuri then watched as Ikkaku came from the right hand side, so he raised a hand and blocked it with a Kido barrier, pushing him away, along with releasing a Kido spell Hainawa, wrapping yellow rope around Ikkaku's body.

"Ooh no, he's caught! Whatever are we going to do~?"

She sang out, going to fire an arrow at him…

But then felt something creeping up her leg.

Turning down, she saw that it was a chain, that quickly wrapped around her form. But she felt it was stronger than a normal chain, as if it was being drawn towards her body, and she couldn't break free, with the chain binding tighter and tighter.

"W-What is this?! Get off me!"

Mayuri began to laugh at the sight, as Giselle tried to break free.

"I said I've been studying Quincy's girl and I met you before. I also knew that it would be difficult to trap you with Kido, so I made something to attract to your specific spiritual energy, which I gathered information back at the place we last met. Do you like it? You're going to be trapped now, you can't escape me. Even if you send that idiot Yumichika after me, he wont be able to held with you now."

Giselle didn't say anything, and watched as Mayuri was heckling her as if he was having a right to do something like that.

He then turned to Ikkaku with his blade.

"And now, it's time to off baldy here. Before I come for you, girl. Don't worry though, I wont hurt you too much. I'll just make sure that you're cut up a little bit, maybe we could find out more about Quincy abilities together? You could explain more about your powers, and eventually show me your powers."

Raising his blade, Mayuri slashed towards the right hand side, attempting to cut down the bald man with his blade.

But Giselle snickered at the sight, stopping Mayuri briefly.

"...What are you snickering at?"

Giselle stuck out her tongue.

"You really don't know your own members of the Gotei 13, do you? Speaking to me like you have any right, speaking down to people. Let me give you a lesson. When you get to know people, you get to know what kind of powers they have, and how to use them."

Mayuri didn't get quite what was being said.

But suddenly, vines erupted around him, wrapping around his form, and stopped him in track.

"W-What?!"

Mayuri traced the source of the vines, and saw that it was Yumichika's Zanpakuto.

"Ooh, did you not know? Or did you think I didn't know about it? Either way, Yumichika-chan here has been keeping a naughty secret about his Zanpakuto, and it seems that he's able to use two different release commands. This one, is called Ruri'iro Kujaku, and it has a special ability to drain the spiritual energy out of someone until they're bone dry, where they crumble away, and they die! Sorry Mayuri, it seems that you're done now!"

Mayuri began to truly panic now.

If this was the case, then they were done.

There was nothing he could do about being drained dry like this.

He had to think, and he had to think quickly, or he was going to die.

* * *

Back with Takumi and Nanao, they were continuing towards their destination, but Takumi had a few things he was rather curious about and decided to ask Nanao about it.

"Say Nanao-san, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course. What is it?"

Takumi thought about which question he'd want to know about first.

"Well,you must know of my personal relationships...do you know what Aizen and I were like back then?"

"Captain Aizen and you...erm, I do remember that you did have a friendly relationship. Though it seemed to be something that Captain Aizen wasn't really willing to share. Perhaps he was embarrassed, as he was more, introverted and silent and you Takumi-kun...well, you weren't really the silent type, you were the person that wished to help and get to know others...I think nothing has probably changed."

Takumi let out a small laugh.

"Nope, I'm still quite like that~"

Nanao raised an intrigued eyebrow.

"Why did you want to know?"

"I'm just curious about it, and to see if Aizen has some kind of personal vendetta against me, if my existence is something he hates."

Nanao got into a thinking pose.

"Honestly, I can't think of anything. I remember seeing you both when younger, and it seemed to me that you really got on, from your days on the Second Division, and then as you moved to other divisions..."

"How many divisions was I in?"

"Hmmm, you joined the Second...you were also in the Twelfth...you also were in the Eighth with myself, and Lisa-san..."

"Heh, seems like I jumped around a lot huh."

Nanao let out a small giggle she couldn't contain.

"You had your reasons from moving Squad to Squad."

Takumi was even more wondering than before.

"Do you know why?"

"I think it was probably because of your Father...you're aware he was a member of the Gotei 13 at one point like you, yes?" Takumi inclined his neck. "He also was in the Second Division, then he was in the Twelfth Division, the Captain with his Lieutenant, who you had a...colourful relationship with...but, he wasn't in the Eighth Division while you were."

"So, why did I move there?"

Nanao shrugged her shoulders.

"You never told me why, though I do have my suspicions why you were brought under Captain Kyoraku. I thought it might be because my Captain saw potential within you...or he was lazy and forced you to do his paperwork. The same with Lisa-san probably."

"Really? Lisa-san never said."

Nanao's face turned confused.

"You...still see her?"

"Back in the human world, I know all of the gang, from Shinji, to Lisa-san. They're all...pretty unique to say the least. They've taught me a few things, I learned a bit of Kido from Hacchi, I've learned aggressive sword swings from Hiyori-chan, Shinji taught me about messing with opponents, Lisa-san taught me about...sex appeal." Nanao sweat dropped. "I'm not sure where I'm gonna work that in, but it might come in handy. The others also taught me various things in their...respective fields, some are more useful than others, not gonna lie."

Nanao overlooked Takumi, and felt her face heat up ever so slightly.

"Y-Yes, it seems that you all have become rather close over the hundred years." Takumi began laughing to the confusion of Nanao. "Something funny?"

"It's just the concept of being over a hundred years old, it's just weird. By the way Nanao-san, do you know anything about my Mother?"

At the question, Nanao scrunched her eyebrows together.

"No...I can't say that I do. You spoke about her sometimes, but it seemed painful so I didn't interfere more."

Takumi could get that.

"So, what was our relationship, Nanao-san?"

As soon as he asked that, her face burned bright red, fixing her eyes to in front of her.

"W-We were friends, that's all!"

Takumi gave her suspicious looks.

"Is that all?"

Nanao nodded without looking at him like a robot.

"Y-Yes, we were just friends."

"Oh, were we at least close friends?"

Nanao paused, her eyes going towards him.

"...I'd yes that we were pretty good friends. I...don't have many personal relationships with others, and at first, we were...I was caught off guard by your demeanour, there truly wasn't a Shinigami quite like you. I'd say that my Captain comes close...but, you always had this mysteriousness about you, you often disappeared into the Rukongai, you even used to drink tea with Head Captain."

"The old man?!"

Takumi yelled with astonishment, Nanao inclined her neck with a small laugh.

"The very same, it seems he liked your youthful energy, he often asked you to come for tea. Even as a new subordinate under Captain Yoruichi. I remember a fair few people that found you weird, or odd, but I always found you fascinating. Anything negative thrown your way, you'd simply laugh it off, and continue forward with a smile. It was endearing to someone like me. I hadn't met anyone like you, plus you weren't lazy like my Captain, you always seemed to want to challenge yourself, and whatever you did make, you'd simply give it away to people that needed it. Yes...you were very odd, and I'm glad you haven't changed, Takumi-kun."

She admitted at the end, blushing heavily.

Takumi gave a simple smile towards the young woman as they continued on.

He was glad that he could learn a bit more, but it also intrigued him more about what his former life was like.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giselle continued to watch as Mayuri was being drained dry of his energy.

From the vines, rose like buds began to be produced, Mayuri's panic grew within his eyes, while Giselle smile was growing more and more.

"Sorry you clown bastard, but you're going to die. Perhaps now you'll know the real fear you put Quincy's through, everyone you've ever experimented on. You're no scientist, you're a joke Mayuri."

While she spoke, Ikkaku managed to break through the Kido spell, and come to her side.

"Zombie Ikkaku has come to save Giselle-sama."

"Good Zombie Ikkaku, you're a very good man."

Using his Shikai, he sliced right through the chains that bound her, and freed her body.

Waving a hand through her hair, her eyes went towards Mayuri.

"How you hanging Mayuri? Your body feeling weak? You'll soon be dead, but I'd like to help that process along."

Mayuri felt more and more of his power being drained out of him.

His eyes were being laced with a bit of fear.

He kept thinking about how to handle this.

Giselle began to laugh as she pulled back her bow string, and began forming an arrow, an arrow meant to kill Mayuri.

"This is also for your Lieutenant. Rest in hell, you bastard...no, hell is too nice for you. You need to go to the lowest levels of the world, and disappear for good. You wont be able to hurt anyone else where you're going."

Mayuri continued to panic, shaking side to side with worry beginning to come on his face.

As he thought about all of the gadgets he had, he wondered which would be able to help him…

Then he gained a dirty smirk.

"Hahahaha! So this is a good trick indeed girl! I'll praise you for your ingenuity! Did you get him just for this reason? My powers draining out of me, my body is going to wither away, yet I'm the most excited I've been in a long time! But, you also underestimated me. Because, I always come out on top, no matter the opponent, all I have to do is sacrifice my arm."

Giselle became confused, as she saw Mayuri going towards his pocket with his hand.

"No you wont!"

Giselle fired off the arrow instantly for his head to kill him.

Mayuri's fingers got inside of his pocket, and he pressed some kind of device that was in the shade of a sphere with lights coming off of it. The lights suddenly began to release some kind of fire that was growing higher and higher through his arm.

He let out a cry of pain as the flames quickly spread up his arm, which in turn burned through the vines, enough for Mayuri to move his neck out of the way, with the arrow cutting across his cheek, and pierced through one of the places his ears should be, shattering it off Mayuri's body, while the fire completely burns through the vines, freeing Mayuri.

Immediately, he sliced off the arm, which crumbled into ashes on the ground, with Mayuri panting at the sight of his arm being destroyed like it was.

But he still had a dark smile, twisted in with his anger, for Giselle.

"You bitch, you're really pushing your luck now, aren't you?"

Giselle panted, nodding as she took a good at the injured Mayuri.

"And you, what are you going to do now? Are you going to fight against me like that? I don't think so."

Mayuri, with his remaining arm, held his sword outwards.

"If that's what you think, then you either don't know, or don't remember, about Shinigami's Zanpakuto. They don't have a single release, they also have a release above the initial Shikai state, and here it is, my little Zombie girl."

Giselle began to panic.

She didn't know what Mayuri's second release was going to be, what kind of power it would have.

"Now, Bankai."

As soon as he said it, the baby face of his Zanpakuto let out a small crying sound.

The baby's head on the guard opens its mouth as it produces a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape, with a grotesque golden baby's head and arms, and a silver halo hovering around its head. Near the back of the halo are 4 bells, 2 on each side. From the bottom of its body, blades jutted out, more than Giselle cared to count for.

From the mouth of the golden baby face, breathed out a thick layer of poison, Giselle watched as it came closer and closer, washing over them. But due to the masks, she and the others were safe from being poisoned.

Mayuri, with his injuries, began showing a truly disturbing look on his face.

"Now, girl! You're going to be pierced through and I'll end your life!"

"Don't just assume things Mayuri."

Giselle gritted her teeth, as the giant caterpillar creatures blade began moving forward, Giselle pulled back her arrow, and shot it off at the creature, which bounced off the body of the creature, not even leaving a dent.

"Hahahaha! Now girl, your arrows wont work!"

Giselle raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Is that so?"

"It is."

Giselle continued looking on and wondered what would be the best way to go about this.

But then she glanced at Ikkaku, and then her own bow and arrow.

"Ikkaku, it's time to do it."

"Do what?"

Mayuri quizzed the young woman, only for Giselle to smirk.

"For someone so smart, I thought you'd know of your trusted comrades abilities. You didn't know Yumichika's, so I'm guessing you don't know about Ikkaku's either, do you little bastard?" Mayuri furrowed his eyes curiously as Ikkaku swung his staff around. "Do it, Ikkaku, Bankai."

"B-Bankai…?"

Mayuri was baffled as Ikkaku thrusted his arms into the air.

"Bankai!"

With a release of power, Ikkaku's Shikai form breaks away and turns into a different shape all together.

Its two main weapons are a Chinese Monk's spade and a standard guandao. Both have a traditional horsehair tassel at the hilt, and a long, cylindrical weight for a pommel. The pommels are connected by a heavy chain to the center section, which resembles an axe blade, with a parallel handle forged into the blunt end and a dragon crest on one side of the blade.

Mayuri was stunned as Giselle snapped her fingers.

"Go Ikkaku-kun~"

Ikkaku followed his masters orders, and launched forward. Mayuri through gritted teeth watched as the large caterpillars blades clashed together, creating a heavy amount of sparks dousing the area, with Mayuri snapping at the creature.

"Bite him if you have to! Snap him like a twig!"

Mayuri's Bankai responded by showing its teeth, attempting to bite Ikkaku, but Yumichika's Shikai's vines shoot out, and wrap around the creatures neck, yanking it backwards, while also absorbing some of its power.

Mayuri looked on with an annoyed expression, ordering the creature to cut through the vines with the swords inside of it, which it did, but Ikkaku began swinging the large blades, clashing violently with the swords, and the power of the Bankai increased a bit, as it nicked some of the blade.

Mayuri looked beyond annoyed, while Giselle pulled back her bow string, and formed an arrow. But not just any old arrow, she was forming an arrow that was going to pool her powers, knowing that she'd have to summon her strength to cut down the Bankai.

Ikkaku forced back the Bankai of Mayuri's with a hard swing, before raising the two blades above his head, and with the chain attached to them, swung them round like a propeller, cutting more and more into the Bankai's body.

"I don't think so!"

Mayuri placed his hand out, and shot off a Sokatsui towards Ikkaku, only for Yumichika's Zanpakuto to form a wall of vines, blocking off the high dense shot, albeit with the power ripping right through the vines, but didn't progress further.

Mayuri ground his teeth, turning his attention to Giselle, and attempted to fire off a Kido spell at her, only for Ikkaku to stick out his blade, and slam it towards Mayuri, forcing him to dodge out of the way, while Yumichika shot his vines out towards him.

"Be shocked!"

From his head, a surge of electricity came out, shocking the vines heading for him, and forced them away, while Giselle snickered "That's Takumi-kun's specialty, not yours~" which infuriated Mayuri to no end.

His finger jabbed towards her angrily.

"You shut up! I am trying to do something here!"

"Yeah me too."

Mayuri was flabbergasted, he hadn't predicted he'd be pushed this far by Giselle.

Perhaps Takumi, but not Giselle.

Giselle though didn't seem to care what Mayuri thought and continued charging her arrow.

As the two Bankai's clashed together, Giselle could see the power was growing more and more with the red crest growing more and more. Ikkaku came right with the Bankai, which knocked it backwards ever so slightly, allowing Yumichika's vines to wrap around its neck, strangling the creature and sucking away its energy at the same time.

Mayuri, seeing his chance, shot for Giselle in an attempt to force the Zombie's to stop, his hand sticking out to grab the young woman.

But Giselle tossed some silver looking cylinders onto the ground, which erupted with power, creating a barrier, stopping Mayuri's progression towards her, his hand being repelled by the barrier ever so slightly.

Panting, Mayuri saw Ikkaku's Bankai slicing upwards, and cut the cheek of the creature, at the same time he received a hard slash to the torso.

"Hah! Your human puppets are made of flesh and bone, they'll eventually die, and my Bankai will kill you!"

"Perhaps that's what you think. But you know, Zombie's are a bit more durable than what you think. And how do you know that my Zombie's don't regenerate?"

Giselle baited, seeing Mayuri's eyes glaring harshly for the young woman.

"Don't test my patience girl."

Mayuri said it with a sharp tongued voice.

Giselle however saw that her arrow was ready, so she took aim.

"It's time to say goodbye to your Bankai."

"That wimpy arrow wont slice through my Bankai!"

Mayuri was sure of it.

But he didn't know what Giselle was thinking about.

"We'll see about that! Do you know about Blut? Blut Arterie, is something that Quincy's possess that can damage a Bankai. You Shinigami have Bankai, we have something as well. And if I use mine, you'd definitely die. Though, it's like hard to control, so I don't want to rely on it right now. This will be enough for someone like me."

Giselle heartily pulled back her bow string, and aimed right for the face of the caterpillar creature. Mayuri didn't think it would be able to work, but he had to admit that he was rather intrigued to see what Giselle's attempts were going to be.

Even then, Giselle didn't let Mayuri dissuade her, continued charging up that arrow of hers.

Mayuri, feeling more pressure from Giselle, began to feel nervous.

"Destroy her! That girl, right now!"

Mayuri commanded, so the creatures blades went for the arrow. Ikkaku went to slice down the blades, when Mayuri quickly did a binding spell on him, grabbing him with six pillars of light, Giselle thought he might do that, and turned to Yumichika...seeing that he also was trapped.

"Tch, you are tricky."

"Naturally, I knew you'd try that, little girl. Your ability to fight seems to depend on your allies around your, your Zombie powers makes it so your allies can work very well in tandem, almost as if you're the leader of an army. But even with an army, you wont be able to beat me."

Giselle showed a small smirk on her face.

"Yes, you're probably right. I'd have to use my full power to defeat your Bankai, but as I said, my power is difficult to control since I've not had it all that long. But you're forgetting my comrades, my adorable Zombie's, they have quite a few good abilities, and I'm going to use them right now to my own advantage!"

Giselle thrusted her hand towards Ikkaku, with a wire coming off her fingers, which grabbed the weapon, and brought it closer towards the young woman. Mayuri attempted to use the caterpillar to stop her in her tracks, but she was too fast for the giant creature, and brought the hulking weapon to her side.

She then overlaid her arrow with the glowing over half way full Dragon crest, using the Quincy ability to draw in spiritual energy, and did that with the storing power of Ikkaku's Bankai, which brought her arrows power to a level Mayuri hadn't even thought about, causing a nervous bead of sweat to run down his cheek.

"So...this is the power of the Quincy..."

Mayuri was in a state of disbelief, his mind couldn't comprehend that Giselle had managed to do this.

Building this much power, using the power to fight against him.

"Now Mayuri, time to go bye bye!"

Giselle, with the arrow that dwarfed a house, shot it off towards the caterpillar creature. It attempted to defend with its blades, but as soon as the arrow hit the blades, it ripped them asunder, destroying them instantly, and continued on.

"N-No! No! No!"

Mayuri exclaimed, attempting to move backwards, but the arrows speed, and strength was more than he had predicted, and the large arrow ripped right through the Bankai, splitting it almost in two, with Mayuri's right arm, along with his right shoulder, and all the way down to his hip on the right hand side was obliterated by Giselle's intense power.

With a large amount of blood leaking out of him, his body fell down to his knees, with a large deal of blood coming out of his mouth.

Giselle smiled at the sight…

But then she felt something impale her torso.

Widening her eyes, she saw that it was the caterpillars blade had been released, which was dripping with poison.

Mayuri's face curled upwards despite his pain, and began laughing.

"Always one last trick, girl."

Giselle crumbled down to her knees, as Mayuri began moving forward.

His legs were unsteady, but he still pushed forward.

With his sword now returning to its sealed state, he made it to Giselle who looked up at the sight.

"Your body...is stopped now...you can't...do anything little Quincy girl...you're going to die..."

Mayuri, lifting up his blade, and aimed it for Giselle.

Giselle gritted her teeth, thinking "_I'll use Ransotengai to manipulate my paralyzed body like a puppet..._" but before she could even begin, suddenly Nemu stood before Mayuri, stopping him in his tracks.

"Mayuri-sama, I beg you, please stop."

At that, Mayuri became so baffled that even he was stunned by Nemu's words.

* * *

Back with Orihime, she was continuing to heal Kenpachi as best as she could. But no matter what she did, it seemed like Kenpachi was still going through something akin to dying. He didn't make a sound, but the pain on Kenpachi's face was real.

Truly, it seemed like Mayuri had made this to make Takumi suffer, but he was now making Kenpachi suffer instead.

While she worked on Kenpachi, Takumi came shooting in with Nanao, landing beside Orihime.

"Taku-chan! Something's happened with Ken-chan! Help him!"

Yachiru let out a cute crying sound, so Takumi bent down to Kenpachi's unconscious body.

"It's alright Yachiru-san, we'll sort this out."

"But Taku-chan, I don't know what's happening. The more I heal him...it's like whatever Mayuri-san has done, is destroying him faster than I heal him. Even when I repair some damage, it just becomes damaged once more."

"What happened exactly?"

Nanao asked, so Yachiru gave the best recollection of events that she could.

While she did, Takumi took out a scanning device, while also doing some tests as he told Orihime to continue her efforts, which seemingly were keeping Kenpachi alive for the moment.

"It seems like he'll be gone soon, Takumi-kun. That...poison or whatever it is, is able to even kill Captain Zaraki."

"B-But I don't want him to die!"

Yachiru cried at Nanao, as Takumi gently petted her head.

"It's alright, we'll deal with this." Takumi continued scanning Kenpachi while Orihime continued healing. "Hmmm...from what I can see here, it seems that his cells are being destroyed from the inside. The pain would have been instant, and it's designed to attack his internal organs...it's a deadly poison alright, and we need to neutralize it. Even with Orihime-chan using her powers, it's rapid rate of spreading is killing him faster than your Soten Kisshun is able to heal him...but, if we're able to stop his body from dying...then we would work together to cure him of this ailment."

Takumi went into his bag, and began quickly mixing some chemicals together.

"Takumi-kun, what are you going to do?"

Nanao asked, while Takumi glanced at a few different chemicals.

"Honestly, this kind of attack is to be expected. He's a poison expert, Mayuri. This kind of attack would do the most damage the quickest. I have to say that if he wasn't evil, then he'd be able to help people, his knowledge on the human anatomy is fantastic...but, if we can put Kenpachi-san in a suspended animation like state, then Captain Unohana and I along with Orihime-chan should be able to help come up with a vaccine to this poison."

While he was speaking, Shuhei from Squad 9, after his swatting away from Kenpachi, began coming closer while rubbing his head.

"Aah damn...that attack was scary..."

As he spoke, he heard noises coming from up above.

Becoming wary of it, he jumped up towards another building secretly, and used his expert skills to spy on what was happening.

What he saw was Takumi was on the roof with Nanao and Yachiru, and Orihime.

He also noticed that it seemed like Orihime and Takumi to him was doing something to Kenpachi, and that Yachiru and Nanao were attempting to stop him, from his perspective anyway.

Seeing an opportunity, he leaped up towards them, and aimed a fist towards Takumi.

"Alright Takumi Urahara, it's time for you to be stopped!"

Takumi glanced up at Shuhei who was looking on strong.

Glancing at Orihime, she giggled out "Taku-chan, it seems we've been discovered, should we fight?" with Takumi scratching his cheek.

"He seems quite injured...so, Ravage, Kinhime!" With a bolt of lightning coming from the sky onto his blade, it turned into a sword shaped like a lightning bolt. "Now, you can either leave quietly, or we could have a fight."

Shuhei tightened his hands, turning to Nanao and Yachiru.

"Lieutenant's, we should team up, and fight him together!"

Nanao and Yachiru glanced at one another, Takumi giving them knowing looks, so they stood next to Shuhei and pointed their fingers towards Takumi.

"Yes, for my Captain, I shall take you in."

"You might have hurt Ken-chan! We can't forgive you!"

Hearing their faux words of antagonism, Takumi raised a brow curiously, before whipping his sword up above his head, creating sparks of electricity within the air. Shuhei got into a fighting position, charging for Takumi with his lightning fast kick heading for him.

However, Orihime thrusted her hands forward, on Takumi's request.

"Santen Kesshun! I reject!"

"W-Wait, what?"

Shuhei got confused as the shield came up, and blocked the intense kick, as more and more electricity came gathering onto the blade, with the tip of the blade, pointing directly at Shuhei as Nanao and Yachiru attempted to 'fight' against Takumi and Orihime.

However, Takumi announced a faux Kido spell to bind them, and they acted as if they had been bound by Kido energy, and fell down to the ground, while Shuhei was surprised by what had happened.

"Taking down Lieutenant's like that, you can't take me-"

"Have this!"

Shuhei watched as the blades lightning shot for him, so he tried to dodge it, but Orihime used her Santen Kesshun to create a wall, stopping him from being able to escape towards the left hand side, his eyes widening at the sight of the lightning.

"Aaaah!"

Shuhei let out a yell, with the lightning wrapping around the body of Shuhei, and sent powerful shocks through his system. Shocking him from head to toe, Shuhei felt as if his body was becoming paralysed by the intense shock of electricity.

Then Takumi whipped his sword right, and sent Shuhei away into a building. Though Takumi made sure that he didn't truly hurt Shuhei, but knock him out instead. Unable to fight for consciousness, he was knocked out, with Nanao and Yachiru stood up.

"Wow, he went far!"

Yachiru yelled happily, while Nanao folded her arms.

"It seems to have worked."

Takumi showed a calm expression on his face.

"Well, on the off chance that he got away, it couldn't be revealed you were working with me. And now you can both collaborate that you also were shocked and flung away from the area like he was. To be on the safe side, perhaps send some Squad members here Nanao-san."

"Good thinking, I'll explain the situation after we've finished here. It should give you time to get away, and I'll have to meet up with you later on. Top priority is to keep the safety of you, and the others."

Takumi nodded, and continued working on some kind of drug.

Eventually, after a few minutes, Takumi finished working on said drug, and injected Kenpachi with it.

Yachiru looked on with a heavy heart, hoping that Kenpachi was going to be okay.

Kenpachi's body began to spasm, igniting worry within Yachiru.

"Ken-chan! A-Are you..."

"It's okay, this is supposed to happen."

Takumi confirmed it with a kind expression on his face.

Yachiru turned her teary eyes towards Takumi.

"...W-What's happened to Ken-chan…? What did you do Taku-chan…?"

"What I've done is basically put him on ice, on the inside. But, don't think that's dying Yachiru-chan, it's a drug that works on slowing down the cells in his body until they stay completely still. He might feel cold, but everything in his body right now, is in a frozen state, nothing can progress, and nothing can spread either to other parts of Kenpachi-sans body either. And don't worry, it wont damage him permanently, and I can reverse it anytime with a counter drug."

Orihime let out a small breath she didn't know she was holding.

"That's a relief Taku-chan. We should be able to help him now."

"Yes, I'll regulate his body so nothing happens, but we should get going. First we need to check on the others, then head back to Yoruichi-chan. I'll carry Kenpachi-san, Orihime-chan I'll also carry you on my back. Yachiru-san, follow me, alright?"

[Yes!]

They replied at the same time, leaving Nanao to incline her neck.

"Then we'll part from here, be careful everyone."

"Thanks, Nanao-san. I'll leave it to you."

Takumi quickly hauled Kenpachi onto his right shoulder, with Orihime getting to his other side. Then they shot off towards the place that Nemu and Giselle was, hoping that they were still able to keep going on.

* * *

Back with Giselle, Nemu had stepped before Mayuri, who looked on with surprise. After hearing her request, he chose to ignore it, believing it to be a simple thing that she was doing, which she usually did when he was trying to do things she apparently was against.

"Nemu, what are you doing you dull looking girl? Where have you been? I've been calling for you for a while now. You best have a good reason."

At the threatening tone, Nemu almost felt like giving in and simply saying "Sorry Mayuri-sama." but she stopped herself, knowing it wouldn't be a great way to go about it.

Mayuri impatiently tapped his foot on the ground.

"Well?"

Nemu didn't reply.

She couldn't reply.

She hadn't faced Mayuri like this before, with a sense of independence.

Mayuri became increasingly annoyed.

"Whatever, move out of the way Nemu, I want to harvest this girls body before she dies. That poison will eventually kill her if I don't administer the counter drug to it. Seriously, having to use these on her, and not Takumi, it makes me feel so damn annoyed. Bringing me to this kind of level. Inconceivable? She really has driven my anger up. Now, it's time to finish her off."

Mayuri produced a normal looking knife, and aimed it at Giselle.

Giselle gritted her teeth, knowing that if she was going to be attacked, then she'd die, and she couldn't have that.

She began gathering spiritual energy around her form, while Mayuri laughed maniacally.

"Don't worry Quincy girl, this wont hurt that much."

Nemu watched as Mayuri began walking around her.

Nemu however couldn't let Giselle get hurt, and ended up getting in front of Mayuri once more.

"This is beginning to get annoying Nemu! Get out of the way, now!"

Even though she was threatened, Nemu couldn't do as Mayuri had asked.

She wouldn't do it anymore.

"...Mayuri-sama, you always told me to follow your orders."

"Yeah, and right now, you're disobeying them. Care to explain yourself Nemu?"

Nemu could see that Mayuri, despite his injuries, was becoming increasingly angry at Nemu.

"Mayuri-sama, I have begun thinking."

"Thinking? When did I tell you to do that?"

"You didn't, Mayuri-sama. However, I have been to Karakura Town, and I have been thinking about the treatment I have received since my creation. I...do not like it."

It took a lot for Nemu to say that.

It took a lot from her to even confront Mayuri.

But it didn't mean she could stop either.

"You don't like it? You are told what you like and don't from me! I am your creator Nemu, do not think you have any right to disobey me!"

"But Mayuri-sama, I must. I have come to like things such as music, and taking pictures. I also have a fascination with gathering information. I also appear to like chocolate milk, I hadn't realized that I did like it before."

Giselle felt a smile come to her face as Nemu was confessing these things.

It was her normal stoic voice for the most part.

But there was some strong emotion within her voice.

Mayuri couldn't hide his astonishment, and couldn't comprehend what was currently happening.

"Nemu, I do not like these words coming from your mouth. If you don't be quiet girl, I'll cut you down. Do you understand me? Who's put this nonsense in your head anyway? Is it that damn Takumi? It is, isn't it?"

"Takumi-sama...he is the person that asked me a single question."

Mayuri raised an irritated brow.

"And that was?"

"Who are you? That simple question began running through my mind, and I decided more and more about who I really am. Mayuri-sama, I do not wish to harm good people. And I cannot allow you to harm her, anymore."

Mayuri's face contorted into a shape that was unrecognizable.

It was inconceivable to someone like him.

He couldn't believe that Nemu of all people was standing up to him like this.

It caused anger to stir within him.

It caused his rage to grow to levels that he hadn't even thought about before.

His lone hand with his sword raised high, and he aimed it at Nemu.

Nemu...offered no resistance.

She couldn't offer any resistance.

She was told time and time again to never disobey Mayuri, it almost felt like she had been programmed to do that.

Giselle's body began to be wrapped within spiritual wires to hoist her up.

Mayuri saw that despite Nemu looking submissive, her eyes were defiant.

That defiance was something that Mayuri couldn't stand.

"I'll teach you to be like that with me, girl!"

Nemu lowered her eyes and accepted what was about to come.

Even though Giselle said things like "Don't you dare!" while attempting to move to intercept, Mayuri just kept laughing all the more, and went to slash Nemu with his blade…

When a voice rang out.

"Nemu-saaaaaaaaaaan! Don't let him hurt yoooooooooooooooooou!"

Though they were a significant distance away, Nemu heard the calling of Takumi, snapping her to make a stand.

Without thinking, she grabbed Mayuri's sword wielding arm, and stopped it in its tracks.

Mayuri looked down at their connection, then gave fiery eyes towards Nemu.

"You...stopped me? Why Nemu….? Why are you being defiant like this?"

"...I want to become a better person. I, can do that as well. Though Mayuri-sama created me...you do not treat me correctly. I, do not wish to be under your service if this is the life that I have waiting for me. Mayuri-sama, gave me life, and I am, grateful. However, that is as far as it extends. Mayuri-sama created me, but he doesn't..."

"Love you."

Giselle added, to Mayuri's despair.

"Yes, that is correct, Giselle-san."

Nemu's words cut like a knife into Mayuri.

His own creation, turning on him.

Nemu, wasn't following his orders.

Nemu pushed Mayuri away from her, as Giselle stood up, taking an arrow out.

Mayuri's angered eyes went towards Giselle.

"How are you...wait, is it that? The famous Ransotengai? It is, isn't it? Haha, you can even do that? You are a fine Quincy after all! And Takumi has swayed Nemu...seriously, you're pissing me off now!" Mayuri backed away, while slipping down onto the ground from his weakened state. "Y-You Nemu...you're going to regret turning your back on me! I'll make sure of it, you insolent girl!"

Nemu simply bowed her head, and didn't offer anymore than that.

Mayuri raised his blade, and pierced himself through the throat, shocking Giselle.

"W-What's he doing?"

"His body will turn into a liquid, and he'll be able to escape. Though he can get away, he cannot attack, nor can we attack him."

As she spoke, Mayuri's body exploded into a bluish green liquid that scattered everywhere. Giselle huffed while the liquid parts began to sink through the walls crevices, with them being unable to do anything against it.

"Good move Quincy girl...and Nemu, I'll be coming back for you. Nothing I create defies me, you are no longer anything I want to associate with...I'll build something even better than you...I'll create someone immensely powerful that wont betray me..."

"Mayuri-sama...I did not wish to betray you, I wished to do what was right."

"Who decides what is right?"

"Mayuri-sama, harming innocent people, is wrong. Perhaps you might dislike me, but I am grateful to Mayuri-sama. He gave me life, now I shall explore what it means to be living."

Mayuri released growl after growl.

It was inconceivable that Nemu could do this to him.

He had to wonder where he went wrong with her, why she had turned on him like this.

Getting beside them, Takumi and the others came to see the departing Mayuri.

"Mayuri..."

"Takumi Urahara, you did this to Nemu...you swayed her to your side with your words..."

Takumi could hear the rage within his voice.

It was nearly inhuman.

But Takumi didn't care, and still pressed forward.

"What I did for her, is only give her the right to choose what life she wished for. And she didn't choose to do what you do. I never swayed her, I only told her about the joys of life, and what she could do if she wanted. I didn't force my ideals onto her, she already had ideals inside of her, squashed under years of psychological abuse you had given her. She was your child, and you abused her trust, physically hurting her, mentally destroyed her to the point that she had nearly no agency, she was a nearly broken person. You, are not a true scientist, Mayuri. If you come for Nemu-san I promise to cut you down and leave no trace of you. I don't care how smart you are, I'll defeat you with all of my intelligence and my power."

Mayuri was seething at this point.

Losing to Giselle, Nemu disobeying him and leaving his side for Takumi's, and Takumi himself, being someone that had said those words that were stirring within his mind again and again.

"...Until the day Takumi, lets see who's smarter next time...I'll destroy you."

With that, the last of the liquid had disappeared, leaving them alone.

As soon as he went, Takumi saw that Nemu was looking at the ground.

"Nemu-san..."

"Takumi-sama, I...spoke to Mayuri-sama, about my true feelings."

"Yes, you did amazing, Nemu-san."

"Thank you, Takumi-sama. From now on...I want to help good people."

Takumi showed a light smile.

"Yes, that's a good goal to have."

"Also, I wish to stop Mayuri-sama so he cannot hurt anyone else."

"I see...then if that's what you wish, I'll help you anyway that I can..." As he spoke, Giselle felt a pain within her, dropping to her knees. "Giselle-san!"

Takumi went to her side, as her chest heaved.

"H-He poisoned me in the end...even with that mask...he stabbed me and I've been infected..."

"Then I'll..."

Giselle placed a hand on his face.

"Don't worry about that...I'll be alright..."

Takumi couldn't accept that, and wondered what he could do…

When Nemu pulled out a bottle from behind her Lieutenant's badge.

Taking off the lid, she placed it to Giselle's lips, and ordered "Sip this." which Giselle began to do, while Orihime used her abilities to heal the young woman.

"Nemu-san, is that the antidote?"

"Yes, it will make sure that she is able to live. Though she might feel a bit weak for a little while."

"I see, then once she's drunk that, we should all head back to the hiding place. We need to regroup before another Captain comes to interfere with us. Nemu-san, could I ask you to carry Kenpachi-san for me?"

Nemu nodded without pause.

"Yes of course, Takumi-sama."

"Great, then lets hurry since this battle will draw a lot of attention."

[Yes!]

With that understood, Takumi and the others quickly finished off healing Giselle to the point she'd be able to move, and once making sure everyone was ready, they all took off together, unaware of what was going to happen next.

Though it seemed small, Takumi was very proud of Nemu, for showing Mayuri that he wasn't going to get his way with her, and that she was becoming her own person, a person that Takumi thought Nemu should be proud of, and next time that they met, he was sure that Nemu's confidence in herself would grow even higher.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**Mayuri fought Giselle this chapter, who used her Zombies to work in tandem with her, and managed to surprise Mayuri at a few turns, using some Blut to help her fight off Mayuri, along with showing Ikkaku's Bankai, and Yumichika's Shikai. Though Kenpachi got poisoned by Mayuri who was well prepared to fight him, but thanks to Orihime and then later Takumi, he has been saved for the moment to help him out when they're in a safe place, along with Unohana.**

**Meanwhile, Momo has escaped her prison cell, and it seems that she's gunning for Takumi, while Takumi himself spoke with Nanao, and found out a bit more about his past relationships with Aizen, Nanao herself, and hinted at a few others, and he also fought off Shuhei without much trouble, with Nanao staying behind to cover for her, and Yachiru.**

**Finally, Nemu stood up to Mayuri. Though it wasn't a fight (Mayuri and Nemu will have a bigger confrontation in the future) Nemu defended herself, and Giselle, and with some assistance from Takumi and Giselle, she managed to say exactly what she wished to say to Mayuri himself, who couldn't believe what had happened, and vowed vengeance.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	29. Momo's confliction

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! Glad that you're enjoying the story~ Nemu was yeah grateful, but she also understood what he was doing was wrong. That does sound pretty cool to me, thanks for the suggestions!**

**ShadowUzumaki55; She did yeah, don't mess with Giselle, she'll come at you with all sorts of powers~ It was yeah, Giselle's ability came in useful that time. Yeah, it explains a good bit about his fighting style, he's been in a number of Squads in the past. She did yeah, Giselle might be goofy at times, but she also is able to handle herself, and use her smarts to overcome an enemy. Nemu showed that she's not merely a puppet anymore, and is growing into her own person. Mayuri's gonna be up to something's~**

**Skull Flame; Haha, he surely does yeah, don't mess with the Zombies. He might end up trying to do that, it is Mayuri after all. Thanks very much!**

**Andrew123456; Yeah, that sounds like a cool Black Clover idea, thanks for the suggestions!**

**Dzerx; Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far~**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Momo's conflicted yeah. Giselle is able to mess with her opponents huh. Haha, it surely will. People will and have addressed it. Giselle finds it rather disgusting for a number of reasons, one it just being his sword, two it being poison based, and as for killing others, she wouldn't mind that much, but the fact that they're his subordinates, she isn't thrilled about that. Innocent probably not, but they're still her blood so she'd be pissed about it. Yeah, it did confirm a few things huh. Nanao and Takumi seemed to have a good relationship back in the day. Aah, that's a secret for now~ Giselle managed to truly come at Mayuri and force his hands to extreme lengths. Yeah, Shuhei got the short straw huh~? Nemu showed that she can't be controlled like she was before, and now she's beginning to understand herself as a person. We'll see what, if anything, he creates. Eeh, no I can't think of anyone. It makes sense considering what we know about the guy, wish there was a scene in the manga/anime about it. Maybe he could do that yeah. Maybe he will. Yeah, he could be made into one~ Oh happy late birthday~ That's good, glad she's still living. I figured it would be something like that with Bambi. Yeah, it was pretty clear from the manga/anime he did that, good to know that it was confirmed.**

**guest; She could appear before the Fullbring arc. Those would be cool girls. Eeh, from the top of my head, I like Jugram and Bazz B, mostly for their extended backstory and how they became friends, and the betrayal and showing at the end that Jugo still cared about Bazz B with the button embedded into the hilt of his sword that he got from Bazz B in his youth, plus Bazz B did make me smile in the scenes he was in. Other than that, I'd have to reread the arc before saying if I had any other favourite male sternritter. Yeah, he'll probably have them with him. I don't know about that yet, he might do. I could see her going up against Robert, and yeah they didn't get a great ending, or many cool moments, I liked Roberts casual design, and Nanana's powers were cool, it could be fun to do a fight with that.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Momo's confliction**

Running through the night, Momo clutched the letter that was in her hand.

She knew exactly where she was supposed to go, thanks to the letter.

Revealing everything about what had 'happened' only caused her convictions to grow stronger.

She had to confront him.

She had to understand why Captain Aizen died.

What possessed this person to take his life.

"_Captain...I don't know if I can do this...but, I will do my best..._"

Momo said it deep within her heart.

She knew exactly what she needed to do right now.

She needed to go and confront, Takumi Urahara.

* * *

Sleeping within her office, Rangiku was dreaming of a time when she had met a certain someone. Dreaming about how that person had helped her in the past, dreaming about something of a better time…

But when her eyes shot open, she rubbed under said eyes, and let out a small groaning sound.

"So, you're awake."

Rangiku gasps, turning to the voice, and saw that Toshiro was sat there.

"Ca-Captain, why are you in my room?"

"This isn't your room Matsumoto, this is your office."

Rangiku looks around, and sees in fact, she was laying down on a couch within her office. She didn't think that she would have fallen asleep. What was more surprising was that Toshiro seemed to be doing her work for her, which was confusing.

"Captain, did you do my work for me?"

"Don't make it a big deal, I've done the majority of it, you just need to finish them off. I've got other things to do anyway."

Despite the tone suggesting she didn't care, she could see that she did in fact care since she did her work for her, and didn't even bother to wake her up either.

"Captain...thank you. But, how long have I been asleep?"

"That doesn't matter, what does is that you're awake now. As I said, I've got things I need to do-"

"Captain, can I ask you a question?" Toshiro paused, and simply nodded. "Then Captain, this entire business with Takumi Urahara, it seems to be running out of control."

"More than you know. It seems that a number of Shinigami have been defeated. A good chunk of the Second Division have been defeated by Takumi Urahara, even the Captain seems to have been bested by him."

"He beat Captain Soi Fon?"

Rangiku didn't quite believe it, but Toshiro shook her head.

"When I say bested, I meant that he got away from her."

Rangiku fully understood now.

But even then, it was a feat that she found to be scary.

"Even then...it's hard to believe. I also heard that he had a clash with Kenpachi Zaraki...it seems that he's either lucky or very skilled...or even both. They're strong and fast people, it's amazingly scary to think that he's managed to defeat them or get away from them. It makes me wonder what kind of decisions are going to be made now. If the Head Captain is going to be showing up..."

"Mere speculation isn't going to get you anywhere." Toshiro interrupted, then bit her lower lip. "Although, I must confess...I also am wondering a number of things myself. With this Takumi Urahara...I have been questioning the motives behind Captain Aizen's murder...and why he'd go and do that. According to Hinamori, he didn't have any objective to kill anyone, and was merely here to..."

While Toshiro spoke, Rangiku had a feeling running through her.

A feeling that she had to express.

"Captain, you couldn't possibly think that he isn't involved…?"

Toshiro shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know about that, all I do know is that he is here for a reason. It's a coincidence that he died here and now. When there's always..."

"...Gin, that's who you're going to mention, aren't you?"

Toshiro didn't deny it, and went to explain herself, when they were interrupted, by a member of their Squad. He seemed to be carrying some information with him, so Toshiro allowed him to proceed.

"Captain, Lieutenant's Abarai, Hinamori, and Kira have escaped their cells."

The news hit Rangiku and Toshiro like a train, surprising the pair of them, and they both didn't know what to say as a result.

* * *

Meanwhile, travelling back to the hideout, Takumi, with Kenpachi on his back, Nemu carrying Orihime, Giselle and Yachiru jumping beside them, travelled in a good sized group, it wasn't ideal Takumi thought due to others being able to detect them, but they had to do this to get back, since it was too dangerous to split up right now.

"Taku-chan, I hope that we get back soon...I'm getting worried about the others."

Orihime expressed her concerns, Takumi could understand it, while Yachiru looked at Kenpachi with her worries displayed fully.

"Ken-chan...I'm worried about Ken-chan, Taku-chan is he going to be okay?"

"He will be when we get a chance to cure him Yachiru-chan, I promise."

Yachiru smiled at the sight, Takumi saw Nemu seemed to be unusually quiet.

Deciding to ask her openly, since she had just done something she probably thought she'd not do, he wanted to make sure that she was okay.

"Nemu-san, is something going on? How are you feeling?"

"Takumi-sama...I feel...I feel." Takumi and the others smiled at her answer. It meant that she was truly feeling which was good. "Takumi-sama, the next course of action would be to rendezvous with the others, correct?"

"Yes, why?"

Nemu cocked her head backwards.

"Because, I feel some people attempting to approach our current location. Though they are hiding rather well, my sensors detect them. I cannot be mistaken either." Takumi blinked at Nemu's assertive tone. "The people that are coming are Gin Ichimaru, and his Lieutenant."

"Gin..."

"Takumi-sama fought him at the gates."

Takumi recalled that, he wasn't thrilled to be fighting Gin again.

"Oh yeah...sounds wonderful. But if he's coming here, then he knows how to track us down..."

"We can't even move faster with Kenpachi-chan here~"

Giselle laughed out, Takumi nodded in agreement.

"You're right, if we run then we're going to be caught. The best option would be for someone to stay behind, and since I've already dealt with him before-"

"Taku-chan, you can't do it on your own! It would be too dangerous!"

Orihime cried out, but Nemu shook her head.

"Takumi-sama would not be alone. I will also stay beside Takumi-sama."

Giselle looked between them all, and couldn't help but agree, despite not wanting to.

"...She's right Orihime-chan, you're needed in case Kenpachi-chan's condition changes, I've wasted a good deal of power in that fight with Mayuri-chan, and Yachiru-chan can defend us if something was to happen."

"But even then..."

Nemu raised her head.

"Orihime-sama, do not worry about Takumi-sama. By my calculations on the current Takumi-sama, he has the spiritual pressure of a Captain. Though there is the worry of Bankai being released by Captain Ichimaru, Takumi-sama already has a plan, am I correct in assuming this Takumi-sama?"

Takumi lightly smiled.

It seemed that Nemu was picking up on the slightest of movements.

From facial expressions.

It seems Nemu was growing and learning more about people.

"Yes, I think that I could distract Gin long enough for you guys to get away, then I could show him why my mind is very dangerous. I managed to collect some of the stuff that infected Kenpachi-san here. If I could get that on Gin, or at least with the threat of it blocking his path, we could get away ourselves." His eyes turned to Nemu. "Nemu-san, are you sure? If you're spotted with me then..."

"I made my decision Takumi-sama when I came up against Mayuri-sam...Mayuri." Noticing the change, it was good to see Nemu was beginning to grow even more. "I have decided to stay with Takumi-sama, and live with him from now on."

Orihime shot a slightly jealous look towards Nemu.

"L-Live with him?"

"Yes, I fully intend to live with Takumi-sama, and have decided to be beside Takumi-sama always. If it wasn't for Takumi-sama, I might have still been where I was with Mayuri...I am grateful to Takumi-sama, and I cannot see Takumi-sama going into battle alone once more. Takumi-sama does so much for everyone, he sacrifices a lot to protect others. I shall follow in Takumi-sama's example, and be beside Takumi-sama always."

Takumi felt oddly touched by her words.

It did sound like Nemu was alright with it.

"Nemu-san...then, we'll stay behind." Takumi gave Kenpachi to Yachiru. "Yachiru-chan, remember as my Lieutenant of the Taku Squad, you've got to make sure that these people are safe okay? I'm leaving them in your hands."

"T-Taku-chan….y-yes! I will as your Lieutenant! I'm sure Ken-chan wouldn't mind sharing me as your Lieutenant as well as-"

"Can I be Takumi-sama's Lieutenant as well?"

Nemu interrupted, surprising Yachiru.

But then she grinned.

"We can be joint Lieutenant's!"

"Thank you, Lieutenant of Taku Squad."

Takumi showed a light hearted smile, before Orihime smiled towards Takumi.

"Taku-chan, I'll make sure that Kenpachi-san stays alive if something would go wrong, and use my powers to defend the others."

"Right, I'll leave it to you."

Takumi and Nemu stopped on a certain roof, which was rather large. They turned back towards where Gin and Izuru would be coming in. Orihime and the others weren't happy about it, but to keep the others safe, they had to split up once more, and hope that they would be alright.

Waiting for a minute or so, Takumi felt the presence of the snake himself. It was clear he was there, Takumi felt the chills down his spine. He felt the coldness filling the area, the feeling of dread coming over Takumi.

Directing his head upwards into the air, he baited Gin into revealing himself.

"Why hello Gin, been a while."

A small laughing could be heard surrounding them both.

Takumi's eyes darted right, and saw that Gin was stood there, waving his hand.

"Why hello, it seems that we've run into each other. What are you doing here on this fine day? Or should I say, this fine night? Since the suns gone away, it seems that the darkness has come out to play."

Takumi sharpened his eyes.

"Cut the crap Gin, I know why you're here."

Gin showed his everlasting scary smile.

"And why would that be?"

Takumi's hand went to his sword, as Izuru appeared beside Gin. Takumi's eyes went to Nemu who looked composed as she stared towards Izuru.

"Lieutenant of Squad 12? What is she doing here?"

Izuru's question was met with a laugh from Gin.

"She's defected to that side it seems."

Izuru looked shocked. Seeing someone like Nemu betraying the Soul Society was something he hadn't ever expected to see. Honestly, he thought that he might have been seeing things, but Nemu made a face that while it was her normal face, also showed a hint of defiance, and how she was standing close by to Takumi, she wasn't about to give up now.

Izuru couldn't fathom what Nemu was thinking about doing this, and he was worried about Takumi.

Sensing his pressure, it was above Lieutenants level of power now. He wouldn't be able to help Gin out in a fight against him, he knew that.

"But Captain, that's...Takumi Urahara, and she's working for him? His power has increased...before, when he was fighting, it felt like it was weaker...but it seems to have grown...Captain, I'm sure that you can defeat him, but even then, allow me to make the first-"

Gin stopped Izuru with a wave of his hand.

"It's alright, Izuru. You can't become involved in our fight, he's grown to a place a normal Lieutenant wouldn't be able to fight him on his or her own, so allow me to handle this. Besides, we can kill two birds with one stone this way." His near closed eyes went towards Takumi who stayed calm under pressure. "I don't mind dealing with this boy on my own. In fact, I've been dying to have a rematch with this boy. His blonde hair covered in blood, it would be rather wonderful to see. I'm sure he feels the same way, that's why that girl there isn't making a move, she knows she can't interfere in this battle either."

Takumi let out a small laugh.

"Naturally, you're saying these things in an attempt to intimidate me. But you can't intimidate me."

Gin wagged his finger.

"Well, that's not good..." Suddenly, Gin's smile turned cold, and quickly flashed towards him, Takumi withdrawing his Zanpakuto and parried Gin just in time, sending him a good distance away from him. "...how about now Takumi-kun? Do you feel scared right now?"

Takumi glared on while Nemu looked towards Izuru.

They both knew that this could be a dangerous situation, but neither seemed to care as they had to stall and possibly beat, in the attempt for their comrades to get away and make sure nothing would happen with them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Toshiro and Rangiku began searching for Momo specifically. They received the reports about Renji, and Izuru having escaped their cells, and had seen exactly what had happened for themselves.

First of all, they went towards the cell that she was in, and saw the giant hole that was in the middle of the wall, and the grates as well. The guard that was supposed to be watching over Momo kept apologizing.

Toshiro dismissed him, folding her arms.

"If we were serious about containing her, then we should have locked her up with something that stopped the usage of Kido. She is an expert when it comes to Kido, this wasn't going to stop her if she was serious about breaking out."

Rangiku listened to her Captain's words, trying to take in everything that she could see.

It seemed insane for someone like her.

Momo wouldn't do this, not usually anyway.

She was doing something so abnormal that she had to question herself what was Momo thinking about, and voiced her thoughts to her Captain.

"She broke out of her cell? But why would she do that? Doesn't she know that she will be punished?"

Rangiku spoke up, confusion on her face.

But Toshiro believed it was something else all together.

"...Matsumoto, I believe you should go back to your residence. I'll deal with this."

"But Captain..."

"I gave you an order Matsumoto, follow what I say."

Rangiku could hear the seriousness in her voice.

She wasn't messing around.

This was very serious and whatever it was that Toshiro had seemingly figured out, was worrying Rangiku.

Toshiro then turned around and began walking away at a quickened pace.

"Captain..." Rangiku called, pausing Toshiro's movements. "...This couldn't be anything to do with Takumi Urahara, could it?"

"...Just go back to your residence, and be careful."

That, while not explaining it directly, basically told her everything that she needed to know. Toshiro did believe that Takumi was behind this, and if that was the case, then it was going to be a very dangerous night for her.

* * *

Back with Gin and Takumi, Gin took his sword, and made a stance with it. Takumi saw that he wasn't even making an attempt to release his Shikai. It was as if Gin was simply toying with him all of a sudden.

His eyes went towards Izuru who held his sword tightly in his hand.

"Nemu-san, can you do as we discussed beforehand?"

Nemu didn't have a problem with it, and simply bowed her head.

He then turned to Gin once more with his sword stretched outwards.

"Then I'll start with this."

Wanting to finish it quickly, Takumi moved at a high speed for Gin. Gin glanced left, swinging his sword for the young man, only for his sword to go through the air, with Takumi not appearing there at all.

Grimacing, he turned right to see that Takumi had appeared there, his sword coming down, so Gin blocked with his sword, creating a good deal of sparks between their clashing blades, dousing the area in said sparks.

But while Gin was focused in on that, Takumi rallied back his other hand, and sent it sharply for Gin's gut, almost landing a direct hit on him but Gin moved his free hand and caught Takumi's hand, giving off a graceful smile.

"You have to be quicker than that if you wish to catch me off guard~ But I don't know if you want to fight me seriously. You haven't even released your Shikai yet. Are you worried about those two behind us?"

Takumi shook his head.

"Nemu-san can handle herself, I don't know about that guy there. He seems depressed to me."

Gin gave a genuine chortle.

"He always is."

Izuru, having heard that, dipped his head.

"Even then, you're not releasing your own."

Takumi noted, jumping back, as he sent a number of energy blasts with Kido energy at Gin.

Gin didn't even bat an eyelid as he simply swung his katana out, cleaving through the energy instantly.

"I choose to not do that, that's all. Don't worry about my Zanpakuto."

Takumi wasn't sure if Gin was taking this seriously.

Even then, Takumi didn't mind if he was going to take it lightly, it allowed Takumi to surprise Gin in this fight.

But he knew he couldn't prolong this fight. With fighting Unohana, then fighting Soi Fon and her group, using so much spiritual energy was draining for him. Takumi knew that Gin was at full peak power, so if he was going to get off a good attack, then he would have to do his best.

Jumping back a good distance, Takumi twirled his blade around, and summoned some energy from his Zanpakuto. But it was laced with a paralyzing agent, something Takumi thought would be best to end the fight quickly.

"Bakudo 4, Hainawa!"

Releasing yellow energy ropes from his blade, laced with the agent, he attempted to bind Gin in place.

Gin merely took out his blade, and went to cut down the ropes, when he suddenly felt something coming from beside him...no, it felt as if it was coming from his hand.

Looking down, he saw that his hand was beginning to freeze up.

"W-What the hell?"

Gin looked shocked, seeing that the ice was growing.

He tried to figure out how, or when that could have happened…

Then he recalled when their fists connected.

He didn't notice it at the time, but it seemed as if Takumi had used some kind of liquid that was slowly freezing his hand and travelling up his arm.

"Shit!"

Seeing the ropes coming in, he tried to move, when Takumi flicked his hand downwards, seeing that wires had been attached to Takumi's hand, connecting it to Gin's hand, and forced the ice to grow into the ground, trapping him there all together.

"Don't underestimate me Gin!"

Gin began to genuinely panic a little bit.

He had been playing with Takumi, but now it seemed as if Takumi had come up with a plan to stop him in one fell swoop. Gin genuinely hadn't seen this coming, he thought due to the current power Takumi had, he'd not have the ability to fight that well, and he had used all the gadgets he had...but he should have known Takumi had one last thing up his sleeve, so he wasn't going to underestimate him again.

Izuru, seeing his Captain in danger, withdrew his Zanpakuto, and jumped down.

But anticipating this, Nemu leapt up at him at the same time. Izuru turned to Nemu, and yelled "Don't!" but Nemu merely replied with "I'm sorry." and used her incredible physical ability to leap over Izuru's blade that he swung for her, using it as a stepping stone, and got behind his body.

Turning his neck, he felt Nemu's knees pressed against Izuru's back.

"L-Lieutenant, why are you doing this!?"

"Because, I am aiming to become a better person, and you currently do not follow a better person. Gin Ichimaru is something called, a snake, and he is in the wrong. I shall defend Takumi-sama who has given me a new lease on life, and I have decided to be beside Takumi-sama always."

With that, Nemu sent her strength into her legs, and forced Izuru's body downwards.

Gin sharpened his eyes, cutting off the ice freezing him to the ground, sacrificing the usage of his hand for the moment, allowing him to dodge out of the way just in time, so Takumi used the ropes to bind Izuru, so he couldn't fight anymore in the battle.

"Sorry about that blonde haired guy."

Takumi apologized while Nemu landed on the roof near Takumi.

Gin looked down at his hand, seeing that the ice had stopped just short of his elbow. It wasn't his entire arm, but the hand was frozen in a way where he wouldn't be able to use that hand, which did anger him greatly.

But he showed a composed face.

"This arm of mine, it seems to be frozen right down."

"It isn't permanently if treated soon. That one wasn't designed to kill my opponents. If I wished to do that then I'd use my Zanpakuto's power itself. That is a mere distraction technique after all, but you didn't even seem all that bothered with your hand being like that. Being shocked sure, but seeing your face not change. I can't tell if you're able to suppress your emotions, or you're truly that cold of a person."

Gin let out a small laugh.

"Who knows what I am right now, maybe I'm a cold hearted guy."

"Your Lieutenant was taken out, and you didn't even bat an eyelid. Aren't you bothered?"

"Not really, if he got caught so easily, then why should it matter to me?"

Takumi couldn't figure Gin out at all.

He was able to stay calm and collected, yet he had his hand frozen, and his Lieutenant taken down.

Takumi just couldn't figure this man out at all.

"Then lets finish this quickly. My hand feels numb now."

Gin quickly used his flash step to disappear. Nemu couldn't see the opponent, but Takumi could, seeing him coming in right, and saw that the blade was heading for his upper body, using his blade to clash with Gin.

But Gin then disappeared to the right hand side, and slashed at him multiple times, Takumi deflected with his blade, pushing it away from his body, but Gin was faster than Takumi had thought, being able to put more pressure into his attacks.

"You've gotten better since the gates. Are you the type to grow stronger from each battle experience? You're rather a genius, aren't you Takumi-kun? I was also considered a genius, once in a generation."

"Then genius, show me why you're called that!"

Takumi increased his power, and swung it downwards, unleashing a strong sword slash that cut deep into the ground, Gin was forced backwards, but it seemed that rather than struggling, he was having the time of his life with the fight.

"Alright then."

Gin showed a sinister smile, moving at a higher speed than before. Getting before Takumi, he stabbed forward a number of times, forcing Takumi to block with his blade, then disappear from sight all together.

Nemu tried to follow with her eyes, but she couldn't see them.

Sparks from their swords could be seen lighting up the area, but Nemu couldn't get the location of them down.

Not until they appeared at a good distance from her, locked in a clashing of blades, pushing against one another's swords. She noticed that Takumi had a small gash on his arm, and on his leg as well.

She could see that Gin had managed to cause this kind of damage to the young boy.

But even then, Takumi hadn't given up, and was holding his own.

"_Takumi-sama's energies already were drained a good deal during the beginning of this fight. He can't fight another Captain in a long battle like this. If Captain Ichimaru decides to activate his Shikai, or worse, his Bankai, then Takumi-sama might end up dying here. Takumi-sama...should I try and interfere? Or would I be in Takumi-sama's way? But, I also wish to help Takumi-sama, somehow..._"

As she was thinking about it, she felt a new presence being very close.

She hadn't noticed it until this point, so she was figured that the person approaching had made it that way, but no longer could hide their presence, and was heading very close.

Takumi and Gin pulled back a number of inches, the pair glaring hard for the other. Though Gin had his eyes mostly closed, Takumi could see that the slits for his eyes, were solely focused on the young man, and was ready to strike him down at any moment.

"Impressive Takumi-kun, I'm seriously enjoying myself now."

"Yeah...and you'll-"

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

However, at the moment they were about to clash with their swords, Momo suddenly leaps out of the air, and swings down her katana between both of them. Her eyes looked between them, it seemed that she had been crying, and Takumi wasn't exactly sure why that was.

Takumi went to pull back, when seeing that Gin had his sword heading right for her chest, as if he was going to kill her.

"Watch out!"

Takumi got before her, blocking off Gin's katana.

But Momo didn't seem to notice it, believing that Takumi was attempting to attack or defend against her, and swung down her own sword for his body, so he released a Kido barrier, blocking off Momo's katana, then unleashed a burst of spiritual energy and knocked her back a small distance, so she didn't get hurt by Gin's blade.

"Attacking her, isn't she supposed to be apart of the Gotei 13?"

Gin smirked, leaned forward, and whispered.

"To be honest, I couldn't give a crap about that waste of space."

The cold callous words he used, caused Takumi to hate Gin.

He was even smiling through that.

Showing his snake like nature, very cold blooded.

Takumi turned to Momo, seeing that her sword was pointed towards him.

"...It's you again, Hinamori-san, right? It's dangerous around here, you have to run away before..."

"I...I need you to confess!"

She snapped at him, Takumi's eyebrows lifting up curiously.

"Confess, to what?"

Genuine confusion filled the young man's face.

Though for Momo, that just fuelled the fires that were burning inside of her mind.

"You...You killed Captain Aizen, didn't you?!"

At that, Takumi looked visibly stunned, as Gin showed a wicked smile on his face.

Takumi believed he knew what this meant.

Gin...he wasn't even hiding it.

Gin...wanted this to happen.

* * *

While waiting for the others to come back, Yoruichi was getting more anxious.

She thought for sure that they'd at least be close by now, but she couldn't even feel any of them getting closer at all. They were far away right now. She also knew that she couldn't leave here, just in case something was to happen.

Though she did believe that Takumi and the others would come back, it didn't stop her from feeling worried about the entire situation that was going on.

Yuzu looked towards Karin who was sleeping on the ground.

But just then, Shunsui suddenly appeared beside Yuzu, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's going to wake up soon."

"I hope so...ever since her battle with that Byakuya-san guy..."

"According to Yoruichi-san, it seems that she used a good deal of power, and fighting against Byakuya-san, she's lucky to have survived as long as she did. Many can't say the same thing, your sister has a good degree of talent to live this long."

"...I know you're right, but I'm still worried about her. Karin usually is the tough one, and now that she's like this..."

Shunsui gently petted Yuzu's head.

"Well, I've heard stories that if a Prince kisses a Princess, then she awakens from her slumber."

Yuzu gave a baffled face.

"But, Takumi-kun isn't even here."

Shunsui face faulted, while Yoruichi snickered.

"Not him! I was talking about me!"

"But, you're not a Prince..."

"And Takumi is?!"

Yuzu cupped her hands together, showcasing a grin on her face.

"At school, people call him a Prince. We had this theory that he secretly was apart of some royalty, and he's a Prince from a far away land...I suppose we got the far away part right, he really was from a far away land~ It's like a dream really, I'm sure if the girls at school knew about this, they'd go nuts~"

Yuzu countered, surprising Shunsui for a few moments before letting out a small breath.

"O-Oh...but, I was thinking more of a ruggedly handsome man that could help her wake up."

"But, we don't have any of them here."

Shunsui once more face faulted, while Ganju pointed to himself. Yuzu mouthed "Sorry." and turned to Shunsui, who was twitching on the ground, while Ganju went towards a nearby rock, and just huddled against it.

"T-This can't be happening. Even this girl doesn't think that I am ruggedly handsome...am I a joke or something…?"

"But, you've got that Dad like vibe to you. I wouldn't consider anyone that age like ruggedly handsome. I suppose others in your age would consider that, but for someone like me, I just can't see it...sorry if I have offended you."

Shunsui held his head own, seeing that Yuzu was giving an apologetic look to her face.

Shunsui then pushed out his lips, and showed a grin on his face.

"Then perhaps the fair maiden needs a kiss to wake up~ Don't worry Karin-chan, I'm-" Karin's eyes shot open, and glared for Shunsui. "H-How long have you been awake?!"

"Ruggedly handsome man waking me up with a kiss? A Prince kisses the Princess, am I right Shunsui?" Shunsui shed a few tears as Karin showed a superior smirk on her face. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Yuzu let out a cry "Karin!" and hugged her sister tightly.

Karin placed a hand on the back of her head and stroked her hair gently.

"I'm sorry for worrying you Yuzu, it wasn't my intention at all."

"N-No, don't worry Karin, I'm alright. I'm just glad that you're alright. You're really awake...I'm so happy about that."

Karin pulled her hand to the back of her head, and stroked lightly.

"Y-Yeah, it was the weirdest thing. I was fighting that Byakuya guy...but then something took over me...and I was lost in some kind of darkness...it was that thing again, wasn't it? The Hollow inside of me."

Yoruichi confirmed it with a nod.

"Yes, we managed to subdue it though."

"Shit...I feel as if I'm a liability with this thing inside of me. This Hollow could take control...but, I need to learn how to get a grip on myself. I can't become a liability in battle. Alright, where are the others?"

Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders.

"They haven't come back yet."

"Then...why are we waiting? Shouldn't we go out and help find them?"

Yoruichi, as much as it pained her, had to shake her head.

"We should wait for them to arrive. It would be too dangerous to go and see them now. If we're caught, then it would be over. Takumi and the others know what they're doing, I have every confidence that they're alright."

Yoruichi wished she could believe the words that she was saying right now.

She honestly didn't know if she could.

She just had to believe in Takumi and the others and hope they'd make it back to them.

* * *

Back with Takumi and the others, Momo's sword pointed squarely at Takumi.

Her face was filled with regret, sadness, anger, and many emotions Takumi couldn't identify. She was going through something very powerful, and real.

"Hinamori-san..."

"Why...Why did you do it Urahara-san?"

Takumi's face scrunched up, while Gin laughed in the background.

Takumi glanced at him, seeing Gin enjoying every moment of it.

"Listen, Hinamori-san, I didn't kill Captain Aizen...I wouldn't have any reason to kill him. I hardly knew the guy-"

"You're lying!" She snapped, Nemu went to move to stop Momo, but Takumi stopped her with his arm. "I read it, in his letter!" She took the letter from her outfit, and showed it Takumi. "He told me...you, you're the one who was his friend, the friend that had been together with Captain Aizen for a long time...and you betrayed his trust! He wanted to save you Urahara-san! He went to meet you to try and convince you to give up, so he could help you! And you went behind his back, and...y-you pinned him to that wall...you killed my Captain..."

Seeing Momo's heart breaking, truly was a sad event.

Takumi could barely stand seeing her like this.

Takumi shook his head at the lies on the letter.

"I never met him that night you're talking about."

"Then how did he die?!"

Momo cried out, Takumi glanced at Gin who waved cheerfully.

"One explanation would be..."

Before he could continue, Momo rushed forward and attempted to slash him with her sword, but he parried her away, never going back to strike her.

Nemu, looking on, began moving forward.

"Takumi-sama, she is currently in an unstable state. Her emotions are filling her being, and she can't keep going like this...I think it would be best for myself to make sure that she is able to be calm and collected. I could disable her without harming her."

Nemu tried to get involved, but Takumi felt as if this was something he had to personally deal with.

"Nemu-san, don't worry, I can handle her. Thank you for your concern. But this is something that I should handle." Takumi turned back to Momo who was breathing hard. "Hinamori-san, I know what you've read...what you think is true, but it isn't true. I wouldn't kill him. I didn't come here to kill anyone. I came here to clear my name and rescue Rukia-chan, that's all..."

Momo's tears rained off her face, her body was tensing up, her face was becoming more and more red as she cried.

"You're lying! I saw it in this letter! You want...you want the power of the Sokyoku, right? It's said to have the power of a million Zanpakuto, and...from the past, you did experiments to gain power, and if fell into your hands...that's why Rukia-sans death keeps moving up, you're somehow influencing the Central 46, and if he couldn't stop you, then I should...Captain Aizen said it in his letter, it has to be true...but if it is...why would you...I don't know what to think..."

"A million Zanpakuto? Really?" Takumi murmured. "Even then, I wouldn't kill anyone for that kind of power. And Rukia-chan is my friend, I wouldn't want to sacrifice her for power. I came to save her. She's really important to me."

Takumi tried to convey his thoughts to her directly, Momo wasn't sure what to think at this point.

"B-But, why is he dead? If that's true...then why did he die…? You had opportunity, and motive...right? Who else here would want him gone?"

Takumi wished that he could answer that, but until knowing the full truth, he couldn't reveal what he thought was true, as if it wasn't true, he didn't want to give the girl any kind of false hope.

"I...I don't know why, but I didn't do anything to him. We might have been friends in the past, I don't know because I can't remember. Even if I did or didn't know that, I'd still have no reason to kill him. I promise you, I did not meet Aizen that night of his supposed death. The only time I ever met Aizen, wasn't even me. It was a Gigai of mine, during the Captains meeting. Beyond that, I've never met him since coming back here."

Momo didn't know what to believe.

Her head and heart were in conflict with one another.

Her head wanted to believe the letter was true, but her heart just couldn't accept it.

Tears began flowing from her eyes, Takumi's face softened at the sight.

He truly felt sorry for her.

He wished he could take the hurt and confusion away from her, so she didn't have to suffer anymore.

"Hinamori-san, I know that to you, I'm some stranger, and Aizen was your Captain...but, you have to believe me...I didn't do this, maybe someone forged that letter, I don't know without examining it. But why would he tell you to kill me if he wanted to help me? And if he was going to finish me off...he was your Captain, did your Captain want you to throw your life away like this? Logically, if I could kill your Captain, couldn't I kill you? This Aizen is supposed to be smart...wouldn't he want you to bring him justice some other way?"

Momo's eyes continued to shed tears, her sword shaking due to her entire body shaking.

"I...I don't know, but that's what he wrote, it was his hand writing...and if that's what he wanted...then I should...as his Lieutenant..."

Momo, with unsure eyes, rushed for Takumi.

She hadn't even released her Zanpakuto, is what Takumi noticed.

As the blade came closer, he simply parried it right, as she jumped up. She attempted to come up high with her blade, but Takumi stopped it with his own blade, pushing back the young woman, yet never laid a single finger on her.

He couldn't.

No matter what she did.

If she slashed left, or right.

He simply wouldn't attack her.

He couldn't do that.

"Please...Please tell me what you've done! I...I can't do this anymore...so many thoughts are going on in my head...Captain Aizen's smile...his kindness...I'll never see that ever again...I'll never see him...I'll never get his advice ever again...and that's because of you!"

Momo changing tactics, summoned some Kido energy, and shot off a Shakkaho for Takumi.

But he erected a barrier, blocking off the Kido energy blast, and stopped her from hurting him.

Using that distraction, Takumi flashed behind her, and got in close towards her.

"Ooh my, are you going to kill her?"

Gin seemed interested in that.

Momo turned to see Takumi very close to her.

She thought for sure that she was about to be hit by either Kido or his hand, or maybe even stabbed by his sword…

But he stopped when he reached her.

In the end, though he thought about knocking her out…

This girl had been through too much already, and he simply couldn't do that.

"W-What…? Why…?"

Momo begged for an answer.

She just couldn't understand what had happened.

He had the chance to take her down, but he didn't.

He stopped himself, and didn't lay even a finger on her.

"I don't wanna hurt you Hinamori-san. I'm sorry about what happened to your Captain, but you could ask me a thousand times...a million times, even if I was being tortured, I'd never admit to a crime I didn't commit. Because I didn't do this. I didn't have any reason to harm Aizen, I didn't meet him that night. Look at me...look into my eyes...did I kill Aizen?"

Momo's crying eyes peered into Takumi's own.

Nemu didn't quite understand what Momo was supposed to be looking for.

In her eyes, it wasn't as if Takumi could give her any information from his eyes.

But to Momo, she could see…

She could definitely see it.

Continuing to cry, her sword dropped down to the ground, placing a hand over her mouth, small sobs escaping her mouth.

"...What am I doing…?"

"You haven't done anything wrong...you're upset, you're scary. I understand, and I don't hold it against you. Don't worry about it, Hinamori-san. I'll help you find out what happened to Aizen, but please just think about what Aizen wrote in his letter. If Aizen is as great as you think he is...why would he place you in unnecessary danger?"

Momo looked at her sword on the ground.

Then she looked towards Takumi, and began crying, collapsing to her knees.

Takumi budged closer, bending down towards her, and placed a hand on top of her head.

She flinched at first.

But when she saw the kind expression on her face, it almost overloaded her mind.

It was so much that she didn't know what to think about this.

However, she merely cried as she collapsed into his chest, and cried hard on said chest.

"_Takumi-sama's kindness and logic reached her. He told her something that she already knew. He simply reminded her of facts, and logic. But did it in the kindest way. Never striking, never harming her. Only looking to reveal the truth. This is why I wish to be with Takumi-sama. Mayuri-sam...Mayuri, and Takumi-sama are both highly intelligent beings, but Takumi-sama is a man with a good heart, his nature couldn't ever allow him to be as despicable as Mayuri was. He would have killed Hinamori-san without remorse, but Takumi-sama decided to go for the hard approach, but the kindest approach also, an approach that I truly do believe sets Mayuri apart from Takumi-sama, who is the kindest Shinigami._"

Nemu's mouth curled upwards ever so slightly, she didn't even notice it.

Takumi gently petted the back of Momo's head.

"I'm so sorry that you've suffered. I promise to try and make that suffering go away, to find out what really happened to Captain Aizen. Just trust in me a little longer."

Momo just cried, but felt thankful that Takumi had said that.

In some odd way, it felt like Captain Aizen saying it…

No, it was different, but the same kindness was there within his voice.

Takumi looked at her hands, and cupped them.

Momo's cheeks turned red at the touch he was giving her, while his smile surrounded his face.

"You gripped your sword so tight your hands were bleeding."

"Y-Yes..."

"Then, we should get these looked at."

Momo didn't know what to think, but being this close to Takumi…

It felt good.

It felt right.

It felt like he was a good person after all.

He wasn't evil, he wasn't out to kill anyone.

He just wanted to clear his name.

That's what she believed now.

She felt skeptical of the letter to begin with.

But now this just confirmed it for her.

He could kill her and get away with it.

But, he clearly didn't seem to have any intention of doing that to her.

He wasn't going to harm her at all.

Gin gave an impatient look towards them both, and hid his sword under his robes.

"_Well, I thought that he might have finished her off. Wasn't that supposed to be the plan? I suppose that he isn't anymore ruthless than in the past. But Aizen wishes for her to be gone, and since he's here...I can get two birds with one stone. He wouldn't let this little girl die, so he'll have to defend her, and with the condition that he's in..._"

Gin thought to himself, activating his Shikai with a quiet voice.

Nemu noticed that something seemed to be heading for Takumi and Momo, ready to pierce them both.

"Takumi-sama! Behind you!"

Nemu yelled, letting out her emotions.

Takumi turned to see the blade just in time…

Rather, just in time to protect Momo.

The sword didn't pierce his chest, but it did pierce his abdomen, and kept going for Momo right through his body.

But Takumi grabbed the blade just in time before it could reach her body, cutting his hand at the same time as stopping the blade from touching her.

Momo looked down at the blade, then up at Takumi who despite bleeding and coughing out some blood, gave her a smile.

"B-But why…?"

"Because...you're an innocent girl...and you've been through too much..."

Momo clutched her hands, her mind flashing to moments she had with Aizen.

But then she flashed to the time that she had met Takumi.

How he had been kind to her, how he had simply asked questions.

And just then, when he didn't even strike her.

Not a single time.

All he did was deflect her blows, even when she tried to seriously kill him.

Now, he had protected her once more, and was still giving a smile towards her.

Her eyes turned to Gin, and angrily went to pick up her sword, but Takumi stopped her.

"...Don't fight him, it's too dangerous..."

Momo knew he was right, but this situation called for something…

Someone to come and help out.

Takumi peeled the blade out of his stomach, as he fell down to his right knee, with Gin's sword returning to its sealed state.

Momo bent down towards him as Nemu rushed over.

"Oops, did I just stab you? I'm really clumsy aren't I?"

Takumi glared at Gin who was smiling his creepy dangerous smile that could go through the skin easily.

"Takumi-sama, your injury..."

"I've suffered worse than a stab wound, I'll be fine." Takumi replied, placing a hand to his stomach and began using healing Kido, something Momo noticed. "Seriously Gin, attempting to stab an innocent girl."

"She was being swayed, as a member of the Gotei 13, I had to interfere."

Takumi shook his head at his carefree answer.

"Are you behind Aizen, Gin? Because don't snakes like devouring their prey when they least suspect it?"

At that, Gin showed the smallest hint of a smirk on his face, something Momo took to say that basically he had done it. Nemu looked between Takumi and Gin, and wondered if they'd be able to fight Gin off.

But then, as they were staring off against one another, Toshiro came down, and got between them.

"Shiro-chan..."

Momo muttered, Toshiro's eyes going between Gin, the downed Izuru, Nemu, Momo and Takumi.

"...Is someone going to tell me what's going on here?"

At that, the group all looked on with, wondering what was going to happen next. Toshiro's eyes went towards every person in that area. Momo, Takumi, Nemu, and Gin as well. Whatever was going to happen next, Takumi was sure it could be dangerous if Toshiro turned on him as well.

He might be able to just keep up with Gin, but with two Captains, he knew he'd not win in the condition he was in.

* * *

Back with Yoruichi and the others, Karin kept pacing up and down, hoping that the others would come back. Yuzu kept her hands on the ground as she sat down, seemingly concentrating, with Ganju following in Karin's pacing.

Shunsui also had his eyes closed, hoping that they would be alright and make sure that nothing bad would happen. He also thought about what Nanao was doing at that moment, and when Unohana and the others were going to appear.

"Karin, you don't have to worry about Takumi, and the others-"

"I'm not worried about them. It just makes me anxious that I'm sat here, and doing nothing while the others are fighting."

"You're still recovering from your battle with Byakuya, even if you went now..."

"I know...I know that I'd not be a help...but it would be better than just sitting here...damn it..."

Yoruichi could understand Karin's frustrations.

She truly did.

She went to speak, when she felt something approaching.

"It seems that the group is back."

"Takumi-kun and the others?"

Yuzu said with some hope in her.

Yoruichi went to comment, but Shunsui spoke up.

"Apart from Takumi and Nemu, the rest are back….no, Nanao-chan isn't there either."

Shunsui expressed a worried look.

Though he was sure that Takumi wouldn't allow Nanao to become hurt.

They waited for a few minutes before Orihime and the others came back. They laid down Kenpachi on the ground, while Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"What's happened? With Takumi, and..."

Giselle pulled at her cheeks, and stuck out her tongue.

"Takumi-kun stayed behind with Nemu-chan to deal with a new threat."

"What about Nanao-chan? Where is she?"

Shunsui spoke up, with Orihime showing a kind face.

"Nanao-san is fine, she stayed behind to cover our tracks when a man with 69 tattooed on his face attacked us."

"Ooh, Ken-chan swatted him away easily~"

Yachiru sang, with Orihime continuing to Shunsui.

"No one will suspect her of anything, she said she'd join us as soon as she could. But if you're worried, then you should go to her side."

"Naah, Nanao-chan would be angry if I went to her now. I'm sure that she'll be fine."

Though he said that, he did feel worried for his Lieutenant and hoped that she was alright.

Karin expressed a worried face.

"Should we go to help him? He's been fighting a lot today, right?"

Yoruichi pursed her lips, but Orihime ultimately shook her head.

"Taku-chan said he'd come back, we should focus on making sure that Kenpachi-san is able to survive. We need to heal Kenpachi-san."

The inner strength of Orihime was dazzling to see.

She truly was showcasing a strong face right now.

"You're right. We don't know where he is, and by the time we get there...I believe in Takumi, and Nemu. We should begin making plans about what we're going to do next. Though we'll also have to wait until we have all of the information at our disposal."

Karin wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

But it was true that they didn't know where Takumi was, even if they were told by Orihime and the others, from the way they looked it seemed to have taken them a good deal of time to get back, so it would take a good deal of time to get there, even for someone like Yoruichi.

So they had to wait for any news updates, placing their trust in Takumi and Nemu for the moment.

* * *

Back with Toshiro, and the others, her eyes went between Gin and Takumi's group. Momo called "Shiro-chan..." but she was cut off by Gin who showed his frozen hand towards the snow white haired girl.

"Look at this Captain, that dangerous Takumi did this to me as I was attempting to take him in."

"You came here with the intention of killing Takumi-sama."

Nemu countered, but Gin merely smiled.

"A traitor would say that, wouldn't they?"

Gin's blade turned towards Nemu, but Takumi stood before her, protecting her. Momo also noticed that he had pushed her behind him as well. Whatever was going to happen, it seemed as if he was going to shield them both with his body.

"Yo, little Captain-chan." Toshiro's eyebrows twitched. "I don't know what's going on with...whatever you're doing, but Gin attempted to-"

"I didn't come for your opinion Urahara, you're still a criminal of the Soul Society."

Takumi let out a breath.

"Fine, ask the others that are apart of the Gotei 13. I can tell you right now though that Gin is the one responsible for this. We were merely defending ourselves. True, I did freeze his hand, but that was only after he made the first move against myself, and Nemu-san here. Ooh, if you can, don't involve Nemu-san, she's a really good girl, okay?"

Toshiro gave a baffled look to Takumi who put his hands together in a kind of prayer like stance.

She didn't even know what to think about that.

But she could easily see Gin doing something like he said.

She always had her own suspicions about him, and this could confirm it as well.

She casually glanced towards Gin, seeing his everlasting creepy smile that could even cause the most battle hardened ready people to not attempt anything least they would be killed by the snake like enemy.

Toshiro looked towards Momo.

She saw her hands were bleeding.

But apart from that, she didn't have any injuries.

She questioned if Takumi had done the damage, but the way that Momo made no effort to move from behind him, told her that she wasn't about to trust someone that had caused an injury like that, so she came to the conclusion that it was either Gin who had done that, or it was self inflicted.

"Hinamori, you broke out of your cell. Why did you do that?"

"Shiro-chan...I-I came here to kill Takumi Urahara-san...b-but, as we talked...I understood something...something is wrong here. The Gotei 13, there's something happening, and it isn't Urahara-san at all...he saved my life...from Captain Ichimaru. He tried to stab me, but Urahara-san got in the way...he saved me. I don't know what to think...this letter from Captain Aizen told me that Urahara-san was his killer, and I should go and kill him...but, Urahara-san allowed me to understand something..."

"What's that?"

"Captain Aizen wouldn't want me to kill anyone. He wasn't that kind of man...I thought that because it was his handwriting, that it had to be true...but, I don't know what to think anymore Shiro-chan, I'm so confused..."

Toshiro's eyes shot angrily for Gin who smirked.

"You tried to kill Hinamori?"

Gin shrugged his shoulders, seemingly looking as if he didn't care all that much.

"She betrayed the Soul Society, I didn't have a choice. Aiding a known criminal, warrants a punishment like no other. I had to do something-"

"I told you to never target Hinamori! You dared to try that?!"

Gin snickered ever so slightly.

"Of course, the ice Princess would defend a traitor as well. Geez, feels like I'm gonna have to become involved as well."

"Traitor? You're the one who opened up Izuru Kira's cell. It was the only one that was opened from the outside. While Hinamori and Abarai broke out on their own."

"Ooh Renji, not seen him in a while. I wonder how he's doing?"

Takumi murmured, genuinely curious about what was going on with him.

Toshiro glanced at Takumi who gave a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

"It was careless Gin, if you wanted to be painted in a better light then..."

"How do you know that I wasn't being careless? Perhaps I wanted you to know what I've done."

Toshiro just glared hard at the man.

Her eyes then went towards Takumi.

"Can you still fight?"

"I believe so, why?"

Toshiro placed a hand on her sword, and began increasing her spiritual pressure.

"Because Gin's a dangerous man, and he's highly skilled. I don't know if I can take him on my own. But if we team up, then he wont be able to take both of us down."

Takumi smiled lightly, stepping forward.

"Nemu-san, take care of Hinamori-san here."

"Understood, Takumi-sama."

Takumi smiled at Nemu, as he moved forward.

"Then, I've got a date with an ice girl-"

Toshiro thrusted her blade at Takumi, stopping inches at his neck.

"Do not misunderstand, this is merely me requesting your assistance. It doesn't mean I believe or don't believe you're involved with any of this, is that clear? I still want answers about, everything you know."

"Aah, I see. Then reluctant ally I suppose. We could still do a devastating team up together."

Toshiro just accepted that, while Gin grit his teeth.

"Seems a bit unfair, having two geniuses against one."

"Geniuses. I suppose I've been called that in the past. But you Gin, all you are is a snake, a snake that I intend to stop tonight. The letter that Hinamori has...did you forge it? Because I heard the conversation you had with Captain Aizen, he also had suspicions of you, so did you kill him, framing Takumi Urahara who was a convenient person to blame? It would have been a good plan, if it hadn't been for the fact that Takumi Urahara didn't end up killing Hinamori."

Gin mockingly wagged his finger at Toshiro.

"You're so serious Captain, but if you wished to become someone that dies in a fight, all you had to do was ask."

Toshiro sharpened her eyes, as Takumi did the same thing, getting to the side of the white haired Shinigami. He quickly whispered to her, something she approved of, and stuck out their swords at the same time.

"Ravage, Kinhime!"

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

Activating their Shikai's, Takumi leapt into battle first, unleashing a hailstorm of lightning blasts. Gin smirked, and went to activate his own Shikai, when he saw that Toshiro released an ice Dragon from her sword, which shot through the lightning blasts, mixing together with the lightning itself, then Takumi split the ice Dragon into several different Dragons made up of lightning and ice, all of them swirling around Gin as if they were about to destroy their prey.

"Damn, look at all of that ice and lightning. It's even effecting the weather above us right now. Creating a thunderstorm with hail. Hahaha, that's quite the impressive powers, I don't have anything so flashy like that."

Gin uses his quick feet to leap around, as the first lightning ice Dragon slams into the part of the roof that Gin was standing on, obliterating it out of existence. Even Gin had to be surprised about seeing something like that.

While in the air, Takumi and Toshiro swing their blades in tandem, controlling the beasts of ice and lightning together, allowing a number of them to head for the airborne Gin, who quickly points his sword forward.

"Shoot to kill, Shinso!"

Using his Zanpakuto, the sword extended at a great length. It shot like a bullet, and pierced through one of the ice lightning Dragons, but said Dragon began to split apart, and travel up the blade, sending lightning and ice to freeze the blade, and shock Gin at the same time.

Nemu watched on, and saw that Gin looked slightly nervous.

She hadn't ever seen him have a demeanour such as that.

But it showed that together, Toshiro, and Takumi could use their powers to devastating effects.

Momo was also blown away by the amount of power that Toshiro and Takumi could unleash together at the same time.

"Amazing...though they have only just come together, they've been perfectly able to combine their powers together. Captain Ichimaru was right, they are geniuses in the way they fight together. Shiro-chan..."

Seeing the ice and lightning coming up the blade, Gin merely coughed into his hand, before the blade retracted, with Gin unleashing some kind of barrier Kido as the ice and lightning drew close, deflecting the power all together, but the barrier was destroyed, along with a large shock wave forcing Gin backwards a good distance due to him already being in the air.

"Lets get him!"

Toshiro advised, Takumi inclined his neck in agreement.

"Right!"

Sending him down into the roof, the ground below him cracked with the heavy pressure, but Takumi and Toshiro didn't stop their assault, sending off ice and lightning Dragons towards the downed Gin, who looked to be annoyed by such a sight.

"You're seriously attempting to destroy me with overwhelming force."

But he didn't stop with his Shikai, unleashing it like a bullet, but this time did a large swing of his sword, cleaving right through the ice and lightning Dragons as if they weren't even their, however it seemed that something was happening.

Gin felt his hand was becoming more numb. The ice and lightning seemed to be travelling up the blade quicker than he could dispel it off his sword. He also saw that after the fifth ice and lightning Dragon that he had cut in half, his blade received a noticeable crack within its center.

"So that's your plan, you're attempting to destroy my Zanpakuto with your combined powers. I must admit that it is a rather impressive movement. But I still wont give up either. I would be a shame to the Gotei 13 if I-"

"Shut up Gin!"

Toshiro charged forward, and got in close with her sword. She attempted to do a stab with ice shooting off in a number of shards, but Gin merely sliced them apart with his smaller sword, before extending it outwards, to pierce Toshiro's upper body.

However, the moment the blade began to grow, Gin saw that Takumi had come in from the side that his hand had been frozen on, forcing Gin to use his blade to block Takumi's lightning enhanced sword swing with his Zanpakuto, releasing an eruption of powerful lightning that doused the area, creating an explosion of power.

Gin was forced backwards but Toshiro had used that chance to get behind Gin, and stab forward to freeze Gin's body. Gin tried to move his sword in the way, but Takumi got on the other side of Gin, and came down at him with his sword filled with electricity.

Both sides of him were caught, and despite that…

He was laughing.

It didn't make sense to either Takumi or Toshiro why he was laughing.

But they didn't allow it to deter them, and continued on with their assault.

Gin smiled lightly, and took out what seemed to be some kind of capsule, something Takumi didn't like the look of, and quickly, he grabbed Toshiro, who snapped "What are you doing?" but Takumi continued dragging her backwards as the capsule was released, letting out some kind of impressive spiritual energy which collapsed the area around them, it simply was destroying it, as if it was pure energy focused on destruction.

Toshiro looked at Takumi with gratitude, albeit reluctant gratitude.

"...You saved me..."

"Ah, it's nothing at all. Don't worry about it."

He replied, as Toshiro noticed his side was bleeding.

She realized that he had been bleeding this entire time.

Despite healing it a little, Takumi was no expert in healing Kido, and still could suffer this amount of damage.

Yet he was still fighting as well as he was, she was rather impressed to say the least.

However, Nemu and Momo suddenly were bound with a strong Kido spell. It looked to be Rikujokoro, a Kido spell that came from all six sides of them, binding them at the waist, but stopped their entire bodies from moving.

"A-Aaaaah! Shiro-chan!"

"Takumi-sama, I am unable to move."

Momo panicked, while Nemu spoke with a composed voice.

"Shit, Gin is-"

Before he could finish, Toshiro saw that out of the energy, a sword was shooting out.

But it wasn't going for them.

No, it was going for Nemu and Momo.

"He's going to kill them!"

Takumi went to move, when he felt a new presence coming.

Standing before Nemu and Momo, was Rangiku, who held the blade out before her, and stopped the progression of the extending sword. The energy began dying down around Gin, who stepped out of it unharmed.

"_That capsule, it wasn't normal. If anything, it felt like something Mayuri might have invented...so, does that mean Mayuri and this bastard Gin are working together? Great, just what we need, crazy scientist, with a crazy snake...just a wonderful team, a match made in Hell._"

As he thought about it, Toshiro turned to Rangiku with confusion.

"Matsumoto, what are you doing here?"

"C-Captain, I sensed the release of your Zanpakuto, along with the presence of a fight between Captain Ichimaru, and this boy, Takumi Urahara, I had to come and see what was going on, and stop it if I could."

As she said it, Takumi went towards Nemu, and Toshiro went towards Momo, slashing through the Kido spells, destroying and freezing it respectably, releasing the girls, with Nemu landing beside Takumi, and Momo falling into Toshiro's extended arm.

Takumi notices that Rangiku's sword was beginning to gain a crack in it, so he went to move when Rangiku spoke up.

"C-Captain Ichimaru, if you don't put your sword away, I will also be your opponent together with my Captain!"

Gin simply smiles at this, as his sword begins going back into its normal form.

"My, with these many opponents, there's no way that I could handle it all. A lightning, ice, and ash user. Along with a fire girl, and a girl with...whatever Kurotsuchi does." Takumi glanced at Nemu, who showed her fists with her blank expression, earning a bemused look from Takumi, before turning back towards Gin who was waving with his free hand. "But, it seems that I have to go now. I seriously am worried what will happen if we all engage in a fight."

Despite saying that, Takumi sensed that Gin didn't even care at all.

He was simply having a fun time with them all.

But he could also see the hint of annoyance that had worked itself onto Gin's face, he couldn't hide that at all.

Toshiro, seeing that he was going to make an escape, went to give chase, when Gin revealed another small capsule. That stopped Toshiro, who glared while Gin laughed.

"Good ice Queen, don't worry I didn't come to kill you this day. I just wanted to catch up with an old friend."

When he said that, his eyes were on Takumi for unknown reasons.

Takumi then saw Gin merely flash out of the area, leaving them alone.

* * *

Once he was gone, Takumi fell onto his butt, and sighed.

"Damn, too many Captain's today..." Toshiro moved closer, Takumi sighed even more. "...please don't attack me, I've already fought...what three Captain's today? Plus Kenpachi the other day...God, so many strong people in this damn place... I don't need to fight another Captain..."

Rangiku held bemusement in her eyes while Momo cocked an eyebrow up.

Seeing how he just went from serious to a more relaxed demeanour, it was amazing and also weird at the same time to see.

Toshiro shook her head.

"No, that's not it. You protected Hinamori, and you also saved my life. I would have stayed to take down Gin, but you pulled me out of the way. Thank you."

"Awww, you are my fav Captain after all, you're just so darn cute, and not trying to murder me like most of the others~"

Hearing that, Takumi lightly petted her head, causing a blush along with an annoyed look to appear on her cute face.

Rangiku noticed it, and budged closer with a teasing look on her face.

"Captain, it seems that your cuteness is showing right now. Are you perhaps..." Toshiro shot a glare for Rangiku who pulled back, and held her hands up. "Never mind, I'm just seeing things after all. Don't worry about me."

Toshiro sighed, as Momo bent down towards Takumi, and offered a sad smile.

"Urahara-san, can you...I mean, do you know what's truly happening here?"

Toshiro keenly moved closer.

"I'd also like to know. There's things going on here I don't like. Fighting, and enemies that are turning against us. Captain's that are choosing to do things against the Soul Societies orders, I want to know what you know."

Takumi looked between the pair of them.

Seeing their serious expressions, he bowed his head.

"If I told you, it will be dangerous. Even then, you want to know?"

Momo didn't hesitate to nod.

"Yes...I'd also like to know, because of what happened to Captain Aizen...do you know who his killer is?"

Takumi exhaled slowly, before standing up, with help from Nemu.

But then he winced as he clutched his stomach.

"...Hinamori-san, Shiro-chan..." Toshiro looked bewildered that he called her that, she didn't recall when she said that he could call her that. "...eeeh, erm..."

He looked to Rangiku questioningly who let out a small laugh.

"Rangiku Matsumoto, call me Rangiku~"

Takumi nodded, and then let out a breath.

"Then, Rangiku-san, call me Takumi...so yeah, everyone. Most likely, Captain Aizen, isn't dead." The news surprised the trio, with Nemu already knowing the situation. "If you want to know more, you gotta promise not to attack me if you hear something you don't like."

"...Alright fine, but not here."

Toshiro agreed, Takumi nodded, gently petting her head once more, something that she felt conflicted about. Rangiku placed a hand over her mouth, and went to let out a cute noise, but she stopped when seeing Toshiro's glare upon her.

"Then, lets get going before we're attacked again. I don't think that we could handle another assault."

Toshiro, Rangiku, and Momo nodded their heads, agreeing with what Takumi had said.

With that, they took off together, heading for the base of operations. Though Takumi made sure that the place would still be hidden and had made sure of that with some technology and Kido mixed together.

Until he could trust them fully, he had to make sure that the others were safe.

Though he was sure that he was just being overly cautious.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So we got the confrontation with Gin, and Takumi this chapter. Takumi didn't pull any punches, knowing that he was already low on power, and managed to play on Gin's expectations to slow him down like freeze his hand, but then Momo appeared.**

**With her confusion and anger outright, he managed to calm her down with logic, among other things that he spoke to her, and she was able to relax enough, allowing him to convince her to not do anything, but then protected her from being stabbed by Gin, then later on protected Toshiro who he teamed up with to fight Gin and combined their powers together.**

**Then at the end, they decided to speak about what's happening in the Soul Society.**

**Meanwhile, Karin's awake from her fight with Byakuya, and is ready to become stronger, Shunsui also arrived with the others, and Giselle got back with Orihime, Kenpachi, and Yachiru, having decided to wait for Takumi to come back with Nemu.**

**Well, until next chapter, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	30. Explanations!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks! Yeah, seems like he was able to calm Momo down after what had happened to her.**

**lord web of life of destiny; I'm glad you're giving it a chance.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; He did yeah, Takumi at that point knew he'd not win in a straight up fight, so he took to using his blade and intelligence instead, managing to edge out some kind of victory with the help of Toshiro. He did manage to get through to her, and it seems that she's willing to listen to reason. Haha, after all he's gone through, he's pushed himself very far. Lets hope!**

**Skull Flame; A rollercoaster indeed~ Quite a difficult time for Takumi. He is yeah, he knows that he can't do it all, and he will need their help, plus he thought it would be best to do it this way. Exactly, he's being quite cautious, but it's rather necessary.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! It could have been, or maybe it was about Gin. Yup, seems like Nemu wishes to be beside him. Yup, he came across Gin and had a battle with him, fighting him with a mixture of skills and intelligence. Haha, Rangiku didn't listen huh~? Yuzu unknowingly did that huh~? Momo was lost in her grief, her anger, but Takumi managed to help her and stopped her from going too far. Orihime does believe in him quite a bit. Yeah, Takumi and Toshiro managed to work together, and fought Gin to a point where he was forced back. Haha, Takumi was quite tired from that experience, so he had to say that. Aura could be, I don't know about that yet. He could have known some of them, he at least is acquainted with Tier. Yup the Quincy war is being animated, I'm so happy as a Bleach fan that it's coming back. Yeah, that never made sense to me, what happened with Tier in that flashback, she should have still swatted him away. Yeah, maybe they could do. Maybe he did have a dream like that.**

**guest; It seems that Nemu wishes to live with him huh~? She didn't, so she's going to be getting a better deal here. They do have a cool dynamic between them. Rangiku and Takumi are going to have quite the relationship between them. I'll be doing the canon arcs, I might be doing some of the filler arcs. It will be Ywhach, maybe a bit depowered so he's not broken but still very powerful. I do know who's going to be fighting those in this story. I will be giving bigger roles to a few characters that didn't really get much in canon. Yeah, they did have potential, so they might be appearing more here. What fight I want to see animated is Kenpachi vs Gremmy, since it was so cool in the manga, seeing Kenpachi cutting up different things, even a meteor among other things. I also would love to see the fight with Askin and Kisuke and Yoruichi.**

**Andrew123456; Thanks! I'm glad that you are! Yeah, it seems that it is, and I can't wait for it to come back. I've not really read the manga of that yet so until I do, I'm just glad the author is doing stuff again.**

**Guest 1; It wouldn't really affect the story if the anime did or didn't come back, but I am quite excited to see it being animated, and if anything is going to change.**

**Guest 2; I can't reveal that, it might even be here in this story.**

**Guest 3; I just generally like Giselle's personality, the Zombie power, among other things about her.**

**Guest 4; In a sense, Yachiru does seem to have an infatuation with Takumi.**

**Exodus12345; It would be yeah. His Mother will be revealed eventually.**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Explanations!**

Having made it back to her living quarters, Soi Fon contemplated what had happened during that day. How she had confronted Takumi, how she was able to fight him...but how she wasn't able to finish him off.

She honestly wasn't sure what kind of head space she was in right now.

She walked towards her dresser draw, and pulled it open. She went through it, going into a secret compartment, and opened it to reveal a picture of her, Yoruichi, and Takumi all stood together. She herself was being as serious as always, but the other two had big smiles on their faces, as if they were a bunch of kids being happy.

Soi Fon smiled at the sight, but she also felt a heart beat going through her.

She felt her emotions bubbling up inside of her.

The confusion, the anger…

The sadness.

But that stopped when she felt the presence of someone outside her room.

So she put the picture back in its hiding place, storming to the door, forcing it open to see Byakuya stood there.

"Captain Kuchiki, shouldn't you be preparing for your little sisters death?"

Soi Fon said it harshly, the lingering anger spilling over into conversations she'd rather it not be.

"Harsh tone from you, Captain Soi Fon. I only came to hear the story of you fighting against Takumi Urahara. I have heard an alarming amount of people fighting that boy, and him either getting away or beating his opponents. Even Captain level Shinigami."

"...He got lucky, that's all. He managed to slip away, you know how smart he is that damn blonde haired fool."

Soi Fon...lied.

She knew that she shouldn't.

But she couldn't say that she had let him go.

"I see. I was surprised to hear this. You had all the intentions in the world to kill him, yet he eluded you."

"I can't help that he was prepared. Perhaps I could have used my Bankai, but there would have been people caught up in the blast. That's all that happened. Now, I'd appreciate it if you left me alone, I'm going to prepare to find him again."

Soi Fon dismissed Byakuya who sharpened his eyes.

"I came to also tell you, not to attempt anything."

Soi Fon raised an eyebrow.

"And why's that?"

"Because, I want to be the one who fights him next. We need a rematch, this time I intend to not lose."

"...Hearing you saying that, I am wondering what your true intentions are. You also have a past with him, so why are you acting as if that doesn't matter in the slightest?"

"Because it doesn't matter. He's an enemy of the Soul Society. I thought you had the same option as I did."

Soi Fon furrowed her eyebrows at the sight before her.

"I do."

"Then you're questioning my intentions, yet not your own?"

"As I said before, that I'd be the one to bring him to justice, that's my decision. That's my right."

"No, it is my right."

Soi Fon allowed her eyes to focus intently on Byakuya who did the same thing.

Tension was between them.

It was clear to see that something between them wasn't good.

"Captain, I will say this clearly...stay away from Takumi Urahara."

"What…? You're the one saying this to me? What gives you the right?"

"As I have said, I have decided to be the one who fights Takumi. You had your chance, and you couldn't finish him off. He came here for Rukia, so it should be me who fights and stops Takumi from causing more trouble."

"Good luck Byakuya Kuchiki, I don't know if you'll win against him."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying that I can't do that?"

"All I'm saying is, he's fought you once, he wont fall for your tricks twice."

"Neither will I fall for his, Captain Soi Fon."

Byakuya turned away from the young woman, and flash stepped out of there.

Soi Fon silently went back into her room, thinking about the situation at hand. She truly wasn't sure on what she was going to do now. All she knew was that things were going to be difficult going forward, and what could happen...she wasn't sure.

* * *

Running through the Soul Society, Takumi was leading Toshiro, Momo and Rangiku towards the hidden location with Nemu standing beside him as they kept leaping forward several times.

He kept wondering how he was going to proceed with everything that was happening. With Aizen, among other things.

He also knew that Mayuri would be out there, and he wasn't going to take anything lying down, he was going to develop more and scary items that could end most people. Mayuri was a tricky person that had access to different poisons, so Takumi knew that he'd have to think about many different scenarios, and how to counter them.

Rangiku, noticing that he wasn't speaking, turned towards Takumi.

"You know, for someone that's supposed to be quite chatty, you're certainly being quiet."

Takumi blinked at the young woman, glancing at Rangiku who was giving a mixture of a teasing smile, and a curious one.

"Sorry about that, just thinking about next moves and all. Got to keep ahead of people like..." His eyes glanced to Momo, who looked down. "...people that could want to harm me or my friends, that's all."

"Since you're thinking about that, you could at least tell us what you know."

Toshiro said it with slight irritation, but Takumi gently patted her head, to her annoyance.

"Sorry, but you never know who might be trying to follow us. It would be best for all questions to be saved for the time we are in a safe and secure location. We can't give enemies the knowledge that we have. Only in like emergency situations, and this isn't an emergency situation, to the point that I'd have to divulge anything at least right now. Don't worry, when we get there, I will make sure that you get the information you desire."

"I hope so. Because, I know that this isn't right. The Soul Society is in danger, and I can't allow it to be destroyed, no matter what."

Hearing that from the smaller Captain, Takumi gave a small smile.

"You really do care a lot for the Soul Society. It's nice that people here aren't so different to the human world."

"But, you were originally from here, right? Why would you say something like that? Shouldn't it be that people from the human world aren't that different from people in the Soul Society?"

Rangiku displayed her confusion, so Takumi clarified.

"I don't remember being in the Soul Society, as a whole. As time goes on, I remember bits and pieces. I don't have the full picture yet."

"Then, if that's the case, why aren't you more worried that you can't trust who you really are right now?"

Takumi chortled, knowing that she was probably trying to work out what Takumi's true intentions were.

"Because I know any version of me wouldn't be capable of murdering innocent people like that, and speaking to people that knew me, like my Father, and Yoruichi-chan, they believe in me, and knew I wouldn't do this."

"Those people know you though, people that care about you I should say. What about people that don't care about you? What about their views?"

Toshiro brought up a good point in Takumi's opinion.

"Soi Fon-san. She tried to murder me, she hated me and what I was. Yet...at the end of it, that fight...she stopped herself from killing me, and she broke down. She believed that something more was happening than what she believed, yet she had attempted to slay me several times. So, I'd say that people that hated me...they had views about me that they couldn't trust. And you could say that maybe it was our former relationship that helped out. But, Nemu-san and I didn't have a prior relationship, I'm sure she would have at least been aware of who I was, yet she chose to stand with me, right Nemu-san?"

Nemu confirmed it with a nod of her head.

"Correct, Takumi-sama is a person I've decided to follow, because Takumi-sama was able to help me with my thoughts and feelings. Takumi-sama is a good person. I will always believe that. Mayuri-sam...Mayuri is the person that is the bad one."

Her words were simple, yet they were very impactful.

Rangiku felt quite convinced since she hadn't seen Nemu quite like this before.

Toshiro was a bit more unsure of it.

While Momo wasn't sure what to even think about.

But seeing that Nemu was believing in Takumi, maybe it was enough for her right now. Maybe it was alright for her to believe in Takumi, and what he was saying. Though she still needed to know everything that was going on, she needed the information.

* * *

Within the human world, Kisuke thought that he had finally finished it.

The cure to the Zombie girl that had been left behind.

Chizuru.

She had been staying at the house for several days now, and it had been progressing at a rate that most would find terrifying. She would have violent outbursts, Kisuke would have to dodge a number of thrown objects by the Zombie.

But no more.

Not today.

He had finished it.

Bambietta happened to be around at the Urahara shop (mostly because she found it entertaining when Chizuru started attacking Kisuke), watching the man as he sat down at the dining table, with Chizuru in the kitchen, the cold dead look in her eyes could disturb anyone.

"...Since it's evening meal now, perhaps I'd be able to slip it in her drink..."

"It wont work. She can smell things like she's trained her senses for this crap..."

Kisuke turned towards Bambietta with a dry look on his face.

"Are you going to help, or are you going to simply sit there and make comments?"

"Sit here and make comments."

Kisuke sighed deeply.

"...I'll be alright. I'm Kisuke Urahara, I have fought down people that are deranged, I used to be a Captain of a Squad, and I am not going to allow a Zombie to defeat me. I shall overcome this Zombie, and make sure my life will be able to keep going on."

Bambietta wasn't sure if he was deluding himself or not.

But, he was at least trying his best, so it made her rather happy.

"I'm sure that you will be. Just do your best."

Bambietta had a fat smile on her face, watching as Chizuru who was still a Zombie, looked towards Kisuke with scary loving eyes.

"Kisuke..."

The Zombie growled, Kisuke winced at the feelings suddenly entering him.

It felt terrifying.

But he wasn't going to give in.

"Y-Yeah? I'm alright..."

"Kisuke...I've made chocolate cake...for after dinneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

Kisuke winced at the yelling, Chizuru's eyes came stronger for Kisuke. Bambietta showed a bigger than normal smile, seeing that she was rather interested in what was happening.

"O-Okay. That sounds...great, thanks."

Chizuru glares at him, Kisuke could see the pressure she was using began to crack the metal she was holding onto, the metal surface at that was denting. He did feel as if this could be a dangerous situation.

But he had to see it through.

He directed his hand to the side of him.

"Chizuru...come and sit down with me."

"Grrrrr..."

Kisuke felt his stomach do a flip at that.

"O-Or whatever you want, I wont push you..."

Bambietta was loving this.

Seeing someone as strong and smart as Kisuke being forced to bow down to someone like Zombie Chizuru.

Chizuru walked over with a plate of food, and pushed it in front of Kisuke. A snarl escaped her lips as she engaged with Kisuke.

"Eat this...now."

Kisuke felt the threatening tone that she had given, so he just nodded.

Looking down at the plate, Kisuke steeled himself.

It seemed that he might not be able to go with his original plan, so he'd have to do an alternative.

His eyes turned to his cane, and reached for it slowly.

"Kisuke...what are you doing…?"

She growled at him, as Bambietta snickered.

Kisuke didn't like the way Bambietta was snickering.

"N-Nothing Zombie Chizuru, just...doing nothing."

Bambietta snickered, and wondered if she should say anything or do anything.

It felt so perfect right now that she could say anything to set off Chizuru and Kisuke would be afraid of her.

"Zombie Chizuru..." Kisuke turned desperately to Bambietta who kept smirking. "...Kisuke said that he wishes for you to feed him. Would it be alright if you did something like that?"

"Bambi..."

Kisuke gave a betraying look towards her, but she merely smirked as Chizuru pulled closer to Kisuke. Kisuke felt his heart dropping as Chizuru placed her hand on his leg. The gently scary touch of the Zombie caused Kisuke to feel worried about what she could do.

"You...need me to..."

"Y-Yes...we could do something together like...aah, screw this." Chizuru raised an eyebrow as Kisuke stuck out his hand. "Sajo Sabaku!"

Suddenly, golden energy chains came out, shooting around the young woman, binding her.

"Kisuke...disobeying meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Chizuru growled, and she began moving her arms, Kisuke noticing that the chains were beginning to break as it went forward.

"Ooh, she's going to break them."

Bambietta laughed out, Kisuke tightening his eyes on the form of Chizuru.

Kisuke then unleashed a few more binding spells onto her, but the power of Chizuru was growing stronger and stronger, with the binding spells breaking more and more, faster than Kisuke could use them on her.

"Ooh, it's going to break!"

Bambietta couldn't contain her laughter at the moment.

"Will you help me Bambi?!"

"Sorry. I can't stop this happiness I'm feeling right now."

Kisuke cried as he took the cure, and injected it into Chizuru's body. Chizuru immediately let out a howl, as she smashed through the chains, the eruption of power forced back even Bambietta who was at a distance.

"Oh crap, she's going super nova..."

Kisuke cried, as Chizuru snarled, lunging forward.

Kisuke place d a few barriers before him, but she broke right through them instantly.

The Zombie girl was frighteningly powerful.

Chizuru's hands went to grab Kisuke…

But they suddenly stopped.

She stopped in sight.

Her eyes suddenly turned from crazed, to back to her usual self. Her skin turned back to its natural colour instead of having the reddish hue.

Yet, she still let out a small snarl.

"W-Wait, why am I here?" Chizuru's eyes went towards Kisuke who laid down on the floor. "...Eeh, aren't you that damn Takumi's Father? Is my Hime here?! I want to see my Hime! But, I'm still not sure what's going on here...w-why am I here?! Answer me!"

Bambietta clicked her tongue.

"Awww, she's back to normal, I was hoping that she'd stay like that for a good while yet..."

She sighed, while Kisuke breathed out slowly.

He stood up, and faced the red headed girl seriously.

"R-Right, Chizuru-san. It seems that you...yeah, you passed out, and came here. What is the last thing you remem..." Chizuru's gaze turned to Bambietta, ignoring Kisuke. "...oh, you're not even listening to me now..."

"Wow, you're one hot woman!" Bambietta cringed as Chizuru made grabbing motions to her. "I haven't seen anyone so cute...well, besides Hime and Kuchiki-chan~ But, I wonder where they are? Aaah, I wish I could be with them...t-they better not be with that damn Takumi again! No, he can't be! Please don't let him do anything happen to them!"

Bambietta watched as Chizuru came close to her at lightning speed, hugging onto her arm.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"Don't worry, I just need some comforting...please, don't let anything happen to me..."

Kisuke watched as Bambietta pushed Chizuru away, and snapped "Leave me alone!" running off, as Chizuru began giving chase.

But she paused, and turned to Kisuke with a deranged look on her face and snarled, scaring Kisuke.

But then she returned to normal, announcing "Goodbye, damn Takumi's Father!" running off with a happy face.

Kisuke released a breath he didn't know he was holding, leaning backwards, and simply just took it easy. His nightmare of Zombie Chizuru was over...he hoped that it was over anyway.

* * *

Back in the Soul Society, when they finally arrived back at the hideout, Takumi was immediately swamped by Yuzu, who hugged around his waist.

He looked around, see that everyone had finally gathered. Including that of Unohana, Shunsui, Nanao, Isane, Orihime, Karin, Ganju, Hanataro, Giselle, Yoruichi, and Yachiru who was sat down with Kenpachi who was still in a state of being frozen.

Bringing back with him were Nemu, Toshiro, Momo and Rangiku.

The three that didn't know about all of this, seemed bewildered that so many Shinigami had gathered. It seemed that a good number of the Captains are also quite...into the situation while the three girls were left baffled by what was currently going on.

"Geez, seems like you're finally back."

Shunsui played it off as if he didn't mind.

Though Takumi could see that he looked relieved that Takumi was back.

"Yes, sorry for worrying you all. Just had a few things that we needed to do." His eyes turned to Yuzu who was crying as she was hugging him. "Ooh Yuzu-chan, don't worry. I've come back now~ And I'm, mostly okay~"

"M-Mostly okay? Then that means you might not be okay…?"

"What I meant was, I just need to relax some, and heal Kenpachi-san. Don't worry about me Yuzu-chan, alright?"

Yuzu looked up towards Takumi, and gave a cute smile on her face.

The blonde gently petted her head, while Yoruichi glanced at Toshiro's suddenly appearance, along with Rangiku, and Momo who still had a melancholic look to her.

"Takumi, what's going on here?"

Takumi chuckled awkwardly.

"W-Well, it seems that we've gained some unexpected...I don't know if we're allies yet, but at least they wish for the truth as we know it. But, I still have to help out Kenpachi-san and make sure that he's battle ready. Unohana-san, could you give me assistance please? Since he was poisoned by Mayuri, I had to take measures such as these."

"Of course, it shouldn't take-"

"Excuse me." Toshiro interrupted. "But, what's going on here? You're...all together. Since when did this happen? I wasn't aware that this many people had come under Takumi Urahara."

Takumi rubbed the back of his head.

He could see that Toshiro was rather an impatient look on her face.

"Hehehe, we'll explain, I promise. But Kenpachi-san needs assistance right now, we'll be doing that, and then since it is late, we'll talk about what's currently happening tomorrow morning. Since we have to keep up appearances for the Soul Society, we have to make sure that everything runs as normal in each of your squads without raising any suspicions."

"But I don't get it, what are you all doing here together?"

Rangiku's question was answered by Karin.

"We're attempting to save your Soul Society."

Toshiro looked bewildered by what was currently happening. Rangiku was intrigued, while Momo wanted to know more about the situation at hand.

"Now, please relax. We'll explain everything tomorrow, but right now..." Takumi yawned. "Fought too many people today...can't think about serious things, need to relax...no, need to heal Kenpachi-san then need to relax..."

"Aah, he's speaking my language~"

Rangiku sang out, Toshiro folded her arms.

"No, you're just lazy."

"Captain! Please don't say that!"

Toshiro just ignored her, and didn't say anything else, while watching Takumi.

She tried to figure out what he truly was after.

She couldn't discern.

He truly was someone that was hard to understand.

* * *

Sometime later, Takumi with Unohana was fixing Kenpachi of the poison that Mayuri had given him. Since Unohana was more knowledgeable about the body, and Takumi was more knowledgeable about poisons, they combined their efforts with Unohana fixing the body and Takumi taking out the poison.

"Amazing, you did the right thing by stopping his body from decaying so fast. Anymore time, and he could have died."

"Well, thank Orihime-chan for keeping him alive for as long as she did."

"Ooh yes, that Ryoka girl. What is your relationship with her anyway?"

Takumi raised an eyebrow at the woman.

"Why?"

"I'm just curious. Do you love her?"

Takumi's face turned slightly red at the sight before him.

Her asking such things wasn't something he expected to happen.

"T-That's...well, I...I think that's between us."

Unohana lightly smiled at the boys words.

"How wonderful, Takumi-kun found love in the human world~"

"A-Ah, well...I guess that I did..."

"That's good. I was worried about you, for a good while. Back then, even now. I wasn't sure what to believe when it came to you. I never really believed that you would have performed experimentation of humans and souls. Though I was also thinking about what you'd be doing in the human world."

"Yeah...it was an alright life. I knew about the supernatural world. Like Hollows and Shinigami and the likes. But while I did want to know more about that stuff, I was more concerned about doing my day to day activities, and doing what I can to have a good life, with my friends. I also got to spend my time inventing things, which was always great~ Now, I'm in the Soul Society fighting against a system that seriously needs to think and reflect on itself."

Unohana placed a finger to her chin, then she began letting out cute laughing sounds.

"How cute you are. It might seem like we are a strange society, and for a long time, we have been operating fairly well...but, with everything that's been happening, I suppose that we haven't been able to operate at the levels that we should have been able to operate at."

Takumi's face began to fall slightly.

"Captain Unohana, I'm sorry about all of this. I know that it isn't ideal-"

"I'd rather be prepared, than be suddenly shocked. Change is necessary sometimes, and this time...it is necessary. We have to change to grow, and that's why I am glad that you came back Takumi-kun. You always were a rather unconventional Shinigami, and it's nice to see you being able to pull off these different things with the world against you."

Takumi lightly smiled at the woman before him.

But then Kenpachi became alert, his lone visible eye shooting open to look at Takumi.

"Alright, where is he? I'll slice down that clown bastard if its the last thing I do!"

Takumi tilted his neck left and right.

"Eeh, if you mean Mayuri, he's gone for now."

Kenpachi growled, sitting up with discontent on his face.

"Damn it, I wanted to cut him down..."

"In the future, I'm sure that you'll be able to do that. For now though, you need to relax, your body isn't back to normal."

"I can't relax Takumi! I've got a clown to slay!"

Takumi chuckled awkwardly, as Unohana gained a scary aura, placing a hand on Kenpachi's shoulder.

"Kenpachi, please do as Takumi-kun has advised. It would be in your best interest if you follow the rules this time."

Even someone like Kenpachi cringed when seeing her eyes shooting towards his own.

"...Alright, I'll have to go along with that this time."

Unohana released her smile, looking rather content.

"That's good. Now lay back, and relax."

Unohana nodded with a content look on her face.

Takumi exhaled, glad that Unohana was around for them to be like this.

Yachiru who had been waiting at a distance, when seeing Kenpachi moving again, shot off like a bullet, jumping Kenpachi, and she began to cry as she hugged onto him, crying out "Thank you Taku-chan!" again and again, something Takumi smiled at, shaking his head, glad that she was rather happy right now.

* * *

Late into the night, so late that it could nearly be Takumi and the other slept in various places, Takumi was suddenly awoken when he felt a new pressure coming closer. Takumi's eyes went towards it, so he reached for his Zanpakuto, and moved towards that location.

He didn't wake anyone, as he knew who it was.

But, if he was also an enemy still or not, Takumi had to find out.

When he got to the large ladders, he saw a familiar red hair coming down, so Takumi aimed his sword up.

"Friend or foe?"

"I'm here to rescue Rukia, take that what you will."

Takumi lightly smiled.

"Renji, seems like you're more relaxed than last time."

Renji jumped down towards the blonde, looking into his eyes. Takumi noticed that his blade had been repaired, something Takumi found rather interesting, and he saw that the wounds Renji had, had been recovered.

"Last time, I was angry...I hated it, that I was powerless to rescue Rukia, but after what I've heard, seems like you've grown stronger than last time we fought, taking on Captain's. Even taking down a monster like Kenpachi Zaraki. Tell me, Takumi….can you really do it? Rescue Rukia?"

Takumi thought about how to respond.

He was a realist, he wasn't going to give false hope, but he also wished to reassure Renji as much as he could.

"I can promise that together, we can go for her to save her. We've got good allies now. It was a goal of mine to make allies while here, I knew that I'd have some people here that would support me. But, I'd have to convince others. No one man can win a war against a society, don't care who it is, he needs help. And now, we've got that help. Renji, we will save Rukia-chan, with everyone's help. Are you with me?"

Renji, hearing that, began to show a wicked smile on his face.

"Naturally! As if I wouldn't do anything to save her!"

"Right, then lets work together and save her."

"Then in doing that, I need to practice finalizing my Bankai here. That's fine, right?"

Takumi raised an eyebrow.

"You have Bankai?"

"Heh, that's right. I certainly do."

"Then why didn't you use that when you fought me?"

Renji's cocky smile turned into a scowl.

"W-What I meant is, I'm nearly there to getting Bankai, that's all! Don't think about situations needlessly!"

Takumi rolled his eyes at Renji playfully.

"But still, Bankai huh? I'm so proud of you Renji~"

Renji's eyes widened when he said that in such a voice.

Did he remember?

He wasn't sure.

But the way that Takumi spoke, the singsong way…

It just reminded him of the past.

"...Do you remember about it? When we were young?"

"No." Renji's face fell, as Takumi leaned forward. "But, I do know that we're friends now, and right now, isn't that all that matters? When I remember, I'll let you know. Until then, we're still friends now."

Renji huffed.

But secretly, he was quite alright with what he had said.

"Fine, that's good enough for me."

"And if its Bankai you're training for, how about doing it with Giselle-san?"

"G-Giselle...the legendary Zombie girl?"

"She's legendary here?"

Renji shuddered.

He didn't even want to think about what could be happening with the Zombie girl.

"S-She's...She's something alright...please just don't speak about her, and...yeah, I don't need her to help me out. I'm alright...don't worry about me...it's alright..."

Hearing Renji talking gibberish, seemed like Giselle had made quite the name for herself during her time in the Soul Society.

"Haha, alright then. I'm sure that you'll be able to practice around here. Since I'm up, I'm going to do some stretches."

Renji gave him a slightly confused look, but Takumi simply dropped to the ground, and began doing some push ups, then sit ups, among other exercises. Certainly, Renji was rather baffled by what he was seeing this moment in time.

* * *

When the sun was slowly rising in the air, Rukia could feel that there weren't any current battles, at least the ones that reached her in the tower. Rukia could see the sun was beginning to peak into her window within the tower.

She contemplated what Takumi and the others were doing at that moment in time.

If they had managed to find some kind of refuge…

But as she was thinking about it, she saw that a guard was coming up to the door.

Her eyes didn't move from his form, as he delivered the unfortunate news to her.

"Your execution date has been moved up once more. Three days from today, you shall be executed."

Rukia didn't know what to say.

She didn't know how she was supposed to feel.

Her first reaction was worry, perhaps even fear…

But then she calmed and rationalized what she had been told, and she began thinking about the other people that had come to save her. The people that wished to be with her, and help her out, and how now…

They could die too.

"_...If I die here...perhaps since I am a Kuchiki...my name might hold some weight, and Takumi could...perhaps they could find it in their hearts to listen to my plea of...letting them go...all of them..._"

That's all Rukia could think about right now.

Even though she had been told she was going to die, she was worried about the others.

What they could be feelings.

Thinking.

How they could be hurt, killed.

She couldn't have that happen.

Not for her.

So she had begun making up her mind that if she was going to die, then she'd at least plead for their lives.

For Takumi's life.

Even if it was futile, she felt like this is the only thing that she could do now.

* * *

A small time later after Rukia received her message, Takumi gathered everyone of the alliance to save the Soul Society, Takumi looked out over the others, seeing that Kenpachi was back to normal, and the others all seemed to be staring at him.

If he was honest with himself, he...felt odd about suddenly seeing these things happening.

Before, everyone in the room that didn't come to the Soul Society barring Shunsui, Nemu and Nanao, had attacked him or at least threatened to do so, but now it seemed like they were all listening to him.

Takumi also noticed that a new face had appeared, with the white haired man, Ukitake.

"Ehh…."

"It's alright, he's on our side."

Shunsui added, so Takumi smiled softly.

"Right, nice to meet you..."

"Ooh, we've met before. But you can call me Jushiro Ukitake."

"R-Right...before memory loss...gotta keep up with that."

Takumi smiled out slightly, with the white haired man bowing his head ever so slightly.

"...Are you going to start?"

Renji had asked this, with Yachiru glancing towards him.

"Why is Red Monkey here?"

Renji shot a look towards her, but she casually swayed side to side.

Momo raised her hand, gaining Takumi's attention.

"I'm sorry...but can we begin please?"

Takumi nodded, and began speaking.

"Right. I suppose what I said to you all last night after the fight with Gin might make you disbelieve what's going on. Because to you, I'm sure I've been called a killer, or someone that's done human experimentation with Hollows or something like that, right?" They nodded so he continued. "Then, to begin with. The reason why Rukia-chan is being put to death in the first place."

"That's because she gave her powers to you, right?"

Rangiku questioned, Takumi furrowed his brows complicatedly.

"Correct, in a sense. However, I've read the laws of the Soul Society very carefully, and each time I've come to the same conclusion. It's against the law to pass your powers to a human...but, I was never human. So, I had to make the conclusion it was because it was me, specifically that she is being put to death in such a manner."

"That's because of what's been said about you in the past. Can you really say you didn't do those things?"

Toshiro wondered, with Takumi nodding.

"Yes, because from what I've seen, I'm being punished for experimentation on humans, and the creation of Shinigami/Hollow hybrids, as in the case of the former Captain Shinji, and a few of the others."

Karin looked towards Takumi.

"Kind of like me then?"

"You're a different case Karin-chan...I think. You're a special case, you didn't necessarily have your body experimented on, yet you wound up with Hollows powers. My best guess is because your Father or Mother were attacked by Hollows before your birth, and infected them with their energy, and they gave you that power."

Karin seemed alright with that for the moment.

Takumi wasn't sure how much of that was true, since he recalled Isshin saying stuff about why she'd have a Hollow, and didn't want to reveal anything about it just yet to Karin or Yuzu.

"But yes, that's the reason I was banished from the Soul Society...or rather, why I had to flee over a hundred years ago. However, I was framed for that crime. My Father also explained to me about this situation and what really happened." His eyes shifted to Momo. "Remember what I'm about to say, is what I believe is the truth. This isn't me hating on anyone, but the facts and speculations that I have come to."

"Y-Yes..."

"Then, Aizen is most likely the one who framed me for that event because he is after something according to my Father."

They went deadly silent.

The people that didn't know about this conclusion were surprised.

But, the ones that did just stayed silent and didn't say anything.

"The reasons why he did this, is because he's after something."

"What is he after exactly?"

Toshiro's question was met with a disheartened look from Takumi.

"It's something that can break down the walls between Hollows and Shinigami's. Turning one into the other, and mixing their powers. So, a Hollow gaining Shinigami powers, and a Shinigami gaining Hollow powers."

"That's really possible though?"

Rangiku nodded as Karin showed her mask that she'd rather not have, but it keeps appearing on her person.

"I have both Shinigami and Hollow powers. Not sure how yet, gotta get back to you on that. But yeah it's very possible."

"Like with Karin-chan, having one gain the other power is quite...scary to think about. We also came across such a being once, a woman that was named Tier-san, she was a Hollow that gained the power of a Shinigami."

"Damn, those things exist? Makes me want to cut them up even more."

Kenpachi smirked out, Unohana gave slightly dry eyes towards him, as Takumi continued.

"Aizen must have one already, so gaining my Father's one, he'd be able to make it...stronger, it's a creation that has an unknown power that could cause mass destruction. I'm not sure what Aizen is trying to achieve exactly, if it is to boost his own power with an army of Hollows, or if he intends to destroy Soul Society, I'm not quite sure. But evidence does point to Aizen being the one behind this."

"C-Could you explain please?"

Momo's voice barely worked.

She was having a hard time believing this.

"Yes..to take it back to the beginning. Rukia-chan fighting that Hollow, a Hollow that was far beyond most normal Hollows, she fought that and nearly lost. And her coming to Karakura town, coincidence? Or, was she sent there purposefully? Because, I had a prior relationship with her in the past, I was a sort of...mentor to her, and Renji from what I've been told. However, unlike the hot headed Renji, sorry Renji-" Renji shrugged, agreeing with what he said to an extent. "-the calm Rukia-chan would think of a different way to survive, and I just can't see Renji passing his powers to me, even when he was on deaths door, as at that time, he believed that I was an evil person."

"So, the night that Hollow attacked, it was all for her to awaken your powers? It was designed in that way?"

Yuzu asked Takumi who inclined his neck.

"It was to force Rukia-chan into a situation that was do or die. By doing that, he turned her into a traitor of the Soul Society. Siding with someone that did these heinous crimes. Eventually, word picked up, and she was caught after a mysterious situation with the Hollows, more importantly, the Menos Grande."

"Aizen's aligned himself with the Menos?"

Ukitake asked with Takumi nodding his head.

"In all likelihood, yes he has. His objective could be to create an army of them. Imagine if he got some Vasto Lorde Hollows on his side, turned them into hybrids with Shinigami powers? Talk about scary huh?"

"Okay, I get that. But, where do you fit into all of this? Why go this far?"

Toshiro had to wonder about that.

So Takumi continued.

"Right, Aizen needed me to be here. He needed a reason for the situations to happen as they did."

"And that's for the breakdown sphere thing you mentioned?"

Takumi nodded at Toshiro.

"A-And it's in the Soul Society right now?"

Momo's question was answered by a nodding Takumi.

"Yes, it's in the Soul Society. Aizen needed Rukia-chan to be a sacrificial Pawn. I wondered about a few ways for the device to be revealed from a persons soul, and one way would be to evaporate the soul, to be fair it's probably one of two to three ways for it to be retrieved once implanted into a soul. Could someone tell me, what the Sokyoku does?"

"It's got the power of a million Zanpakuto." Unohana revealed. "It creates a...I suppose the best way to describe it would be like a phoenix, and that would obliterate the soul in the intense power of flames."

Takumi furrowed his eyebrows, then continued after thinking for a moment.

"Then he needed a reason to release the Sokyoku, and what better than a criminal that helped another one?" Toshiro was putting the pieces in place now though Momo wasn't so sure. "He devised this plan to make sure that Rukia-chan got captured, and also, for me to come to the Soul Society to rescue Rukia-chan."

"But, I still don't understand." Nanao interrupted. "Why would he need you here specifically?"

"Me, and the others here that came with me." Takumi continued after a pause. "He needed an enemy that the Soul Society could focus in on. And who better than already a wanted criminal? He knew I'd come for Rukia-chan, the girl that saved me. By me and the others causing a distraction, he was free to do what he wanted. So, the first order of business was to make sure he could be as comfortable as possible."

"By that, you mean..."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed slightly, with Takumi nodding.

"Central 46. Can anyone say when they last saw someone go in and out of that place, before the lock down on that place?"

No one said anything.

Many of the Soul Society members began thinking of when they actually did see someone.

"Then, if you haven't seen anyone for a while, that means Aizen took it over for a while. He could do whatever he wants there."

"He has the run of the Soul Society..."

Shunsui murmured, Takumi nodded slowly.

"Right, and that means, he can put up Rukia-chan's execution, he can do whatever he wants while being comfortable."

"So, that's why he faked his death..."

Unohana caught on, Takumi continued to nod.

"With him dead, and that place on currently unable to be entered or exited, who'd suspect it being any different to it is now?"

Some had to agree with what he was saying.

Though Momo remained skeptical on what was currently going on.

"But, before he disappeared, he was at least with one of us when we got messages from the Central 46, so how did he do that? He can't be in two places at once. Even when you came to the Soul Society, I remember being with him as we got the message...and he was there...so, how did it happen…?"

Momo's words tried to defend Aizen, though even she wasn't sure if she could defend Aizen as she listened to this.

"True, no one person can be in two places at once. It's simply impossible. So, he had help."

"Help...Gin?"

Toshiro asked, but Takumi gave a complex stare.

"Him, and perhaps others."

"More people could be involved?"

Isane didn't sound like she believed it, but Takumi confirmed it with a nod.

"I can only speculate on that. Even Yoruichi-chan said she might not be aware of all people on his side. Since the last time she saw him was a 100 years ago. But for sure, my Father told me about Aizen, and Gin. Mayuri could also be involved, though that's mostly because of how he acts as a person and all that bad stuff."

"Suppose that he does have help, how could we figure out who is a traitor with him, or who isn't with him? How do we know that anyone in here isn't working for him?"

Toshiro's question gained an irritated look from Renji.

"Are you accusing us of being with that ass?!"

"Well, we don't know, that's what I am saying."

"We shouldn't accuse anyone in here of being a traitor."

Unohana smiled out, which began scaring a few people.

Takumi chuckled awkwardly, then continued with a slight smile.

"But yes, with this happening now, Aizen's plans are slotting into place. As I heard just before starting this meeting from Unohana-san, it seems that Rukia-chan's execution date has been pushed up again."

Momo and the others looked between them.

They didn't know what to say.

Hearing it made sense.

They understood their situations.

But they also weren't sure on where to go from here.

So Shunsui spoke up.

"What are we going to do about this exactly?"

Takumi raised an eyebrow, as Unohana nodded.

"As our leader, don't you have a plan Takumi-kun?"

"L-Leader?"

Nanao raised her head, nodding as she allowed her glasses to be pushed up her face.

"Yes, we need a leader, and Takumi-kun, that's you. You know the most about this, you've brought us all together, so it is only logical that you should be the one to lead us in this adventure. We could even achieve something amazing if you're the one leading us."

"Hey yeah, I have no problem with that~" Rangiku smiled out. "Besides, he's quite cute, so I'd be alright with him being our leader~"

Toshiro shook her head at Rangiku while Takumi blushed ever so slightly.

"T-Thanks. But still, it's like...eeh, I only came here to save Rukia-chan...I never thought I'd become any kind of leader..."

"Accept you're the damn leader, and move on."

Karin snapped at him, Takumi winced but saw that Karin looked encouraging. It seemed like she also was able to believing in him right now.

"R-Right…then, I guess that I am huh~?" Takumi smiled happily, before he continued. "Ooh yes, I also had to ask. Unohana-san, did you find the thing I asked you to find? And if you did, is it possible for us to do it?"

"Yes, and I believe it would be possible. Though...it will cause eventual..."

"Yes, I'm aware. But, in these situations, seems like sometimes you have to put your life on the line. So, we'll be doing that on the day...that's not going to be pleasant. Either way, I also said I'd explain about why Aizen is behind this, and I've done that to an extent, but if its proof, then Unohana-san."

Unohana nodded, and continued.

"The corpse we found of Aizen that day, wasn't a corpse."

"Wasn't...a corpse?"

Momo's voice carried to Unohana who continued after bringing out some pictures, showing them to the group.

"No, the corpse, was actually a very elaborate corpse doll, designed in a way to make it seem like Takumi-kun here killed Aizen. It was so intricately designed that I was surprised. From my understanding, even Aizen wouldn't be able to make this, so that's why we believe Mayuri Kurotsuchi could be involved, with his involvement in Gigai technology with Nemu-san here. That, mixed with Aizen's intelligence, he made a corpse doll that was near indistinguishable from the real thing. But thanks to the combined efforts of myself, and Takumi-kun, we managed to find out that it truly was a corpse doll. So, that's another reason we have to show as evidence that Captain Aizen is in fact alive. Here, are my findings for you all to go over."

Unohana handed out some papers, and a detailed report on it for their eyes to see.

Takumi himself, watched Momo being unsure of the situation.

She didn't look like she wanted to hear this, but she had to accept it.

"I know all of you might have some doubts about my words, and that's perfectly understandable. But allow me the chance to show you what's truly happening here. This society is currently being controlled by a man with plans to either destroy you, or do something akin to destruction like taking over you all. Even my Father has doubts about his true plans, Aizen is a person that's rather sneaky. Again, you can not believe in my Father either, I'm sure some of you have only heard horrible things about us, but please let me show you that this is wrong. What's happening here, is wrong. Rukia-chan does not deserve to die for anything, and you all don't deserve to be targeted by this kind of threat. So, I say that we should make a stand, and somehow make it right. Lets pull together, and achieve a victory for us all."

Those inspirational words even took Takumi by surprise.

He usually wasn't the type to do these things.

But, in this situation, he had to showcase what he's truly doing right now.

He had to prove his name wasn't something to be dragged through the mud.

Seeing that people began to nod, and accept what was currently happening, Takumi breathed out his worries, and got to work.

"Okay, this is what we're going to do." He turned to Shunsui. "Shunsui-san, could you handle that old man long enough for us to draw out Aizen?"

"Heh, that old man is the strongest man in the Soul Society. I'm not sure if I could hold him for long."

"With me, I could help you."

Ukitake brought up, but Shunsui looked reluctant.

"Jushiro, your condition..."

"Condition? I'm sorry, what condition?"

Takumi asked, Ukitake pursed his lips.

"I have a condition that sometimes hampers me...I've had it for most of my life. I have good days and bad days."

"R-Right...I'm sorry about that, maybe I could...hmmm, a lung condition huh...so, it would be difficult for you to breathe...maybe I could give you something that could regulate your breathing and ease the symptoms with Unohana-sans help..."

Takumi offered, Ukitake looked mildly surprised.

"That would be...great, thank you."

"Then I'll do my best to help out~ So, yes...Yamamoto, I can't hold that guy off, there's no way that anyone else here could do that apart from you two. Also Unohana-san, but I have something else for her to do. He'd probably kill me if he had the chance to do that."

"So, you want us to distract him? We can do that, but what are you going to do?"

Takumi smiled lightly to himself.

"I've got some cherry blossoms to deal with."

"Takumi, Byakuya has Bankai. You currently don't. What are you planning to do?"

Yoruichi asked.

Takumi looked down at the ground for a few moments.

"...That's a good point, I'll have to think of something-"

"That's not necessary. Because you're going to be learning Bankai in three days. We have three days, you're going to be learning your Bankai until then."

The members of the Soul Society seemed dubious at best, but Takumi saw that Yoruichi looked determined. She had some kind of plan for that, so he was going to believe n Yoruichi for the moment.

"Right...if I could do that then it would be better. But yes, I'll be taking care of Byakuya. Kenpachi-san." Kenpachi smirked, waiting for Takumi. "I need you to do what you do best."

"Say no more, I'll destroy anything you need me to."

Takumi gave a light hearted smile as Yachiru cheered "Yay! Ken-chan gets to fight!" with Toshiro not looking sure about this.

"Right. The rest of you, I'll also have things that I'll need you to do. Aizen is smart, but he also knows that currently, he can't beat Yamamoto, he can't beat Unohana-san probably, and maybe even you both Shunsui-san and Ukitake-san. And even if he could take you all individually, he couldn't take you all together, that's why he's not made a grab for what he wishes for just yet, but that's why we have to force his hand into making a move. If we told the old man, and the others...yeah, look how it turned out when I told...most of you. Mostly, I got attacked, so I doubt them believing me, and I also don't want to split the Soul Society either. We have to make Aizen reveal his intentions, and take him down. So, as we go through the days, I'll be thinking of the best plans of action, if you're all comfortable with that?"

No one seemed to disagree with him.

Takumi smiled, and went to speak, when Momo stood up, beginning to leave.

"Hinamori..."

Toshiro called, but Momo exited the area quickly.

It seemed to have been a bit much for her.

She was finding out her Hero was really a monster.

And who everyone was told was a monster, in this case Takumi, truly was her Hero who had protected her.

It was quite overwhelming.

* * *

Takumi stretched his body as he cracked his neck side to side.

"Alright then, we should begin preparing. I wrote out something's last night for you guys to go over, and some different scenarios, that could happen. I'll go and speak to Momo-san...I know she's probably unsure of many different things right now..."

Takumi stood up, and left after giving out some different papers.

Karin looked at the papers in her hand, and then knew that she'd have to fight as well. She needed to be tougher, stronger. She had to go to the only person she knew that would be able to help her grow without holding back on her.

Her eyes turned towards Kenpachi, and approached him.

"Hey, Kenpachi. Aren't you powerful?"

"Heh, if you have to ask then you don't know me at all."

Karin showed a light smile.

"I suppose so. Do you need a training partner?"

"I don't train with weak-" Karin thrust her sword at Kenpachi at high speeds, forcing Kenpachi to bat her sword away. "-people. Alright, you've caught my attention."

Karin smirked, hauling her sword over her shoulder.

"Right, then show me your power Kenpachi, and I'll show you mine."

"If that's what you want, then I'm alright with that. Though why me exactly?"

Karin could get why Kenpachi would be unsure of her motives.

So she explained them the best way that she could, and how he'd understand it.

"Because you're strong and wont hold back on me. I need to be stronger, I can't be the weak link in the chain. If we've got a few days, then I want to be as strong as I can be, and that's through you, don't you also think that?"

"I don't focus on techniques, if you're looking for that, then find someone else. I believe that fighting with power is all that you need to do."

"Right, that's what I believe. I need that power, so help me out Kenpachi!"

"Hahaha, that's what you want! Then it begins now!"

Karin watches as Kenpachi comes at her with his blade swinging harshly, coming at her from left and right, forcing the young woman to block the sword strikes, each one being heavy and forcing her backwards.

But she didn't give up, and began training with Kenpachi.

* * *

Takumi walked towards the skirts of the training field, knowing that Momo went this way to escape the others. He wondered how she'd take it, how she'd feel about it, and he knew that she'd also be worried about the situation at hand.

So, he had to go and put her mind at ease.

At least, he'd be able to process the information that she's received.

Eventually, he found the location she was hiding in. Within a rocky formation, Takumi found a hiding Momo curled up in a ball, knees pressed against chest, head down onto her knees, looking down at a bit of water, with her finger slowly running through the water, as a few tears came to her eyes.

Seeing that, Takumi also felt sorry for her.

He couldn't even fathom what she was thinking about right now.

Everything she knew was a lie. Her feelings were hard to understand. Her mind was beginning to sink into a place she couldn't think about.

Takumi slowly approached her, sitting down beside her.

Momo registered his appearance, then turned back to the water.

He only said "When you want to talk, I'll be here." and nothing more.

He knew that he couldn't force it out of her, he wasn't someone that she knew a lot.

But maybe that's what she needed right now.

Someone that could tell her objectively about what truly was happening and wouldn't hold back, yet would be mindful to be kind to her, and make her feel better than before.

Minutes passed by, and neither said anything.

But then Momo chimed up, ready to speak now.

"...It's hard, I've admired him for so long...and to hear all of these things. Captain...no, Captain might not be a good title for him now. I don't know what to think about this now...Takumi-san, you're so strong."

Takumi was surprised that she was calling him strong.

"How so?"

Momo clutched her fingers together, shaking ever so slightly as a few stray tears fell down her face.

Takumi's heart almost broke when seeing that.

She was truly trying her hardest to keep it together.

"Even when everyone was against you...you still fought hard against a society that wished to get rid of you, and you've managed to convince all of these people to be beside you...they all can't be brainwashed, they are...Captain Aizen, he's truly evil, isn't he?"

Takumi wondered how he was to approach her question.

He didn't want to give her false hope, yet he didn't want anything

"I...I can't say he's evil completely. But he's got dark intentions. I'm sorry, I truly am sorry that you're going through this. You say that I'm strong, but you have just lost your Hero...that can't be easy. Aizen isn't my Hero, he's never been my Hero. But for you...he's someone that you idolized, someone that you thought always couldn't do any wrong, and he's betrayed that bond, that love you built up for him...you're strong, Momo-san."

Momo began to cry, as she whimpered out.

"M-Me? N-No, I'm not..."

Takumi's hand gently laid on top of her head.

"Yes, you are. You're strong, Momo-san. You are taking in this information, and handling it remarkably. It would be like if I found out my Dad is evil, it would break me. After all the things I've known about my Father, what I thought was true, was shattered and he's completely different to what I thought. It's like that for you, right?" Momo as she continued to cry, so he gently embraced her, shocking the young woman. "You don't have to worry about Aizen, okay? I wouldn't send you to fight him or anything, that would be unnecessarily cruel. There are many ways to help out, and even if you don't want to do anything like that, then that's okay too. I'm not going to force anyone to do something they just don't want to do."

Momo looked into the eyes of Takumi.

Support.

Comfort.

It was quite like how Aizen used to look at her.

The softness of his voice, the kindness that he displayed for her.

It was filling her with warmth.

She hadn't expected this to happen.

The best thing of all though was…

He was allowing her to say what or what didn't happen.

Nothing she didn't like was going to happen.

She wasn't going to have to do anything against her will…

She broke down into tears, crying onto his chest.

She kept whispering "Why did he do this…?" and "I'm so sorry..." mixing some together.

Takumi continued to embrace her, and make sure that she was alright, that she didn't have to keep worrying about what was happening. He'd be there for her now, he'd be able to help her out then and there.

No matter what would happened.

* * *

After comforting Momo for a little while, Takumi went to go and meet Yoruichi. When getting there, he saw that the woman was holding up some white paper looking thing. Takumi overlooked the life sized paper then towards Yoruichi.

"Yoruichi-chan, we making origami?"

Yoruichi's lips curled upwards ever so slightly.

"I wish that we had the time for that. But no, this is to help you achieve Bankai."

"Right, you mentioned about that. But what was that even about anyway?"

Yoruichi was glad that she now had the chance.

She was going to be the teacher that Takumi needed right now.

"Yes, this is something your Father actually invented. It's called Tenshintai. It's how he also achieved Bankai. If you stab your Zanpakuto into this doll I've got, it will manifest your Zanpakuto spirit to the world around us, then the challenge will truly begin."

Takumi understood.

He knew that he'd have to do this.

"Right, then I'll do it right now-"

"However, I must warn you. Doing it this way can be dangerous. Forcing your Zanpakuto spirit out like this, then forcing that spirit to be subjugated. I had to warn you, but I know that you probably don't care about that, do you?"

Takumi stuck out his tongue.

"How did you guess that~?"

"Because it is you, Takumi. Now, I suppose that with that acknowledged, we should begin immediately. You need Bankai Takumi, you need to awaken that power to contend with other members of the Gotei. You've gotten lucky so far in your fighting. If you had Bankai fighting Kenpachi Zaraki, then that fight would have gone easier for you."

"Yes...and I need it to fight Byakuya."

"May I ask...why do you want to fight him? Since we're alone...what is it about Byakuya you feel strong about?"

Takumi could get why she'd be as confused as she was.

"...It's not about the time we fought last time. It's about knocking some sense into the idiot." Yoruichi raised her brows as he continued. "Rukia-chan's his sister. She told me that he had ignored her for years, he didn't even acknowledge her existence at all. And now, he's perfectly alright with her dying. I also saw a portrait of someone that looked like Rukia-chan in his home when we were there briefly...he clearly has some kind of emotions about this. I don't know if he's that good at hiding them from everyone, or he's in complete denial. But there's got to be some decency in that man, for Rukia-chan's sake. Even if we do save her...would it change anything for her? For this place to acknowledge that she's a damn fine Shinigami...for her damn elder brother to recognize her existence."

Yoruichi hearing the passion within Takumi, was mildly surprised, but also quite happy about seeing it so open as well.

"Then, it seems like you've made a decision, and if that's the case, then lets begin Takumi. Stab this doll with your blade."

Takumi looked at the doll, with his sword spinning around, before it pierced into the doll, which began to glow.

The glowing of the bright light surrounded them all, until Takumi's Zanpakuto spirit arrived.

Kinhime.

Yoruichi looked at the woman's large chest, and whispered "Damn..." then turned to Takumi curiously.

"Seems like you have a type, don't you?"

"W-What?"

Yoruichi chuckled, seeing how Takumi's Zanpakuto spirit was very endowed in the chest area. Her long hair was rather beautiful as well. It did seem that she was a rather beautiful woman, and the way that she looked to Takumi was a mixture of happiness and teasing at the same time, something that she rather found funny.

"You like big chested women. I guess that's why you're so into that Orihime girl. Heh, well I'll be alright. I feel sorry for those who aren't as gifted as I am. But, I'm alright with it since Takumi will like me~"

She sang out, giving a cheery wink, something that caused Takumi to raise an eyebrow at.

His eyes then shifted to Kinhime who was smiling gently.

"Why hello again, my Takumi. What is it that you want from me~?"

"Aah, Kinhime. Feels weird that you're here like this...but, I need you to teach me about my Bankai. So, I'm going to have to have you submit to me."

Kinhime shuddered, sitting down on the ground, and began opening her kimono top.

"You drive a hard bargain, but alright then. Lets submit to each other~"

Yoruichi's grin grew on her face, as Takumi's face began to turn red at the sight before him.

"E-Eh...y-you...I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"But, that's the whole point of submission. If it's submitting to my cute Takumi, then I'll submit~ Now, come here, and lets enjoy one another's bodies~"

"K-Kinhime! I want to learn Bankai! N-Not do that!"

"But, doing that would be much more fun than learning Bankai from me. I mean, I'd have to beat you again and again until you learn my secrets, and my Bankai. Though, wouldn't it be great if we could have a mixture of pleasure and pain~?"

Takumi flushed even more while Yoruichi nodded again and again.

"Yes, this woman definitely understands that this needs to happen."

"Yoruichi-chan! Please be quiet!"

Yoruichi snickered, sticking out her tongue at Takumi while Kinhime cocked her head sideways.

"Then, if you want Takumi..." Kinhime's expression suddenly darkened, sticking out her hand, as a massive bolt of lightning ruptured through the ground, surrounding the area in many different blades. "...I'll have my fun with you this way instead."

Takumi grimaced, seeing that Kinhime was deadly serious at this moment in time.

She was going to do something that was rather worrying.

But, he was also determined.

He was going to fight.

He was going to attain his Bankai, no matter how hard it would be.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, it seems that Soi Fon's reflecting back on the past, indicating her more truer emotions by keeping a picture of her with Takumi and Yoruichi. Renji and Ukitake have now joined the team, with the group beginning to make plans, Momo finding out what Takumi knew about the situation, and while it was difficult, it seems that she's dealing with it. Karin's also going to Kenpachi for some training, seems like she'll become quite the power house. Kisuke's dealing with his own problems back in Karakura, and finally, Takumi's started his training to receive Bankai. If you're wondering about Karin, she will receive Bankai quite soon as well.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	31. Unlocking Bankai!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**Clarent excalibur; I'm glad that you're enjoying it! Haha, that's Kinhime for you~**

**HolyKnightX; Thanks! Soi Fon's going to have some complex emotions about many things~ Takumi and Byakuya are going to have quite the fight between them. Haha, she seems to want to be with him, both as a Zombie, and somewhat as a normal human~ Momo's going to be going through some good development in this, and some future arcs as well. She wont be there just to be stabbed by Aizen.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks! Yeah, it seems that Soi Fon does care about Takumi and Yoruichi on deeper levels than she lets revealed to others. Byakuya is going to be quite surprised by Takumi's ability. He did yeah, it was a long road, but Takumi managed to convince a few people about what was happening. He did yeah, Momo seems to be developing an attachment to Takumi. That's Kinhime for you, she's quite feisty. Karin's gonna be training yeah, and as for Yuzu, she might be learning a few things from Giselle.**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Yup, their fight is going to be fun. Kinhime's quite feisty~ I don't know about one day, but he'll be trying his hardest. It could be like that yeah~ Takumi will be getting some memories it seems. Of course she couldn't do it if Kisuke was truly serious. But he didn't want to hurt her. Yeah, seems like everyone is getting ready for the fights ahead. Rukia and Takumi are going to have a nice reunion. Takumi's gonna try and support her the best that he can. We'll see what happens between them. Yeah, her flashback was good, but some of it didn't make sense. I could see that happening~ We could see Captain Takumi at the end of this arc. I hope we get more about her Bankai, since in the manga, she releases it, then dies without her doing anything with it really. I'm sure he'll bring some stuff back. Takumi could see their stuff, and see what's going on with it. I dunno about lemons yet. He could help Rukia achieve Bankai, it would be pretty good to see that happening. I wouldn't know what to do for Rangiku's Bankai, maybe she'd be able to create big cat ash creatures or something. Takumi and Aizen's fight is gonna be rather interest to see. It will be different to how Ichigo fights Aizen. Yeah, Takumi has something like that with his drug. She could have it back earlier, it wouldn't really change anything~**

**Terrariuz; Yup, he's going to be training for his Bankai this chapter! Karin's gonna be getting in some good training with Kenpachi now. Isane is a good character, she could join it.**

**Derek 23; Thanks! Yeah, maybe they could be added.**

**Chrono trigger; I don't know yet.**

**guest; He'll be training to get Bankai yeah~ Lets hope the Zombie doesn't haunt him anymore. Glad that you liked that moment! Rukia's torn on Takumi trying to save her. She doesn't want him to die. Yeah, it's gonna be fun when they come back huh~?**

**Andrew123456; A yu gi oh story could be interesting to do, never really thought about it before. Yubelluna, yeah maybe~**

**Yuu; They surely are~**

**Guest; Thanks, glad you enjoy it!**

**Guest 66; Thanks very much! Yeah, I am thinking of bringing that person into the story. I don't know if I'll include them yet. And thanks very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Unlocking Bankai!**

Having received her news, Rukia quietly sat within her tower, contemplating what it was going to be like to die. For some reason she couldn't explain, her mind kept going back towards Takumi and what he would be doing right now.

If he was going to be okay.

If he was going to die.

She just didn't know.

It drew her back to the times where she had interacted with him when she was young...

The times that they had spent together.

How Takumi had been there for her, had taught her many different things.

It was odd, considering she had to reteach her former teacher.

Oddly, it made her happy that she had that experience.

Being able to repay him for what he did back then.

All the time they spent together in the human world.

How he had helped her, and she helped him.

Rukia couldn't help but feel conflicting emotions.

Thinking back on those days seemed like she was going to enjoy those things.

But now…

When he had gone, and now he was back…

Yet, she wasn't going to be able to see him anymore.

If he kept trying to save her, she was sure that he'd either die, or would be injured severally.

She didn't think she'd be able to take it

Rukia stared at the ceiling of her tower, and deeply sighed.

"Takumi...you should forget about me...but you wont...I know you. Damn it..."

Knowing she couldn't change fate.

She simply had to try and do something.

To make sure that he didn't die.

She'd hope that as a Kuchiki, her words could sway Yamamoto would allow Takumi to leave to the human world, as a last request.

* * *

Day one of the training begun.

Takumi watched as his sword spirit, Kinhime twirled around as blades upon blades erupted from the ground. More than had been there before. Takumi could see that Kinhime looked rather...excited at that moment.

Yoruichi looked on from the right hand side along with Orihime who had joined to watch Takumi, showing a light smile as Takumi grabbed a nearby sword, a sword that looked to be zigzagging. But unlike his Shikai, it seemed to be more straight than curved.

Pulling out the blade, Kinhime showed a wide grin, as sparks of electricity came over the sword, and also...her body as well. The lightning sparks ran across the ground. Takumi could see that the ground was beginning to be burned by the intense lightning.

"Kinhime...your expression tells me that you're going to be enjoying this a little...bit much."

Kinhime placed a hand to her face, showcasing a grin.

"Yes, I'm sure that it is going to be a fascinating fight. During this time, I can get to know more about you. Like, seeing more of your resolve, the reasons why you still fight. A society like this has been against you since the beginning. But now, it seems that they are beginning to follow you. Can you trust each and everyone here?"

"Kinhime, that's..."

Kinhime waved her sword down, unleashing a hailstorm of electricity for the young boy. Takumi grimaced, jumping out of the way, but as he did, he saw that the lightning was turning the ground into a destructive mess with electricity staying around on the ground, so Takumi couldn't land on said ground.

Takumi placed his hand down, and propelled himself upwards with a makeshift Kido spell. But Kinhime chortled, twirling the sword in her hand around, each time she did a number of electrical bolts shot off the blade, ready to pierce Takumi's body.

"Come on Takumi, you have to be better than that if you can fight me! You have to make me come together with you, right? You have to make me become someone that accepts and bonds together with you! So show me what you've got you cute boy!"

Takumi was mildly surprised by her words.

But he didn't stop, he couldn't stop at all.

Takumi stuck out his hand, shooting out some energy rope, wrapping around a blade, bringing it to his hand, and swung the blade for the electrical abilities, but as his blade touched the electricity, the sword shattered in his hands, turning it into fragments of metal, falling down to the ground in chunks.

The lightning continued on, slamming against him, wrapping around his form, and flung him down into the ground. Yoruichi winced when seeing that, muttering "That must have hurt." while Takumi groaned, pulling himself off the floor.

"Geez Kinhime, you're being rough."

"Just the way I like it Takumi~"

Takumi grimaced as he stood up.

Dislodging another blade from the ground, he made a stance.

But she simply sent off a highly charged bolt of electricity towards him. He went to dodge out of the way, but the bolt split into many different segments, each of them looking more dangerous than a single bolt by itself.

He knew he couldn't dodge out of the way, so he raised a barrier of Kido. Kinhime simply laughed at the sight before her, and allowed her bolts to continue forward, destroying the barrier within a second, and then the lightning wrapped around him, Orihime gasped when she saw that his skin was being burned by the heavy duty usage of the electricity being released upon his form.

"I have a feeling, this isn't about these blades. This is about something else entirely, am I right?"

Kinhime shrugged her shoulders, not seemingly worried about .

"Something like that. These blades represent the pieces of your heart, the past, the present, and your potential future...whoa, look at me, I'm talking like a Master or something~"

She sang with the voice of a school girl.

She then pointed forward keenly.

"You know our relationship Takumi. We don't have a normal relationship between Zanpakuto and their Shinigami. It's deeper than that." Kinhime placed a hand on her chest, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks. "We're connected, deep within our hearts. We feel one another, resonating with one another. You need to remember that. You can't subjugate me with just power."

"...Not just power..."

"Right, figure out what it means to truly subjugate me. What would it take for us to truly blend together."

Takumi wondered about that.

But she didn't give him much time to wonder, as she simply stuck up her hand, shooting off a bolt into the air. Takumi's eyes went up, seeing the sparks spreading out through the sky, or rather, near ceiling that looked like the sky. The skies above soon began to bring in clouds, black and thick clouds with strong lightning spreading around it.

It all happened within a few seconds, so Takumi barely had time to react, as she directed her hand downwards. From the clouds, a huge bolt of electricity shot down, sending all of the power right down onto Takumi.

It moved so fast that he couldn't even react. Even Yoruichi, who stood off to the side, could barely react to it, which said a lot considering how fast Yoruichi was, and she muttered "The speed of that was fantastic..." watching as the bolt landed upon Takumi's form, shocking him immensely, rupturing the ground, and created a huge X shape that spread outwards.

"Taku-chan!"

Orihime cried, attempting to move closer.

But Yoruichi stopped her.

"Yoruichi-san..."

"This is something Takumi has to do alone. He isn't so weak he'd go down without a fight. He will succeed. I know that he will. His Father did it this way, so Takumi can do it this way too. He's a very weird Shinigami after all."

Takumi, who was stood at the centre of the lightning bolts, had burns across his body as the smoke cleared, he had some blood coming out of him. Orihime wondered how he didn't have more injuries…

But Yoruichi could see that he had an aura around him.

"Heh, so you activated Shunko just in time." Yoruichi praised, seeing Kinhime sticking her hand up. "It was a wise move. The speed of that electricity...I'd have to activate Shunko to dodge it. Still, Takumi using Shunko might not be enough...this Kinhime truly is a scary lady."

Yoruichi watched as Kinhime unleashed another super fast bolt of lightning. Takumi tried to dodge out of the way, but his leg got caught up in the heavy duty lightning, crushing his leg into the ground, and he winced through the pain.

He could feel his body sizzling from the lightning.

Even with Shunko, it still caused a good deal of pain to him.

But he couldn't give up, and took a new blade, rushing for Kinhime. She went to shoot off another bolt from the sky, when he shot off a Shakkaho for her. However, the moment it got within inches of her, electricity surrounded her, and completely destroyed the Kido spell.

That's all the time Takumi really needed, getting in close, and came at her with his blade. Powered by Shunko, he swung down from her right hand side, as Kinhime turned towards him, showing a light smile as she winked.

"Electricity doesn't bother me, you know?"

Takumi's face fell as he heard the sparks coming from up above.

He barely had a second to dodge out of the way as it came down on him.

The mass of electricity hit both of them.

But while for her it seemed that the lightning was hurting him, she looked as if she was in water with the electricity flowing around her. His body burned from the intense power, and then she delivered a swift kick to his upper body, sending him flying into a rocky formation, crumbling it down into nothingness.

Orihime was worried for him.

She thought that he might not be able to take such lightning attacks.

So it was surprising to see that Takumi was standing up, blood leaking out of him.

Kinhime blinked a few times, watching as he moved forward, his blade crumbling to nothingness. But still, he grabbed another blade, pointing it towards Kinhime.

"I thought that we were fighting, why did you stop?"

Kinhime blinked at his words.

Despite his wounds, he wouldn't back down.

He was going to keep fighting, and he was going to try his best, and gain Bankai.

He wouldn't stop until he had achieved that victory.

"...Alright then Takumi." Sticking out her hand, a bolt of electricity hit her stretching hand, forming a blade made of pure electricity. "Now, show me what you've got!"

Takumi nodded, and rushed forward, appearing before her, and clashed blades with her.

As they fought, Rangiku came strolling over. Her eyes caught the sight of Kinhime, and her mouth dropped to the floor.

"That's the Zanpakuto spirit? Damn, she's busty..."

Yoruichi snickered while Orihime lightly smiled.

"Of course she is, Takumi likes the busty girls~ Like this girl here~"

Orihime's face flew into several shades of red.

"Y-Yoruichi-san! D-Don't say it as if Taku-chan's weird or something!"

"Nah, he's just an honest guy, is all. It's represented by his Zanpakuto spirit. Busty girls are his thing~"

"I can hear you Yoruichi-chan!"

Takumi yelled, dodging another bolt of lightning for his body.

Yoruichi snickered even more.

"You shouldn't be trying to listen to us, you have a Bankai to learn Takumi."

Takumi growled, as he continued working against Kinhime.

Yoruichi turned to Rangiku as Orihime continued watching from the side.

"So, did you just come to watch?"

"I suppose so, I was just curious about what was happening over here...besides, my Captain told me to leave her alone."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"I see...as you can see, Takumi is attempting to learn his Bankai. But she's a rather stubborn one to say the least. I can tell though, that she's being rather...how to say it...hmmmm, I'd say that she's wanting to help, yet she doesn't want to make it easy either."

"Haha, so his Zanpakuto is a stubborn girl. Well, if he pushes himself, I'm sure he'll succeed."

Orihime cupped her hands.

"Taku-chan's gonna be working so hard. I'm sure that he'll succeed if he tries his hardest. He always does try his hardest anyway. Though, I am worried if Taku-chan keeps receiving blasts of lightning..."

"He'll be fine. Don't worry about that boy."

Yoruichi smiled out, she was sure that Takumi was going to be able to do it.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin was getting busy training with Kenpachi. Kenpachi wasn't the type to simply train someone, he came at her relentlessly, swinging his sword around, and cleaving into the ground with his blade, releasing some kind of spiritual energy at the same time.

"Heh, not so bad girl!"

Kenpachi yelled, twirling his sword and came at her from the right.

She raised her sword to defend, but the pressure of the swing was heavier than Karin thought, but she stayed her ground, pushing back against Kenpachi's heavy swung. Kenpachi raised an eyebrow at her strength.

"Heh, I thought you might've been weak. But you're pretty strong!"

Kenpachi relentlessly swung for her, forcing her to parry again and again. But each swing got heavier, and stronger. She felt with each attack, she was being dug into the ground, so she had to launch a counter attack.

Pooling her power at the edge of her blade, as soon as Kenpachi came at her, she unleashed it for his blade, the pure blue energy came over him like a huge wave, the power caught the attention of Unohana who was nearby, seeing Kenpachi's blade actually being parried by Karin.

"Hmmm...seems like she's got some potential within her."

While Unohana noticed that, Karin kept going for Kenpachi with furious blows. Releasing more and more of her energy to try and overpower him. But it seemed that he could fight off her attacks with his sword.

However, one of her attacks managed to get through, and left a huge gash on his chest. Blood shot out of him, while Karin showed a smile. Renji, who was nearby, watched on with shock that she could do something like that.

"...Shit, she's better than I thought she was. Even I couldn't do that to Captain Zaraki."

"That's my sister for you!"

Yuzu pipped up, with Giselle pulling at her face.

"Yup, she's really scary, and she can be kinda moody. She once told me that she liked to fight for fun~ She's really weird~"

"I am here, I can literally hear you."

Karin growled out, Giselle slapped her cheeks and put on a shocked face.

"Ooh my, Karin-chan is going to become angry!"

"Ya damn right I will!"

Giselle pulled back, turning to Yuzu.

"Come on Yuzu-chan, I'll teach you some cool Quincy stuff~"

"Ooh, thank you Giselle-san!"

Giselle stuck out her tongue, and walked away with the others.

Renji looked towards her, seeing Karin's efforts and determination.

It seemed that she truly was quite strong, and wouldn't give up.

Even against someone like Kenpachi.

So he also became determined to do what was necessary.

* * *

Back with Takumi and the others, Takumi currently was fighting and not winning against Kinhime. She was showcasing abilities that Takumi was surprised at. How she used lightning was quite like a beautiful dance.

He wasn't any closer to winning the fight.

His sword wasn't able to get through to her.

Mixing Kido and his sword, it was difficult to get close.

Even using Shunko wasn't working for him.

Kinhime simply was keeping him at bay for the entire time.

Eventually, as Takumi trained with Kinhime, her body suddenly became the paper like puppet once more, dropping down to the ground.

Takumi clicked his tongue, realizing that this signified the end of the training for that day.

"Alright Takumi, you did quite well. But, it seems that you couldn't attain Bankai today."

Takumi dropped the fragmented sword he had down to the ground, sighing lightly.

"I suppose that I'll have to try even harder tomorrow..."

Yoruichi rushed forward. With her speed, it didn't even take more than a second for her to get to him. He felt her hand groping him from behind, surprising the young man a good deal. Yoruichi though held a slightly teasing smile on her face.

"Go, and get in the baths. It will help ease your body and relieve it of its tension."

"Aah, I suppose it's like the one in Dad's basement right?"

"Right, it's something similar to that. It will help replenish you." Takumi gave a thankful smile towards her. "Yeah, it would be good to get some relaxation after this day. Go, have some fun."

"Why are you insistent that I go to the baths…?"

Yoruichi stuck out her tongue.

"Don't overthink things, just go and do what I say."

Takumi was sure that she was up to something.

But he simply went along with it, and simply walked away. Yoruichi placed her hands behind her back, her eyes glancing back towards him, and she couldn't help but allow a tiny smirk to appear on her soft looking lips.

* * *

After the first days training ended, he went to go towards the spring to have a bath. But as he did, he came across Nanao who was walking closer. When seeing his appearance, she was stunned that he had so many wounds.

"Your training...it must have been quite difficult."

"Ehehe, I guess that it was~ But, I'm alright Nanao-san."

Nanao overlooked him once more.

"Clearly, you're not. Perhaps you should get someone to heal you."

"I'm going to a spring now that does heal the body."

Nanao breathed out.

"That's a relief. I was getting worried about all of the explosions over there."

"Kinhime is a dangerous woman, she doesn't hold back."

Nanao held back a light smile, instead she kept her face in the way she usually looked.

"The reason I'm here, is because I was asked by my Captain to deliver this report."

"Your..." Takumi glanced behind her, seeing at a distance, Shunsui was watching them, but Nanao didn't seem to notice. "...Captain huh."

"Yes, is that odd?"

"Eeh, no, but he's right..." Shunsui put his hands together, shaking his head rapidly, so he shrugged. "...eehe, he's right! Yeah, erm...sure, lets check out these reports Nanao-san!"

"Yes, please do."

Takumi overlooked the reports, and what they'd be able to do in the near future. How they could get what he wanted, how they'd be able to fight the Sokyoku if it should emerge, things of that nature, something Takumi would like to tweak.

"Yes, this is quite good. It seems that your Captain put in hard work."

"Mostly, it was Captain Ukitake, my Captain's extremely lazy."

Shunsui put a hand over his mouth, and looked depressed, something Takumi noticed.

"Eeh...right. Anyway, thanks Nanao-san, your organizational skills are amazing. Perhaps you could organize my stuff..."

He lightly joked.

But Nanao took it seriously, and pushed her glasses up her face.

"Honestly, it seems that you've retained that kind of disorganization that you had over a hundred years ago. Learnt behaviour doesn't go away it seems. My Captain taught you about that, you know? Relaxing and being lazy...it's all his fault."

Takumi chortled lightly, seeing Shunsui looking down at what was being said.

"Eeh...I'm sorry for my taught behaviour…?"

"It's fine, I like being useful anyway. If you're that much overloaded, then I could at least see if there's something that I could do."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah! Seriously?!"

Shunsui covered his mouth, and ducked as Nanao turned around.

Her suspicious eyes were on the place Shunsui was.

"Hmmmm..."

"Ehehehe, so Nanao-san. You would...You'd help me out? I feel bad about asking..."

"I said it's fine. You're doing a lot, I don't mind giving help when I can."

"It's like husband and wife!"

Nanao's scowl grew.

She knew it was Shunsui now.

She just couldn't sense him.

"Either way, if you'd like my help, then I wouldn't mind. I'd like to be useful during all of this. I don't have your combat abilities, but I can support in my own way."

"Everyone's useful Nanao-san, you'll definitely be useful."

Nanao was taken slightly aback by his words.

"A-Ah...I see, yes...I'm sure you'd say something like that."

"Eeh, you know me quite well Nanao-san."

"I...Yes, I do know a bit about you. Though, I'd like to know more about the you now...perhaps, once this is over, we could...maybe we could..."

Shunsui could see how hard it was for Nanao to ask it.

She wasn't used to doing these things.

Takumi glanced at Shunsui who ushered him along.

"Nanao-san, do you wanna go out for...some drinks sometime?"

"W-Well, if I have time, we could perhaps go out somewhere...yes, that could easily be arranged..."

Takumi thought Nanao was rather adorable at that moment.

Seeing her usual stern looks fade to a more cuter side, he wondered if anyone else had seen this side of her before.

He definitely found her quite cute.

"Aaah, they're gonna get married! I'm so happy!" Nanao shot her eyes back and met Shunsui's who began looking afraid, he couldn't escape in time. "E-Eh...Nanao-chan. Hey, I was just...you know, supporting your relationship, and hoping love blooms...things like that...yeah, you're awesome..."

Nanao began taking off her glasses, surprising Takumi that Shunsui looked terrified.

"Captain...interfering with my relationships, again."

Shunsui paled, he was scared right now.

"Ooh Nanao-chan please..."

Nanao shook her head, and began moving forward.

Shunsui panicked, and began running away, but Nanao yelled "Wait!" and gave chase.

Takumi could only watch on curiously, he certainly saw them as a fun comedic duo.

But he did appreciate them quite well.

* * *

Later on, Takumi went towards the healing spring. He knew from Yoruichi that it was a place where he could relax his muscles. Fighting Kinhime wasn't fun. It was pretty exhausting to say the least.

Seeing that his previous methods weren't working, Takumi knew he'd have to approach it differently.

It seemed that he couldn't get past her sword skills, and the lightning was far too dense for him to shoot any Kido through. The power of his Zanpakuto was amazingly scary. Yet, if he could gain that power, he knew he'd be able to beat Byakuya.

He just needed to use that incredible power.

However, while he rested in the water, he suddenly felt a disturbance in the water, his eyes opening to see that a near nude Unohana had entered the water. His face turned slightly red, diverting his eyes away from her.

"C-Captain, what are you doing here?"

"So cute. As if we haven't had baths together before. I've seen Takumi-kun's body before...though I must say, it's matured quite a bit since the last time that I saw it..." Takumi's hands went lower, so Unohana snickered. "Honestly, you're quite a mature boy, but you're shy to these situations huh?"

"Not shy per-say, just..."

"Curious, right?" Takumi didn't say anything, as Unohana continued. "It's alright, I understand. That's how you usually were in the past, so that's not changed. I'm glad. Say, I've got something to show you." Takumi watched as she undid her hair from around her neck, and showed off a scar that was hidden underneath. "See this? This came from Kenpachi Zaraki as a kid."

"You kept it all these years, despite the fact I've seen your work. You could have had it removed."

"Perhaps I could have. It's a simple reminder of that day, that's all." Unohana pulled closer, Takumi seeing that she was showing a light smile. "Tell me, have you ever been with a woman before?"

"Pft! W-What?!"

Unohana pulled in closer, wrapping her arms around his own. Takumi could feel her bust suddenly enveloping his arm between them. He could see the towel she had sliding down, so he looked away, his cheeks dyed red.

"Naughty boy, you thought I meant that, didn't you?" Takumi didn't dare turn to her, feeling her pushing closer more and more. "I could have been meaning that, or maybe I just meant in a bath like this." Takumi glanced back to see Unohana looking towards him with a mixture of glee and sadistic tones. "Your face, is rather cute Takumi-kun."

"U-Unohana-san..."

Unohana lightly smiled.

"You have matured quite well. From that boy I met years ago, to now. Seeing you leading such a group of very difficult and different character types. They all follow you, because of the work you've put into it. Changing peoples beliefs like Kenpachi in a way, helping them understand their pasts and move on like with Nemu-san, comforting someone over losing a loved one and face a new reality like with Hinamori-san, among others. It's quite amazing to see Takumi-kun."

"T-Thank you Unohana-san."

Unohana continues to hold onto his arm, she wouldn't let go. His cheeks turned more red as he felt her pulling closer and closer.

"Now, let us enjoy the-"

"What do you think you're doing Unohana?"

Yoruichi's voice called out, Takumi turned to see that she was completely naked. He could see everything, and Yoruichi didn't even wear any embarrassment on her face at all. In fact, she seemed rather excited.

Takumi couldn't face her, his eyes diverted while she snickered.

"You are adorable Takumi, turning away from me like that."

"O-Of course, you're naked!"

Yoruichi wore a kitten like smile on her face, judging the reactions.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be? It's because I want to be. That's what you do when you get into the bath." Yoruichi's challenging eyes went towards Unohana who wore a complex expression on her face. "The same goes for Unohana. I see that your towel has mysteriously disappeared."

Takumi took Yoruichi's words for it, he didn't look.

"Oh, it seems that it has gone. I wonder where it went..."

"Don't play games. It's my turn to be in the bath with Takumi."

"How cute, I was merely talking about the past. I'm allowed to do that, aren't I?"

Yoruichi frowned, dashing to the right hand side of Takumi, grabbed his head, placing it on her breast as she ran a hand through his blonde hair. His face nearly burned at the feeling of her warmth, and comfy chest on his cheek.

"Then, I'll just comfort Takumi in this way."

"Y-Yoruichi-chan..."

"Don't worry Takumi, I'll take care of your needs." She shot a look for Unohana who did the same thing. "All of your needs."

Unohana scowled, as another voice came forward. Walking around the corner, it revealed Rangiku, dressed in a towel, with a very calm look on her face. Takumi turned his neck, seeing Rangiku's...alluring way she had her towel, he was wondering how much longer he was going to be able to go.

"Ooh, is everyone having fun~?"

"Yes, come and join us."

Unohana offered, Yoruichi frowned even more.

"Alright then~" Rangiku also slipped into the bath, giggling away as she stared at Takumi. "So, Takumi-kun. Seems like your Zanpakuto spirit is quite busty, isn't she?"

"T-That's just because she is. Nothing really about that. It isn't like I can choose her appearance."

"Even then, I also heard that you like the Inoue girl. And she's..."

"I-I like Orihime-chan because of who she is!"

"Haha, I'm sure that you do~"

Rangiku grinned, moving closer to him.

He couldn't look at her, that was until Rangiku dragged her finger across his cheek, drawing his eyes to her own.

"So tell me Takumi-kun, is this a dream of yours? In the bath with beautiful women? Anything could happen, really~"

"Haha, she's got a point Takumi, any kind of situation could happen here."

Yoruichi added, showing a mischievous grin on her face.

"My, he's blushing. It's so adorable that it makes me want to fight and cuddle him at the same time~"

Unohana spoke with a dangerous smile on her face, a small part of her battle ready persona shining through.

While that happened, more voices could be heard.

One was Nemu, and the other was Yachiru.

Nemu was scantily clad in a towel, while Yachiru was dressed in a towel as well that covered her up entirely. As soon as she saw Takumi, Yachiru yelled "Yay! Bath with Taku-chan!" and leapt forward, landing on his right thigh, and hugged him tightly.

"Yachiru-san, you're quite excitable huh?"

"Yup!"

Takumi gave an awkward laugh as Nemu simply went into the water. The others were surprised as she merely hugged Takumi's arm between her large assets, wearing her same emotionless expression that she usually had on.

"Takumi-sama, I don't mind sitting in a bath with you like this."

Yoruichi slapped her head with her open palm.

"Aaah! Come on, I was going to spend time with Takumi alone!"

"Don't complain, I was here first anyway."

Unohana and Yoruichi locked eyes while Yachiru bounced on his lap.

"Taku-chan, I really like sitting here! Can I keep sitting here?"

"Eeh...I guess, if it's alright with Kenpachi-san..."

"Yup, he'd be fine with it. We both like Taku-chan a lot! Ken-chan even said that he hopes you and he become super amazing friends that always keep fighting!"

Takumi thought that she was exaggerating the 'super amazing friends' part, though he could see Kenpachi wanting to keep fighting.

"I see, I'm sure that we'll be good friends..."

"Yup, so I'll stay with Taku-chan too!"

"Awwww, it seem that she's got a little crush on you...how cute." Rangiku snickered, getting to the side of Takumi, and hugging his arm. "You are quite manly up close, aren't you?"

"Rangiku-san..."

"Don't worry, I don't bite."

Alluringly saying that, Rangiku hugged onto him as his blush intensified.

Yoruichi growled as Nemu nodded.

"Takumi-sama, I do not bite either."

He felt Nemu, and Yachiru snuggling against him too. Unohana casually got behind him, and hugged him, he felt her bare chest against his back, the softness was amazing, and he felt like could sleep like this.

Yoruichi clicked her tongue.

"Honestly, can't spend time with my Takumi...damn women." Murmuring that out, she slid towards him, and gently embraced him with her breasts against him, his face turning redder by the second. "But, this is good enough. Even I sometimes need comforts from a man Takumi. Are you going to take responsibility for that?"

Takumi looked at each of the women around him.

Each of them looked towards him with either cute, or beautiful expressions.

Indeed, each of them were rather beautiful, and in Yachiru's case, cute, and he couldn't help but feel quite blessed at that moment.

So, while relaxing was off the table, he did end up having a very different kind of bath than he usually would, and it was rather, entertaining.

* * *

After that...experience, Takumi had to cool down. Laying down on the rocky surface, he allowed a wet towel to drench his brow, his mind casting back to the training, to take his mind of the more...stimulating aspect of his life.

However, Toshiro came walking closer, bending down, and poked his face.

"Are you awake?"

"...Yeah, I'm awake."

"Did something happen? Your face is red."

Takumi took the wet towel off his face, peering up at Toshiro.

"No, nothing happened...nothing at all." Takumi pulled himself up, and whizzed around, peering into the eyes of Toshiro. "So, how can I help you?"

"I don't need any help, I just happened to be walking by here, and saw you lying there. I thought that I'd understand more about you. Since my only real interactions with you were fighting Gin, and back at the Captains Meeting. Both times, I couldn't get a good read on you."

"Are you saying I'm unreadable?"

Toshiro shrugged, sitting down nearby.

"I'm just saying that you're rather curious. I've seen people for and against you, and I myself...I can't see you being that bad of a person. Though, it's surprising that you've got so many strong Captains on your side like this. But, I will say...thank you, for handling Hinamori like you did. Many would have simply knocked her out, or bound her, or something. But you took her anger on and challenged her thoughts, making her see reason."

Takumi scratched the back of his head with a slightly sheepish smile.

"She's a smart girl, she was lost in anguish. It's perfectly understandable."

Toshiro shook her head.

"Even then, I'm pleased with what happened. That she's...able to see beyond what Aizen has tried to tell her, and that she's seeing him for what he is. And it's thanks to you. I don't think I could have gotten through to her."

"I'm sure you'd be able to. You've known one another for years, right?"

"We were raised together, so of course."

"Haha, I see. So childhood friends, or family like relations. Either way, it's really sweet~"

Toshiro's face turned complicated.

"Don't say such things. I merely watch out for her, that's all."

"Ooh, are you the type to deny your kind acts, then?"

Toshiro turned back towards him with slightly reddened cheeks.

"O-Of course not. You're just reading too much into it!"

"If there wasn't a hint of truth in it, you wouldn't be getting worked up about it."

Toshiro huffed, turning her neck away.

"Even if there is, it doesn't matter right now. All that does is the mission ahead."

"Yes, perhaps you're right. But, it's alright you know?"

Toshiro turned back to him, confused.

"What is?"

"To relax around people that you're comfortable with. It's alright to drop your guard sometimes."

"...Drop my guard, I'm not that guarded."

"Hehe, that's good then~ You can't be super serious all the time, it would be quite difficult to keep that on. Let your hair down once in a while, that's all I'm saying. I'm sure your loved ones would love to see your more casual side, I'm sure you've got one."

Takumi lightly poked her cheeks, smiling as he did so.

Toshiro could feel her face turning redder, while he simply continued on doing so.

"P-Perhaps...even then, could you stop poking my cheeks now?"

"But, you're adorable when looking at me like that. As I thought, you're one of my favourite Captains~"

Toshiro bit back her blush, trying to keep it under control, and simply folded her arms.

"Honestly, you're weird."

"I've been called much worse before, and no doubt will be called more things in the future."

He finished off with a laugh.

Something she wasn't accustomed too was happening.

She was able to feel more relaxed in his presence.

Perhaps it was because she didn't have expectations to look up to around him.

Perhaps it was because he simply was someone that she could open up to casually.

Whatever it was, she did feel good at that moment.

She was able to release a breath, she didn't know she was holding.

* * *

Late into the night Momo had woken up to take care of some personal business.

But as she was doing it, she noticed that at the far end of the training field, some lights were on.

She couldn't get why that was.

So she went to investigate it.

When she got there, she saw that Takumi was still awake, despite the days hard training he had, and was mixing some chemicals together.

"E-Erm..."

Takumi paused, turning his eyes towards her.

"Oh, Hinamori-san. I wasn't too loud, was I?"

"N-No, I didn't hear a thing. I just saw the lights over here...I was wondering what was going on. But, it's just you working away. You do know you can sleep, right?"

"I will sleep eventually, there's just a few things I've got to do before the three day period is up."

Momo pursed her lips.

She thought about what he had said.

"Urahara-san...if it's alright, can I sit here with you? I promise not to distract you..."

"It's not distracting. I like talking to people when I'm working, keeps my mind from becoming too bored."

Momo let out a little laugh, bending down and sat close by.

"To be honest, I don't really know much about mechanical stuff."

"I'm more of a person that delves into medicinal stuff, and how the body works along with spiritual energy and how to either enhance, or stop or destroy it, things like that. Though I also tend to dabble in mechanical as well if I can help it. So tell me Hinamori-san, why did you want to join the Shinigami anyway?"

"...Well, I wanted to join because...because of Captain Aizen."

Takumi scrunched his face, he didn't want to bring up anything negative now.

"Ooh...sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"No, no, it's alright. Well, when I say, I wanted to join because of him, that's not necessarily true. I got inspired by him when I was already at the academy, he was my main driving focus. I wanted to be his Lieutenant, ever since he saved us back when a training session went wrong. I suppose I wanted to join because...well, there's Shiro-chan, I wanted to make sure that she was safe...though seeing her now, she's easily stronger than me."

"She is quite the ice girl huh."

"Hehe...yes, she's quite the ice girl...Urahara-san, I'm sorry-"

"You don't have to keep apologizing." He cut her off, surprising her. "I don't hold anything against you. You were in a hard situation. Your emotions were going wild. Hey, if it was my Dad, or Yoruichi-chan or someone I truly loved, then I'd be as messed up emotionally that you were."

"That's a relief, I thought it was just me."

Takumi chortled, shaking his neck.

"No, we all can become a bit crazy at times."

He stuck out his tongue in a goofy manner.

She felt relaxed when seeing that.

It was nice to just be near someone that was able to relax in these tense times.

"Urahara-san...about Captain Aizen. I'd like to confront him too."

"It's going to be dangerous, I can't guarantee your safety."

Momo placed a hand over her chest, showcasing a strong will.

"I have to ask him directly. This might be my own chance...I need to know why he's doing this."

Seeing her face, how she was resolved, he couldn't deny her.

"If you're this determined...then, I'll have to try and make sure you'll be safe. But remember...Aizen, is very good at manipulating...I know this isn't something you want to hear. Heck, I don't want to be the one to tell you this. But he might try and manipulate you to believing he's a good guy, and he's doing it to better the Soul Society."

"...Yes, I'm sure that he might. But I understand the truth...I've seen it for myself. Urahara-san...I wont be weak in front of him."

Takumi took his hand, and gently petted her head.

With the single pet, her cheeks turned redder by the second.

"Alright then, but remember. It's not just Aizen. Lots of people are here for you. Genuine people. Shiro-chan also seems to really care about you. She tries to deny it, but I could see it...she's rather adorable, huh~?"

"Hehehe...Urahara-san, I thought that you were...well, when I heard what you had done. I was imagining something completely different to how you actually are."

"I guess you can't believe everything you read huh~?"

"I suppose so~"

Momo and Takumi laughed together.

A moment of levity in a bleak situation.

Soon, they talked for a good while, getting to know one another, before Momo began getting tired. She stopped speaking, and just watched what Takumi was doing.

Eventually, she fell asleep, with her head gently guided to Takumi's shoulder.

Glancing towards her, he simply smiled, taking out a nearby blanket, and wrapped it around her so she wouldn't become cold, as he continued working into the night, trying his best not to disturb her more peaceful looking sleep.

* * *

The next day, Takumi got right back on the horse, and was training once more. He saw all of the blades spread out around him, with Kinhime taking a stance with her own blade. The blades hummed with electricity, something that Takumi had noticed the previous day.

"Here we are again, Takumi-kun. I'm sure that you're going to enjoy this battle as we did yesterday. Though that bath last night. You must have enjoyed that~"

"P-Please don't remind me about that!"

"How cute, you are adorable with your feelings, aren't you?" Takumi shrugged his shoulders. "Then show me what you've got today. Though if you're just going to be doing the same stuff, you wont be able to attain Bankai. I thought you wanted to beat Byakuya?"

"Of course I do!"

Kinhime took her blade, and pointed it towards Takumi.

"Then show me Takumi, show me your resolve. You should know about it by now!"

Once more, they got into a fight.

As like yesterday, there wasn't much he could do against the blonde haired woman.

She was simply skilled.

She was powerful.

She also had a great defence.

She was quite strong in the ways that she can fight.

After training for a good long while, Takumi didn't believe he was any closer to getting his Bankai. Fighting her wasn't working, trying to out manoeuvrer her wasn't working, she could simply use electricity to enhance her bodies movements.

He couldn't get through to her body with any tricks that he tried.

She wasn't going to go down without some kind of trick.

He had to think of something else.

He had to come to terms with her in a different way.

Recalling what she said the previous day, he wondered more about what he could do.

But as another blade was swatted out of his hand, Takumi panted, his eyes running themselves over his Zanpakuto spirit.

"...Kinhime, you said that we were different to most people. That we have a close connection, what did you mean by that?"

"Hehe, if you don't know, then I can't help you with that. You'll have to figure what that means."

"But I don't know what it means. It seems that you're driving me to some conclusion...but, I don't know what that is. I don't remember."

Kinhime cocked her head.

"Then tell me, why did you come to the Soul Society? Really?"

"You know why."

Kinhime dashed forward, attempting to embed a fist into his torso. But he managed to dodge out of the way, however the aftermath of the electricity surrounding her caught his body and flung him down into the dirt.

"Tell me anyway."

Takumi pulled himself up from the dirt.

"...I came to save Rukia-chan, that's why."

"That all?"

"I have nothing else here. My life is in the human world. My friends and loved ones are in the human world."

Kinhime wagged a finger.

"That's not entirely true though, is it? You've always felt it. A desire to explore more about yourself. You've known about your Father for years. You didn't have any powers for years. You wanted to know more about your family, what it was about the Soul Society that you wished to understand. Their systems, their flaws. It's always been rattling around in your mind."

Takumi grabbed a nearby blade, and clenched it tightly.

"Even then, this world isn't mine, not anymore."

"No, but it could be, again. This world, is a very flawed, isn't it? But so is the human world. Think about how that world was also a mystery, and still is. Then there's the Hollows world, and the world that's between worlds like the Dangai, among other places. You have to wonder about it."

"Naturally I do."

"But more than that...this place is a place that's done nothing but try to kill you."

"Yes...of course they have tried that before."

"So...why are you here now? You could just screw the Soul Society, they turned on you Takumi. They didn't want to know. They labelled you a monster without even knowing what you've done and keep doing for everyone. So, why?"

"Should I say the thing you're expecting? Or should I say what I truly think?"

Kinhime's lips rose.

"Tell me, what you really think."

"...Then, you're right. I have wondered about what I truly was doing here. Apart from saving Rukia-chan that is. This world seems to have written me off and has tried to execute me. Everyone...near enough, had some kind of beef with me without allowing me to explain...but, that's because of Aizen."

Kinhime raised an eyebrow.

"Even if it was, they didn't have to believe that. They could have trusted their memories of you, and trusted you'd not be evil."

"No, they didn't have to believe that. I'm not saying what they've done is right, but we all make mistakes. I've made mistakes before, and I'm trying to not repeat them now. I didn't like interacting with people in the beginning. I was social, but I also kept a distance from people."

Kinhime slowly nodded.

"I see. Keeping people at arms lengths, it makes sure you don't get yourself hurt."

"Right...but, that's not the way to form true connections with others. During my time here, I've understood that fact. No one can take on the world alone. Aizen...I genuinely believe that's how he thinks. He can do everything on his own, but I don't think that's right. He writes off those around him, my Dad said that it's probably because he's cocky and overconfident..."

"But you don't, do you?"

Takumi shook his head.

"I believe he has elements of it...but, I also believe that something deep within him...he's probably looking for something. Some kind of reason to exist. Maybe he's already found it with whatever his ultimate goals are. We all are looking for that thing, the reason to exist, what we strive for. Evil or good, we all want something to go after. Even if it's a small thing, it's something we all share. Aizen just takes his to a new level, he wouldn't settle for anything other than what he truly wanted."

"And if Aizen offered you something...if he offered you a chance to be beside him. What would you do?"

"If you're asking me that, then you and I aren't as connected as I thought we were."

Kinhime gave a humbling smile.

"Maybe I just wanted to hear it. It's no fun if I don't hear it from you."

"...Then, I'd never hurt others in the pursuit of my goals...no, rather. I'd only resort to violence if it's the last resort."

"Yes, that's a good reason. It's why I really am glad that we're together. Because I know that you'll do amazing things, you put yourself on the line for others. Even against people who should be your enemies. You shield them with your body. You protect their hearts. But, you also aren't stupid and believe everyone can be saved. Yet, you'd fight tooth and nail to save a person that needs it, whether they realize it or not."

Kinhime strolled forward.

Her hand reached out towards him, and touched his forehead.

What Takumi saw was a memory.

A memory of him as a young child…

But not just him.

Him, with Aizen.

Being friendly with Aizen of all people.

Takumi couldn't understand it.

Seeing them actually interacting as if they were friends...

It just didn't make sense to him.

Snapping out of that short memory, Takumi looked towards Kinhime in pure shock.

"What you saw...was but a fragment of the past."

"...That was...I was friends with Aizen..."

Kinhime pulled forward, allowing her arms to wrap around him in a comforting way.

"Don't forget, I'm also your number one fan. Together, we'll do many different things." Her fingers gently push against his forehead, and she smiled. "Now, it's time to subjugate me? Do you understand now? How to subjugate me?"

Takumi peered into her eyes.

Seeing the way she stared at him, he believed he understood what to do now.

How to subjugate her.

It wasn't simply beating her.

It was something more than that.

Then, Takumi did it.

It took a number of hours of hard struggling. Putting his thoughts across to her, fighting her, and showing her his true sides, what she truly wanted to see.

Eventually, that allowed them to connect deeper, and a powerful explosion happened around him once he did.

Yoruichi, who was looking on, was astonished.

Seeing them come together, blending. The beautiful electricity flowing around him like it was water. Takumi's body was enveloped in the lightning, but it wasn't like his Shikai. This was on a different level. Even the sword he had, had changed into a sleeker design, more beautiful in Yoruichi's eyes which she thought fit rather well.

But then he released his Bankai, and exhaled slowly, falling down to his knees.

Yoruichi rushed closer, bending down and met eyes with him.

"Yoruichi-chan...I did it."

"Yes, and a day early. Astonishing Takumi, I'm sure your Dad would be proud. So tell me, what was it that she wanted?"

"She wanted me to not only subjugate her in a fight...she wanted me to explain my thoughts, she wanted to know what goals I truly had, what my life was heading too. Honestly, she's quite like me. She just wanted to know...what we'd do together, and how we'd benefit others around us. I suppose you could say that she wanted to not only be subjugated in battle, but also with my mind...yes, it's quite like that. Still...aaah, that was a very hard battle, she can be quite the stubborn woman...but, she's my partner, and I trust her completely, as she does me."

"Aah, she's a poetic woman~ I like her~"

Takumi let out a small laugh as Yoruichi got in close.

"Yoruichi-chan...one step closer now."

"Yes, one step closer."

"But...I have to ask...Aizen and I, did we have history?"

Yoruichi's eyes went towards the right hand side, mostly to avoid eye contact with him, partly because she wasn't sure how to explain this.

"It's a little complicated...but yes, you and he once had a close relationship."

"...But, why would I? After what I've seen...how cold his eyes were...how could I have been...friends with him?"

"That...That's a question only you'd know the answer to, Takumi."

Takumi hummed as Yoruichi leaned closer, and pressed her lips against his own.

It was only for a few seconds, so he couldn't enjoy it long. But for those seconds, he definitely could feel the passion of Yoruichi, entering him with said passion.

When she finally did break apart from him, she adopted a light smile.

"Imagine if Orihime found out about our passion~"

"Y-Yoruichi-chan...she already knows."

Yoruichi snorted.

"Yeah. I suppose she does. Well, it can't be helped. I promised myself that I'd do that when you awakened Bankai. Maybe I should have done that for Shikai, and taken your virginity at Bankai."

"G-Geez, you don't hold back, do you?"

"Naturally, I'm a cat. We do what we want~"

Takumi couldn't stifle a small laugh.

But, he also wondered more about his relationship to Aizen.

What possessed him to be friends with Aizen?

Was it Aizen manipulating the situation?

Or was it something else entirely?

Whatever it was, it just added mystery to Takumi's life that he wasn't sure on how to begin handling it.

But, he wasn't going to stop either.

He was determined to understand what it truly was about.

He'd find the answer.

* * *

Later that night, after it had happened, it had finally happened, Takumi was quite excited.

He couldn't contain his happiness at achieving it. And with a day to go as well, Takumi thought that he was on cloud nine right now.

"Seeing you so giddy is adorable~"

Rangiku called as she moved closer.

Takumi lightly chortled.

"I suppose, it's just that I've done it. Achieving Bankai...aah, that was an emotional experience."

"Emotional huh? Did you, with your Zanpakuto spirit..." Rangiku nudged him, with a sly wink. "...you know, take control over the situation and...subjugate her?"

Takumi got where she was coming from, shaking his head several times.

"Eeh, no, not like that. But I'm surprised you're here. Did you want to talk to me?"

"Well, everyone else has had a talk with you, so I want to as well. Lets see if you can give me any insight."

Takumi raised an eyebrow at that.

"So, you just wanna have a chat?"

"Naturally. Lay it on me, the Urahara wisdom~"

Takumi lightly chuckled.

"Though I don't know if I'm that wise, I could try and help you with any problems that you have. Do you have any?" Rangiku shrugged as Takumi tossed his mind back to the fight with Gin. "...Actually, there is something I did notice back when we met. You and Gin, the way you looked at one another, how he stopped when you arrived...perhaps I'm off base, but is there history between you? Though if you don't want to tell me, then I'd be alright with that. Don't worry about telling me anything you don't want to, I wont ask again."

Rangiku waved her hand, showing that she was alright with it.

"Perceptive...yeah, we do have some history. It's...he helped me understand about spiritual power, and things like that. We hung around together for a good while, and eventually, joined the Shinigami academy."

"So, are you...how to say it...are you worried about him right now? I believe...maybe it's hard to hear but...he probably is aligned with Aizen. Judging on what he tried to do with Hinamori-san, and what he tried to have happen to me, among other things...maybe he's not but most likely, he is."

Rangiku breathed slowly.

"I thought that he might be. He's been acting different, especially when you came to the Soul Society. Gin has always been...different to others. But now...I just feel as if he's moving further and further away..."

"Are you in love with him?"

Rangiku began laughing, patting Takumi's back so hard he nearly fell over.

"Don't be silly! We're like family, that's all!"

Takumi blinked, wondering more about their story then, and why she seemed disheartened about Gin, more so than anyone else was being.

"That's not, that's all, you know? It's important, family that's blood or family that was made like that. It's okay not to be okay."

Rangiku exhaled as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"...You know, this entire situation, I've never been one to really involve myself in the ins and outs of the Soul Society. Now, my friend is going to be going to the other side...I just want to know...why he'd do this. What would possess him to try this stuff?"

Takumi could see that she was struggling.

He didn't want to see her struggling like that.

He pulled closer, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I am sorry about all of this."

"It's not your fault, you didn't force him to do anything. He did it of his own accord. But...I feel as if there's something behind it. Some secret reason...I don't know what it would be though. Aizen...he's evil, isn't he? No redemption I mean...he's evil to the core?"

Seeing that she wished for what he believed to be the truth, he decided to level with her.

"...Most likely, I'm not sure right now. Off my own instincts...I'd say he probably isn't fully evil, but he's definitely got some real darkness in him. I've seen the dude once...and I got vibes from him. His face was smiling...but, his eyes, were emotionless. He didn't seem to care about anything around him." Takumi pulled even closer to Rangiku. "But I didn't get that from Gin."

"Takumi-kun..."

Takumi hummed, trying to articulate his words in the best way that he could do.

"I, got something from Gin that I couldn't understand until I began speaking to you. Something about the way that he looked at me...I don't know. I didn't feel evil from him...I felt something else. Of course, this is my own gut speaking, and I could be wrong. But, that's what I got from him. Perhaps he does have a reason. And if he does, lets try and find that reason Rangiku-san."

Rangiku gave a light hearted chuckle.

"Yeah...that would be good. But still, he needs to be stopped...if he does end up hurting, or killing someone...Takumi-kun, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"You came here, not knowing if you'd die, or if you'd succeed...why? Why did you do that?"

"Because Rukia-chan needed to be saved…"

"But, was that really worth your life?"

Takumi nodded, and began to explain.

"Yes, I do believe it's worth you. You know, all I ever wanted was to know about this place. When I was younger...in the human world I mean, I just wanted to see this place. My Father, I knew he was a Shinigami from a young age, I knew he had these powers, I discovered it on my own and asked him about it, eventually he told me about it. But now, after seeing it. It isn't that different to the human world. I wondered if this was a magical place, that had all sorts of different concepts."

"Haha, I guess that means it's disappointing."

"Actually, it's kind of relieving."

Rangiku didn't quite understand that.

"How so?"

"Well...I'm quite a logical person. I thought the Soul Society would be this place I might not be able to understand, and to an extent, it does have magical elements to it...but, it's also just like the human world. So, I can understand it quite well."

"Well, personally, I'm glad you're here. You're probably one of the only normal guys around here. Between people like Zaraki, and the others...God, I can't even think about that at all. But yeah...thanks to you, we can understand this truth. It isn't going to sneak up on us out of nowhere."

Takumi waved his hand towards her, waving off her worries.

"It's alright, I'm glad that the truth is out there now...and less people are trying to kill me now."

Rangiku let out a small laugh.

She couldn't even fathom how it would

"Also, I'd like to say...thanks. If Gin can be stopped without his death...I just want to understand why he's doing what he's doing."

Takumi gave a strong nod, and then bowed his neck.

"Right...then I'll try my best to see what's happening with him."

"I couldn't ask you to do that...to place that burden on you..."

Takumi shook his head, trying to relieve her of her worries.

"I promise, I'll try my best to stop him, and bring him back alive. Back to you, his family."

Hearing that, Rangiku couldn't help but feel something bubbling inside of her.

To take that burden on, just for her...

"Takumi-kun, I..."

Rangiku laid her hand on his own.

He could feel her hand slightly shaking, so he turned his own hand, and held onto hers.

"It's alright, you can rely on me. I'll bring him back, then you can question him as much as you need to."

She didn't say anything, but she could feel her face turning slightly redder all the time that he held onto her hand.

Minutes passed, and eventually, Rangiku was able to express her gratitude.

"Thank you, Takumi-kun. I see it now...why that Inoue-san really likes you."

"Oh?"

"Yes...oh. That's exactly it, Takumi-kun."

Takumi raised an eyebrow at her.

He wondered what she was thinking.

But it seemed like she was content right now. Just holding his hand, it reassured her that he'd try his best to understand more about Gin. What he was thinking and how he was feeling. That alone allowed her to understand the kind of man Takumi was.

He wasn't out for himself.

He wasn't trying to take over the worlds.

He was trying to make them better.

Trying to understand them.

But most of all…

He wanted to help the people around him if he could.

It was something she quite liked.

* * *

The next day, Takumi was busy working on a number of things for the next day. Working on gadgets, and other things with the help of Nemu. Without Mayuri around, Nemu was able to show her true intelligence, and he could see that she truly was a smart woman.

She had knowledge on many things.

"Takumi-sama, I believe this is finished."

Takumi glanced, and saw that she had finished a complex calculation that he had asked her to do, in half the time he thought most intelligent would be able to finish it, so seeing Nemu doing it so quickly, he was quite happy to see.

"Nemu-san, I'm thankful you're helping me. But tomorrow, it's going to be hectic. I said to everyone they could have the day off today and relax."

"But, you're still working."

Takumi couldn't refute her words either.

He clearly was working.

"Haha, you got me there. I've just got a few things to finish off here, and then I'll be relaxing."

"Then when Takumi-sama is finished, I shall be as well."

Nemu didn't want to leave his side.

Even in minor things like this.

Takumi didn't mind.

In fact, he was glad that she could come to him for advice, and he'd do his best to offer it her.

"Nemu-san...thanks. You really are growing in awesome ways, I'm enjoying getting to know you more and more."

"I...Yes, Takumi-sama. I also am enjoying learning more things about myself. I'd like to continue that. But, I'd only like to continue it with Takumi-sama beside me."

"Nemu-san..."

Nemu's facial expression didn't change.

But Takumi felt as if she was trying her best to show a smile.

"Takumi-sama, it's going to be dangerous. So, I'd like to request that you don't do anything reckless."

"Reckless? Heh, I'm not that reckless-"

"According to my data, there's a high percent chance that you'd do something reckless to protect someone else which could lead to a life changing injury, or being severally damaged. So, I'd like to ask that Takumi-sama refrains from being reckless. But, in failing that. I'd request Takumi-sama seeks medical attention immediately, and comes back to the rest of us."

Hearing her words, it might have sounded rather robotic to most.

But to Takumi, he could feel the passion behind her words.

The emotions that she had.

Something she couldn't have expressed in a long time.

"Alright Nemu-san, I'll do my best."

"Yes, I am...I believe the word is, happy Takumi-sama. I am happy that you will do your best. So, I shall also do my best. To stay beside Takumi-sama, that has become a dream of mine. Takumi-sama once said that goals in life can push you forward. I have begun thinking about my goals. I have decided that I will stand beside Takumi-sama, always. That's one goal. Another goal of mine is to stop Mayuri-sam...Mayuri for what he intends to do and has done."

"I see...then they're nice goals Nemu-san. I'm sure you'll also think of others. You can do anything, be anything you want to be Nemu-san."

"Be anything I want..." Nemu took Takumi's hand, and held it tightly. "Takumi-sama, I'd like to request to be your Lieutenant."

"I-I'm not even a Captain."

"Yes, you are Takumi-sama. As Yachiru-sama has explained. The Taku Squad is a legitimate Squad, Captains Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Unohana are supporting this Squad. Now, it's the Fourteen Squads instead of Thirteen."

Takumi chortled unevenly, wondering how much Yachiru has been saying about that.

"Eeh, that's...eeh...right. Nemu-san, I'd be honoured if you were my Lieutenant."

"Yes, thank you Takumi-sama."

Takumi couldn't hide his smile.

While Nemu was odd.

She still was a good person and fun to interact with.

And he was glad that all the time, Mayuri's influence over her was fading away, becoming a distant memory, now that she could begin truly having a life of her own.

Nemu ended up sitting close by Takumi, and held onto his arm.

It seemed to comfort her.

It seemed that she wanted to do it, so Takumi simply didn't say anything and stayed with her for a good while, just working together on some projects.

* * *

The night before the execution of Rukia, Takumi gathered the members of the group that he and the others had formed. Seeing all of them before him, listening to him, and even following his words. He couldn't help but look back at the beginning of their break into the Soul Society, and how they had come so far in such a time.

Looking down, he saw Yachiru casually sat on his lap, and grinning up towards him.

Seeing that she wasn't going to move, he simply petted her head, causing her smile to grow even more.

Lightly smiling to himself, Takumi begin.

"As you all know. Tomorrow, we'll be going to be doing the plan. Which means, the remaining Soul Society, will be against us." They each looked seriously, with Takumi continuing. "So that's why, I've got jobs for each of you to do. Some of you will have to fight..." Kenpachi raised his hand so Takumi continued with a smile. "You'll definitely have to fight Kenpachi-san."

Kenpachi did a fist pump, his excitement growing more and more.

"Yes!"

"Alright Ken-chan! You're going to be fighting!"

Takumi was glad that they were enthusiastic.

"Anyway, back on topic. While doing this, we'll have to rescue Rukia-chan. Aizen..." He saw Momo's face becoming slightly downtrodden. "...the person that's behind this, could make a grab for her, and while her powers have somewhat returned, she's not back to full strength, so she'll need to be protected. Plus, we'll have to think about the Captain's themselves, and who they'd be fighting..."

"Takumi, I'll fight Soi Fon. I've got something's to talk to that girl about."

Yoruichi confidently said.

"No doubt, you'd be able to fight her. I'll leave her with you." Yoruichi nodded as Takumi turned to the two oldest Captain's, apart from Unohana. "Ukitake-san, Kyoraku-san, I'll leave the old man to you. That guys completely in a different league to anyone here."

"Haha, true enough. He's a complete monster."

Shunsui laughed out, as Takumi turned to Unohana.

"Unohana-san, if it's alright, can I ask you to go to the Central 46 tomorrow? With your fighting prowess, I'm sure that you could force who's behind this out."

"I don't mind."

"Thanks, I'm sure that even Aizen might think twice before fighting you. Plus, I'll also have a few others go with you...making Aizen reveal himself is one of the main priorities. It would be easier if the entire Soul Society would listen...but, that's not something that will come easily."

"Takumi, I'll go with her too."

Karin added, surpising Takumi.

"Karin-chan...you sure?"

"Definitely, I'll be going to meet this dodgy bastard. Besides, didn't I hear you saying that the possibility of his Shikai having affected everyone in the Soul Society? If that's the case, then it's going to be difficult for them to fight him, right?"

"Indeed, I might even be included in that..."

"But, I'm not. I've never met him, so I could see through his Shikai right? If he pulled crap in front of the others."

"As long as he doesn't release it in front of you, from the information my Father provided."

Karin put on a strong expression.

"Right, then I'll go to that location as well." Karin leaned closer, and whispered in his ear. "By the way, I think you should come up with some kind of inspirational speech. You're like the leader of this...interesting group."

"Eeh, I've never done anything like that though Karin-chan."

Karin lightly punched his arm, though Takumi winced, her 'light' punch felt more like a hard one.

"Come on smart guy, think of something. They're all here because we worked together to change them, and their beliefs and make them come together like this. So, give them something at the end of this. Show them that you're dependable...well, as dependable as you can be anyway."

"Ooh thanks, and I thought you said I should be inspiration, maybe take your own advice next time."

Karin lightly smirked.

"I'm not the leader, consider me like Vice Commander or something."

"Yeah, alright then."

Finishing their whispering, Takumi turned back to the others.

Seeing how they were all looking towards him, he slightly chortled.

"About the Sokyoku, that giant firebird...erm, Yoruichi-chan, Ukitake-san and Kyoraku-san...I believe you've got what we need to make sure that thing doesn't end our lives."

"It's being released as we speak, should be ready by early tomorrow morning."

Ukitake replied with Takumi lightly smiling.

"That's good. Ooh, I've also got this for you Ukitake-san." Takumi took out some kind of syringe, full of a purple liquid, and tossed it to him. Ukitake took it, examining it curiously. "That should help you with your condition. If it decides to flare up. By no means is it a cure, or even gonna be something that prevents a bad session of your condition. However, after spending time with Unohana-san and examining your medical notes, your physicals among other things, I believe that should at least stun the progression of the condition if it decides to flare up in that moment."

Ukitake looked at the liquid, then towards Takumi with appreciative eyes.

"E...Even though you've been busy with Bankai training...when did you even find the time..."

"Eeh, going without sleep helps with that. Train during the day, experiment during the night. Simple, yet effective~"

Ukitake and some others were surprised by what he had said.

"You've not slept in a few days?"

Toshiro had to question it.

"Been busy. Got my pills to keep me awake. It's no big deal. Though, you shouldn't take too many or it might make your head explode..." Most of the Shinigami's grimace. "...but, it's alright for me, since I'll be sleeping tonight. I'll be ready for the fight ahead tomorrow. Damn Byakuya better watch out, I'll shock him..."

Karin laughed lightly, nodding in agreement.

"Completely agree. Shock him Takumi, make sure he understands not to mess with humans!"

Takumi snickered, nodding.

Then he continued addressing the others.

"Then tomorrow, you Shinigami's can go to the execution grounds before everything begins. We can't draw attention to all of us until the moment that we rescue Rukia-chan. If the old man finds out...geez, we're going to be turning crispy in a moments notice. But yeah, I've got jobs for all of you. Hopefully, it will succeed. I believe I've planned for most things that could happen...though you can only plan so far ahead. Even then, I'll work on any revisions tonight and brief you all tomorrow morning if anything changes, if I think of anything Aizen might pull..."

Takumi then continued the meeting, and explained what he'd have everyone do during the save Rukia fights going down.

Each of them seemed to be rather receptive to what he was saying.

Remembering what Karin had said before, and now it was the concluding part of the meeting, he thought he'd try something inspirational. He was more technical minded than inspiring, at least that's what he thought, but he still tried his best.

"Then with all that out of the way….about tomorrow...it's going to be difficult, I'm not going to lie. However, I will say that if we pull this off, then Aizen wont get what he wants. And we'll expose him to the Soul Society. I'm gonna have to count on all of you for this. People say that you shouldn't shoulder everything yourself, and I think that's rather true. People can come together to accomplish a goal. I think that's a place where Aizen might not have down. I trust...all of you, but Aizen...he might not trust anyone. That's going to be a deciding factor. So, lets do our best tomorrow, and kick some ass!"

That's the only thing he could think to say.

Thankfully, by their faces, it seemed that he was able to inspire some strength within them.

Though he didn't think things would go this far.

He was happy that he could truly help the Soul Society, and also...save Rukia.

* * *

Once that meeting was done, Takumi went towards the outskirts of the area. His back met a slanted rock, and he peered at the ceiling. Though it was quite bright despite it being night outside, he felt pretty good just staring at the lights dancing in the air.

However, while he was simply enjoying the lights, and the breeze that was around, he felt the presence of something coming...rather, he knew this presence very well.

Lifting his neck, he saw that it was Orihime who was approaching.

"Ah, Orihime-chan. Something going on?"

Orihime gently shook her head.

"No, nothing's really happening Taku-chan. I just wanted to see if you were okay."

Takumi put his hand up, and gave a cheery smile.

"Yup, I'm completely ready for tomorrow! Come hell or high waters...that's what they say, right?"

"Eheh, I think~" She replied, sticking out her tongue. "But Taku-chan, the fight tomorrow...I talked to Unohana-san before, and if you go through with what's...if you go through with your plan, there's a good chance that you could...you could..."

Seeing her sadness growing, he pulled closer, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I wont die."

"Taku-chan..."

"It's going to be difficult, but I wont die. Got too many things to see, to do. I can't die yet. Besides...I'll have you beside me, Orihime-chan."

Orihime couldn't contain her smile, and she gently poked his right cheek.

"Hehe...Taku-chan, I'll always be beside you."

"Yes...I'm blessed. To have you by my side, I'm sure I'll be able to fight anything that comes about..but you know. The more we're in the Soul Society, the more I'm conflicted on how to feel about it."

"Hmmm? How so Taku-chan?"

Takumi placed a finger to his cheek, and lightly scratched it.

"Aizen. That...guy. Apparently, I was friends with him in the past. I saw it when I was fighting Kinhime...she showed me something about my past...I don't understand what to do with this information. It doesn't change how I feel about him now...but, it makes me wonder, why I'd ever be friends with him? When I first saw him when coming here with you and the others, I got this cold vibe from him. He was smiling...yet, he had this cold look in his eyes. If I saw the same thing back then...ugh, it's all weird. I just can't wait for it to be over~"

Trying to laugh it off, Orihime could see that it was weighing on his mind. He was thinking about it deeply.

She leaned closer, and gently kissed him.

It was brief, but it was quite comforting and soothing.

"Taku-chan, I'm surprised you're thinking this hard about it."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, if you and Aizen were friends, then that must mean you saw something inside of him. Maybe these hundred something years has turned him cold so you feel like that. Maybe you saw some goodness inside of him when you were younger."

"Haha...yeah, maybe you're right. I must have seen something. If at all possible, I'd like to know what's going on with that. But it isn't going to stop me either. What he's trying to do, what he's done...I still have to stop him."

Orihime wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled closer.

"Taku-chan...promise me something."

"Sure, what?"

"Promise me...you'll come back, okay? No matter what, always come back."

"Heeeh, that's quite the promise. But, I'll do my best. If you promise me something."

Orihime cocked an eyebrow up.

"What Taku-chan?"

"No matter what, don't lose your smile, okay?"

"My...smile?"

She seemed confused by his words for a few moments.

Thankfully, he clarified for her.

"Yes, the smile I fell in love with." Orihime's cheeks burned red as she felt his arms fully around her. "Things will be tough. So, I'll beat all the bad guys and come back to see you smiling. It might sound weird, but it inspires me to do my best."

"Then, I'm like a muse?" Takumi chortled, nodding slightly. "Well, I don't mind being Taku-chan's muse. Though, you don't have to beat the bad guys alone. We all will stand with Taku-chan. We came together because of Taku-chan, so we'll always be there to help Taku-chan and protect Taku-chan as he protects us."

"Yes...we'll do this, together."

Orihime nodded, and they just sat their, in silence as they stared at the ceiling.

Their minds thought about what would happen tomorrow.

How the fight was going to go down.

Takumi thought more about what Orihime said.

If he had seen something in Aizen…

Did he have any good in him?

Was it wishful thinking?

Takumi wasn't sure.

Whatever was going to happen next, he was going to keep fighting for the truth.

But more than that…

He was going to be fighting to save Rukia from her fate.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, while this was a more relaxed chapter with Takumi bonding with some of the girls before the fights ahead, Takumi attained Bankai at the same time.**

**He did it in a bit of a different way to some others might do. He did subjugate her, but it wasn't all about beating Kinhime to subjugate her. It was more than that, she wanted to see everything he'd be capable of not just fighting prowess, but his mind and his heart along with his determination. **

**The Bankai's looks, will be described during the fight with Byakuya which is going to be rather soon, and will show what that's capable of doing.**

**Karin's progressing well with her training with Kenpachi, and could be showing her new strength rather soon. Yuzu and Giselle are also training together, and we could see some cool stuff from them as well.**

**Nanao and Takumi also spent a moment together, it seems that Nanao's rather shy when speaking about her feelings, something Shunsui wishes to help her with.**

**Yoruichi had planned to spend sometime with Takumi alone in the baths, but the others got involved, and things soon heated up~ It seems that also Toshiro's becoming less guarded around Takumi, while trying to understand him.**

**Momo and Takumi also had a moment where she found comfort in Takumi and could see that she could rely on him. **

**Rangiku and Takumi had a moment, speaking about Gin, and promised to help her find out why Gin's truly doing this, and stop him and save him if he can.**

**Nemu and Takumi also spending a moment together, and assured her that he'd try his best to not be, in her words, reckless, allowing Nemu to also wish to become his Lieutenant of his Squad that he doesn't have...just yet, soon though he will.**

**Then finally, after having a meeting with the others, and speaking to Orihime who assured him to just be him and come back to her, everything's ready for them to prepare to save Rukia, and to expose Aizen for what he's done.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


	32. Save Rukia!

**Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!**

**JWJNation; Thanks very much! Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it! Yeah, they have some sort of past together, that will be explained as we go forward.**

**Clarent excalibur; Thanks very much! I'm glad that you're enjoying it! I could see Kinhime doing something like that.**

**ShadowUzumaki55; Thanks very much! He did yeah, it was difficult, but he managed to finally unlock the Bankai. Maybe it is, who knows~ Karin and Yuzu will show off their stuff. I could see it being a good experience yeah~ He did yeah, he got to know a good few people better than he did before~ Takumi's ready to fight yeah~**

**Silver crow; Thanks very much! Haha, it was a fun scene to write~ Maybe they did, who knows but them, right~? His Bankai, we'll see what form it takes. Yeah, seems like they were friends. We'll be seeing them reunite this chapter, but have a proper talk in the future. Haha, Kinhime truly is quite the woman huh. Yeah, seems like Nanao knows quite a bit about him. Yup, the bath scene was fun to write haha. He can see that Toshiro does care for Momo yeah. Momo seems to be getting quite attached to the blonde haired Shinigami. Right now, it isn't his world, he has deeper ties with the human world, but that will change. Takumi and Aizen's relationship is rather complex, that's all I can say right now about them. Yup, he's got Bankai now~ We'll see the relationship between Gin and Takumi play out in the future. Yeah, Nemu's still Nemu no matter what~ I do believe Unohana could do a good deal of damage to Aizen if they actually fought. And yeah, he made something to help Ukitake. Orihime managed to encourage Takumi and now they're ready for the fight ahead. I hope it at least explains what her Bankai actually does, I think it's probably acid or something to do with healing. Mayuri and Takumi could have a moment like that. A son, or daughter, he'll have plenty of kids~ Yeah, that would fit Rangiku. We'll have to see if it does change him at all. Yeah if I did filler arcs, they'd not last as long as they did in the anime. Yeah, they'd be like those appearances. As he grows, he'll use higher level Kido. Karin could learn some Kido yeah. Kinhime would be like that. I could see him trying at least. Not sure about Tatsuki yet. We might have a scene like that, we'll have to wait and see. Kido corps commander, sure he could do. Renji wont be, he'll be doing something else. We'll see how the fight between Takumi and Byakuya goes quite soon. Cool Kido spells~ Luppi, sure~ He could have a fast way to neutralize the seals. Against those Espada, we'll see what happens. Orihime might have a scene like that with Rangiku. I could see Orihime here beating those two girls. Takumi could be immune sure. If it's needed then I do. I can see a fun moment with Yoruichi and Takumi if she enters that form. Yeah, they'd wipe out the threats quite easily from filler characters.**

**Noe; It could be like that yeah~ And he'd have an ability like that too~**

**StrikerTj; Well thanks very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far~**

**Skull Flame; Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! Haha, Unohana is a very dangerous woman. Kinhime's one of a kind alright~ Yup, some heartwarming moments before the action.**

**Guest; Momo could join his Squad yeah. I could see those two going as well~**

**Andrew123456; Yeah, that, Sekirei and even an Avatar story, I don't know when I'd get around to them though.**

**Nirvash Neo; Thanks very much! Yeah, it could be something like that~ Yeah, he'll meet the Fullbringers, and it could be sooner than canon time, I always liked the Fullbringers, and thought they had interesting abilities. I might be doing some of the fillers, probably not all of them. Ones that would be cool adapted, like the Bounts, but shortening it since while liking it, it did go on a bit much.**

**guest; Thanks very much! Yeah, we'll be seeing moments between them in the future~**

**Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!**

* * *

**Save Rukia!**

The time had come. The morning sun was peaking down from the sky. Or rather, the ceiling that was emitting light.

He had to wonder how his Father managed to accomplish that a hundred years ago. He could see his Father doing it now no problem, he himself also had built an artificial space that could emit light when the times of the day when the light was outside.

A cute moaning sound came from the side of him. He also felt something soft, and nice pushing against his arm.

It felt lovely.

A calm before the storm that was going to be that day.

Takumi's eyes glanced to the right hand side of him, seeing that Orihime was hugging onto him.

"_She's so cute when she's sleeping~_"

Not wanting to wake her, he didn't voice his thoughts, keeping them to himself.

He couldn't contain the smile that he had for the young woman.

He leaned down, and lightly kissed her cheek, making her smile, allowing her eyes to begin opening.

Peering up, she murmured "Morning..." and leaned up, wrapping her arms around Takumi's neck. The young boy held onto her, as she returned the kiss on his cheek, her eyes displaying a cute look, but he could see that she held some worries on her face.

"Orihime-chan, are you ready for the day?"

Orihime showed a resolute expression on her face.

She seemed ready to tackle the day head on.

"Yes...I'm ready Taku-chan. Whatever happens Taku-chan..."

Takumi offered the girl a comforting reassuring gaze.

He didn't want her to feel worried, he didn't want anything bad to happen to anyone.

He hoped that this situation would be alright for all of them in the long run, he was going to make sure of that, somehow.

"I know, we'll be able to get through this."

Orihime knew that Takumi would say something like that.

It made sense to her that he'd be ready, he always had some kind of idea cooking up in his mind.

"So Taku-chan, don't do anything dangerous."

"Haha, you're asking for the impossible there Orihime-chan."

Orihime thought it was a case like that.

But she still hoped that everything would work out for the best.

"Taku-chan...I really am glad you're you. No matter what."

"Yes...no matter what, I'm me."

She giggled, and bent into her lovers body. His strong protective arms wrapped around her, soothing her, calming the storm that was building up inside of her heart.

Now, it was clear that she could trust in him.

No, more than trust.

She had complete belief that he'd be able to do what they needed to do.

* * *

As Takumi was getting ready for the fight ahead, he felt a pressure coming closer.

A presence he was aware of, and knew rather well.

"Renji-san, what's on your mind?"

He called, as Renji pulled around the corner, an agitated look on his face.

"You know, one of my goals in life is to beat Byakuya Kuchiki...my Captain."

Takumi did recall a few things that he had heard about Renji's goals, and this made sense to him as well.

"You want to fight him, right?"

Renji nodded, but then shook his head.

"I'd love to, but right now...I'm not sure I'd be able to win against him. But even then...I don't want to feel useless, you know? I've trained, I want to do something important..."

Takumi bequeathed a light hearted smile, sprinkled in with some seriousness.

"You are, Renji-san. I'm leaving Rukia-chan in your hands. It's a very real possibility that she might be targeted, I need someone with a Bankai at least to protect her."

Renji chortled lightly.

"Honestly...well, if you're asking me to protect her...then I'll do my best. Though you better not lose to Captain Kuchiki! Because if you win against him...then that means you're stronger than he is...which means, I will want to fight you again, with both of our Bankai's!"

Takumi smiled softly.

"If you want to fight with Bankai's, then I'd be able to happily do that. Actually, it does intrigue me how you'd handle something so big during a fight. I saw your Bankai before, it looks really cool~ The snake that splits apart...though it makes me wonder what about the baboon aspect, which isn't represented in it."

Renji paused about that.

Even he had to think about why that wasn't represented.

But, he presumed it was because like his Shikai, it would just be a bigger version of that.

Renji began to laugh.

"Yeah, and yours...scary and cool I guess. With the whole lightning stuff, and the dark heavy clouds, it feels like a horror movie coming to life."

"I'm a horror movie come to life?"

"It's a compliment. When you go all science guy, you can be rather scary, but it's kinda cool at the same time."

"Hey, I'm not as bad as Mayuri."

Renji held back a snort.

"True...but, no one's as mental as that guy."

"Yeah...weird guy..." Takumi shook his head several times. "Ignoring that for the moment, Renji-san. I'll leave Rukia-chan to you. Make sure she's safe, alright? If something happened to her...well, lets just make sure nothing does. She's already been through enough."

"With my life, you can count on me. Just make sure you kick Captain Kuchiki's ass."

"Hehe, it's going to be an interesting battle anyway. So yeah, leave it to me. I'll fight cherry blossom boy~ It's going to be interesting, pink vs gold..."

"Haha, true enough."

The pair shared a laugh together.

Relaxing a little bit before the storm was about to come about.

Whatever was going to happen that day, it was going to be interesting either way.

* * *

A few short ten minutes later, Takumi gathered up the others. He stood before each of them, looking between them. He could see that they were all turned towards him. Trust was within their eyes.

He truly hoped that he wouldn't let them down.

"Okay everyone. It's time for us to begin. As I've been told, the gathering of you Shinigami shall begin shortly, Rukia-chan's execution being in an hour. Everyone knows what they have to do, and before we move out...I'd just like to thank you all. For believing in me and us from the human world. I know today will be tough for some of you." He glanced at Momo and Nemu when saying that. "I know that some of you might become injured...but remember, this is to protect the Soul Society. To make sure that they don't get what he wants."

"Right, so when the plan starts, we each split up, right?"

Renji asked, Takumi nodded.

"Just pretend to the others that you're just as surprised as they are that we've arrived." Takumi replied, turning to Shunsui. "Besides you and Ukitake-san, and I'm guessing Kenpachi-san wouldn't hold back either." Kenpachi nodded strongly, before Takumi added. "I'm sorry." to Shunsui while bowing his head. "I'm asking you to fight off the Captain Commander, I've felt his presence, he's no laughing matter. I know that I couldn't take him, so I'm sorry that I have to ask you to do this for me."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I've been speaking to Jushiro, he's just about finished unsealing it now."

"Aah, then I can go and modify it a little bit...then we'll all be set."

Karin raised an eyebrow.

"How long will that take?"

"No longer than twenty or so minutes. I've been working on it since the other day, so all I have to do is equip it onto the thing that Ukitake-san is unsealing, that's all."

"I see, good. We can't take too long after all."

Takumi agreed, turning towards Hanataro and Ganju.

"Okay you two, this battle might end up having a number of injured people. So, I'd like to ask you guys to make sure the medical teams are ready to go, Ganju-san I'll have you make sure that Hanataro-san is heard...since you're rather..."

"He's very loud, makes sense you'd pair him with the meek guy."

Karin uttered out, Ganju scowled.

"I heard that! I could fight too!"

"Ganju, don't lie."

Ganju huffed at Karin who did the same.

Takumi then continued on.

"I'm not sure how the battles are going to be split up yet, where everyone is going to be fighting. But when I do, I'll try and contact you guys somehow. And if not me, then it will be someone else that will explain what happened, and have you guys go towards the people that will need it. Your Captain will be busy confronting Aizen, so you're gonna have to take charge Hanataro-san and lead the best you can, okay?"

"Y-Yes Sir..."

Hanataro meekly said, as Takumi lightly tapped his head.

"No Sir stuff. Remember, just Takumi."

"Hehehe...y-yes, Takumi-san. But...a-are you going to be rescuing Rukia-san...truly?"

"That's the plan yeah, and this, will get Rukia-chan and hopefully me off the hook from dying. Maybe even the Visored too."

Hanataro wasn't sure who the Visored were, but it didn't matter as some of the others seemed to know.

Takumi then went over a few last things that could happen, and that might occur.

Everyone was astonished with the scenarios that were going down in Takumi's mind.

It seemed he had a strategy if people did certain things, if people did or didn't show up.

If they had to go and find those people.

Everyone couldn't help but feel that he really was good at coming up with plans, with things that could help them win and take down a good number of enemies. Even Shunsui and Unohana, for as old as they were, were very impressed with the amount of strategy they were doing that day.

Concluding the meeting, Takumi exhales slowly, as Unohana strolls closer.

"Takumi-kun, are you ready?"

Takumi hesitated for a few moments, noticing the eyes of Giselle on him with a lustful expression.

"Ah...yes, I'm ready now." Takumi turned to the others. "Then, it's time to begin~"

"Wait, what are you two doing?"

Karin asked, seeing that Takumi and Unohana were beginning to leave.

"Just taking care of business Karin-chan~ Don't worry, I'll be right there."

Karin wasn't sure what he was up to.

Unohana and Takumi left behind a rock, as Giselle skipped forward as did Shunsui.

Whatever it was that they were doing...it seemed serious.

She hadn't noticed it until Takumi was moving behind the rock.

The expression on his face, was a solemn one.

It was a look that would stick with her for a while.

Whatever he was going to do...he seemed to have mixed emotions about it.

* * *

About half an hour after what Takumi and the others did with the meeting, on the bridge leading to Sokyoku Hill with four members of the Kido Corps restraining and escorting her by having thick cords around her neck, tied to the collar like device that was binding her in place.

Rukia laments on the times that she had spent in the human world, what it meant for her truly.

How she was able to experience many joys.

How she could have spent more time there.

Also, she thought about the past.

What had happened.

How it had been amazing.

She couldn't stop thinking about what could have been…

But that stopped when Rukia sees someone she didn't want to see.

It was Gin.

He had a dirty smirk on his face.

It was a smirk that could barely be called dirty, but Rukia could see it. And when he rose his thin arm up, waving towards her, Rukia felt the resolve inside of her begin to shake. This man, was truly someone that she didn't like at all.

"My, Kuchiki-san. Is there something wrong?"

Rukia tried to keep her resolve high. She tried to make sure that she wouldn't crumble before this Captain. She simply couldn't do that.

"Gin...Ichimaru... why...why are you here?"

Gin made it closer to her, mere metres apart, wagging a finger at him, his face still in that cold manner.

"Now, now. I know you're getting executed. But manners don't cost anything. You should be addressing me as Captain Ichimaru, you know? If your brother heard you speaking like this, I am sure that he would scold you."

Rukia, trying to be unnerved by this man, bows her head as much as she could.

"You're right...I'm sorry, Captain Ichimaru."

Gin got in close to the smaller Shinigami, placing a hand on top of her head, and showed a light smirk.

"Don't worry, I wont say anything to him. I wasn't being serious. But, I did come here for a reason."

Rukia took the bait that Gin was launching her way.

"And that is?"

"For a walk. That, and to tease you a bit."

Rukia scowl intensified.

"To tease me..."

Rukia hated this man.

She truly never could see what he was thinking. The way that his smile never faded. The way that his snake like eyes and mouth would disturb her. She didn't trust him, not even for a moment. But, she also had to admit that when he did look at her, she felt herself breaking out into a cold sweat, his body language said everything that Gin wasn't saying verbally.

She was repulsed by this person.

She felt like he could kill her with a simple look, and his demeanour suggested the same thing.

"Kuchiki-chan, it seems that you're not fully aware of your surroundings. Is there something on your mind?" Rukia didn't answer him, as Gin snickered, pulling closer. "Could it be Takumi Urahara by chance?"

"N-No it isn't..."

Rukia pulled back as Gin threw a hand up in defence.

"Now, now. Calm down."

"Takumi...he's got nothing to do with this!"

"Your sudden anger suggests different."

He countered. The steel cold words cut through her.

She had allowed her emotions to get the better of her for a few moments.

"E-Even if I am...that's got nothing to do with you..."

"It depends on your definition of what you just said. It could have everything to do with me, if I involve myself."

The Kido Corps began to murmur things like "What did he say?" and "What does he mean?" while Rukia felt the intimidating stare that came from the man before her. The way that he held the power in these situations sickened her.

"What are you talking about…?"

"As I said, maybe it does involve me. The thought of Takumi-kun dying hurts me, my heart aches. You know, we used to be friends? It's true. Captain Aizen, myself, and Takumi-kun were a trio together. I don't want to have my friends in danger, I want to protect him just as much as you want to do the same thing. So, how about I help you out, and make sure that you can reunite with him?"

"W-What would you gain from that?"

Rukia couldn't believe him.

Why would he even bother now?

She didn't trust this man before her.

Gin though held a convincing voice as he spoke.

"I've been torn this entire time. Thinking about my friend being in this crisis. A crisis that I could help with. Even people are believing he had killed Aizen, but I know the truth, and that truth is that I can't stand having my friend being killed. I also know that if you died, then he'd suffer also. So, how about I free you? I can set you free, and make sure you and your friends escape to the human world."

Rukia couldn't believe what he was saying.

Something about the way he spoke...he felt genuine emotions.

Something that she hadn't from Gin before.

But now, he was being sincere.

She didn't know what to believe when it came to Gin.

"Are you..."

Gin moved closer, his hand gently tapping Rukia's head.

"Just kidding?" He chuckled with glee at the sight of Rukia's despair taking over. "Yes, that's right. Why would I help you?" Rukia was left speechless, an empty expression appearing on her face as he turned, and waved without looking. "Goodbye Kuchiki-chan. I'll see you at the hill."

With that, he disappeared from the bridge.

Rukia's expression deeply saddens.

Her heart felt as if it was being ripped in two.

Her resolve had been shaken.

For just a small moment.

A single moment.

She believed that he had become someone that she could trust.

Even if it was a very small part of her.

She dared to hope again.

She crumbled, her knees falling down due to her shaking legs. She couldn't make a sound, her face said more than words could do with the amount of despair and sorrow that she had been feeling.

Deep down, she had thought about Takumi coming for her.

Them going back to the human world.

She had thought that maybe they could just live peacefully.

This had reminded her of the thing she tried to forget.

Gin on the other hand, just showed his snake like smile.

* * *

Arriving at the Sokyoku Hill, Nanao was the first to begin taking note of which Captain's were attending. The only ones that weren't current there were Gin, Ukitake and his two third seats, Byakuya, Mayuri, and Soi Fon with her Lieutenant. Also, Aizen of course wasn't there but Nanao didn't count him.

Nanao could see her Captain looked relaxed.

"...It's so eerie, everyone's on high alert."

Nanao murmured, as Momo clutched her hands together.

"I'm worried...about Takumi-kun..."

"Takumi-kun, is it?" Rangiku prodded, seeing that Momo was lightly flushing. "Since when did you get so close? Was it when you slept together?"

Momo gasped as Nemu's eyes drew themselves towards Momo.

"Hinamori-san, you slept with Takumi-sama?"

"N-No! I didn't!"

"She did, it was the other night. She totally slept with him~"

"So, you have a crush on him Hinamori?"

Toshiro questioned, with Nemu seemingly pulling out a book, and looking through the pages, and began writing stuff down about Momo.

"N-No! You're misunderstanding! We just t-talked, that's all! He was...really nice, actually. He calmed me...it was weird, I was expecting a monster when I first heard of him...but, what I found was a reliable man..."

As she spoke, Soi Fon came with her Lieutenant. Her eyes went over the people present, showing a slightly annoyed look. She didn't seem to want to be there, she didn't even want to think about it at all.

Soon, Byakuya came with Renji locking eyes with him. Byakuya dismissed his Lieutenant's stare. Instead, he seemed to be focused on something else, his mind wandered to the time when he confronted Takumi in the human world, what he was capable of, and what he did, how he stood up to him.

He thought if he had progressed any, if he had become stronger.

Though now, he had to think about Rukia and her execution.

Not revealing his true feelings, he kept them to himself, and just calmly stared on as if nothing was happening.

* * *

Sometime later, as Rukia finally finishing her death march, ended up at the Sokyoku Hill. The giant wooden execution platform filled her eyes. She also saw that nearly all of the Captains were there. Even people she didn't expect like Kenpachi was stood there, looking rather bored.

Rukia's eyes cast over all of them.

She pondered where her Captain was.

She thought that maybe it would be too much for him to handle.

Yamamoto's old eyes fell upon her. Rukia could feel the intensity of the situation running through her. It was almost too much for her to take. She could also see the eyes of her elder brother on her, and Gin who was with his Lieutenant.

"Big brother...I...I..."

Rukia reached out to him with her words.

Byakuya...seemingly wasn't acknowledging her presence.

That, was more of a sting than anything else that could happen that day.

"Rukia Kuchiki!" Rukia's eyes shot for Yamamoto who looked on with his wise expression. "The execution will now begin!"

Rukia felt her blood run cold.

The others didn't say anything, while Soi Fon looked around.

"I'm surprised that her own Captain didn't turn up to this..."

She murmured to herself, Shunsui didn't mutter a single word, and thought "_Come on Takumi._" while appearing as relaxed as he could be.

Yamamoto's eyes land upon the young woman.

"Rukia Kuchiki, do you have any last words?"

Rukia looks down, and mutters "I only have one thing to say." which Yamamoto acknowledged and ordered her to continue.

Steeling her will, she breathed slowly.

"...I know that he's a wanted criminal. I know that you have your reasons...but, Takumi Urahara, please let him return to the human world. Along with his friends. They...He didn't recall a time when he was in the Soul Society...I don't know if that's changed now...but, I know that man. He is innocent. He couldn't be capable of doing those heinous crimes."

Nanao looked on and thought about what Rukia was saying.

"_It seems that even though she's about to die...she wants to protect Takumi-kun. The voice she has...also gives away her feelings all at once. While in the human world...did she unintentionally fall in love with him?_"

While her thoughts ran through Nanao's mind, Rukia continued with her pleading.

"So please...whatever happens to me, please don't kill him. I...I care about him. He...He's done a lot for me. He helped me...come to terms with the past...with Kaien Shiba's death." Byakuya's eyebrows narrowed ever so slightly. "I know that I'm asking something that might be impossible...but even a slim chance of it happening...please, don't kill Takumi Urahara."

With the words surrounding them all, most were taken aback by her voice.

It was sincere, honest, true.

Her feelings displayed themselves openly.

It was clear to everyone there how much she cared about him.

Even Renji, her childhood friend was stunned by her words.

But, he was happy all the same.

Acknowledging what she said, Yamamoto bowed his head in agreement.

"I promise to do my best to allow Takumi Urahara, and the Ryoka to leave this place after your execution."

Rukia didn't know if she could believe it.

But it was the best she was going to get.

"Thank you, Captain Commander."

Speaking from her heart, Rukia now accepted her own situation.

Isane turns towards Unohana, an unsure look on her face.

"Captain...his words, isn't it unnecessarily cruel to say that? I don't believe he currently has any desires to fulfil her wish of allowing Takumi Urahara-san to simply leave here with his life intact."

Unohana denies this, and explains as she watches Rukia's face. Seeing it being content.

"Maybe he isn't. But he is being compassionate with his words. See, her face? She looks at ease right now. Perhaps it is because of the guilt she felt for what happened with dragging Takumi-kun back to the Soul Society, knowing his death would be quite assured. No, this is his kindness to her, the kindness only he could give right now."

Isane wasn't convinced, but she didn't know what else it would be.

As they spoke, several members of the Kido Corps assemble around Rukia and the Sokyoku itself. The large blade that sticks out of the ground, the height of it was dazzling to Rukia.

Yamamoto sighs, and says "Lets commence with the execution." to which they obey the order.

They then begin unsealing the Sokoyoku, large ropes that bound it to the earth, and are left to fall from the clash. Crashing into the lands below, they make an audible noise.

Rukia is then pushed towards the execution scaffold, urged by the Captain Commander himself.

With several members of the Kidō Corps assembled around the Sōkyoku, Yamamoto orders the commencement of the execution.

Though she was standing at the edge of her death...a peace entered her.

She wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was the promise of Yamamoto, maybe it was the fact that despite what Gin had said...she was able to get over that. She wasn't going to allow him to win over her this one last time.

"_In the end, Takumi...it feels as if though it came full circle. When we first met...we were so young, you trained me...you became someone that helped me do many things. And in return, I got to repay the favour, and reteach you to become a Shinigami. But more than that...you made me happy. I got to spend time with someone that made me smile...thank you, Takumi._"

As she thought about it, three medium sized cubes rise from the platform in front of Rukia. As if by telekinesis, her arms were forced outwards, spreading them as far as they could go, being locked in place. Her legs forced together at the same time, locked together, she wasn't able to move at all.

Rukia felt the feelings inside of her heart growing.

Rukia then saw her body being lifted off the ground, high into the air. Suspended in the sky, her eyes didn't look down. She looked forward, seeing the giant blade sticking out of the ground. It was many times her size.

Nanao clutches her hands together, thinking "_Come on Takumi-kun, please hurry..._" while Shunsui simply placed a hand on her shoulder. That alone was able to comfort her that Takumi would be able to come back soon.

Flames from the Sokyoku erupt from the bottom, and begin spreading up the pole of the large blade, before reaching said blade. Swirling into a giant flaming mass, which began to erupt forward even more.

The flames spread forth, going into the sky, shocking most around.

"What's...What's it doing?"

Momo asked Toshiro who shrugged.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like this before."

"It's taking shape..."

Rangiku muttered as Nemu spoke up.

"It's gaining wings."

Nanao glances at Nemu as Soi Fon furrows her brows.

"This kind of creature...it looks as if it's becoming a phoenix."

True to her words, the giant fire bird that looked like a phoenix spread its large wings. The flames spread further and further. The fires could be felt from all of them down below. Rukia could feel the heat of the flames.

She almost felt as if she was being burned from this distance already.

Yamamoto exhales, and shows his strong resolve.

"This is the true form of the Sokyoku, and it will end with the execution by impaling Rukia Kuchiki."

Rukia just stared at the giant fire bird before her.

While than being frightened…

She was feeling free.

She was feeling as if she was able to experience a normal life again inside of her mind.

She replayed the key events in her life. From being person from the Rukongai, to meeting Takumi, to joining the Shinigami Academy, to even being apart of the Kuchiki family thanks to Byakuya, meeting Kaien Shiba, and how she had finally met Takumi again in the human world.

Renji from down below clutched his hand as he murmured "Come on Takumi..." feeling ready to jump into the fray himself if Takumi didn't appear.

Rukia shed a single tear, as she mutters "Thank you everyone...goodbye..." and simply embraces what's going to happen to her.

Because she had accomplished what she had wanted to do, she could accept her incoming death.

She wanted to thank him.

Now that she had done that…

Rukia closed her eyes, seeing the giant burst of fire in the form of a phoenix coming for her.

Renji clutches his sword, and went to move…

* * *

When rain began falling.

"Wait...rain..."

Soi Fon muttered, as more and more rain drops keep falling down.

Turning their eyes to the sky, they saw that dark thick clouds had gathered in the sky. Beautiful lightning danced through the clouds, crackling and sparkling away.

Rukia also felt the rain hitting her.

She couldn't make heads or tails of it.

She wasn't sure what was happening, so she opened her eyes.

What she saw had astonished her.

From the sky, a giant bolt of lightning fell down upon the Sokyoku, smashing it away from Rukia's body. Lightning was wrapping around the giant birds body, shocking it, while Byakuya's scowl grew on his face.

"Takumi..."

No sooner than whispering that out, another giant lightning bolt descended from the heavens themselves, hitting the platform behind Rukia, and in the lightning, silhouettes appeared.

But more than that, Byakuya noticed that the scaffold had been split right down the middle.

"Impossible...the scaffold...it was supposed to withstand the power of a million Zanpakuto...to break under that lightning bolt..."

Byakuya was bewildered, seeing the two sides of the scaffold remain still able to support the people that had appeared.

As the lightning was dying down around them, the figures revealed themselves.

Takumi, Orihime, Giselle, Yuzu, and Karin.

Takumi stretched his reddened arms, and announced "Phew, that seemed to work~ Oh, it seems that we split this scaffold...gotta control the output of that." while Byakuya was bewildered by what was going on before his eyes.

"Wow, that was freaking awesome! Lets do it again!"

Karin cheered as Yuzu clapped her hands.

"I have to admit, that was amazing~"

She smiled out, while Orihime breathed a sigh of relief.

"Taku-chan, we did it. We stopped the giant fire bird...why is it a giant fire bird?"

"I don't know, I thought it was just a blade that produced fire. Didn't know it turned into a giant fire bird, phoenix creature...makes me want to study it even more….is it bad that I want to study it even more? I know we should be focused on what's happening...but that looks hella cool! I want to see what makes it tick!" His eyes went to Giselle and smiled happily. "You okay Gigi-chan~?"

"Yup, I'm good Takumi-kun~"

Giselle smiled out, waving towards the Shinigami.

Many of the Shinigami looked relieved. Renji himself that Takumi had appeared, and now Rukia was safe.

Byakuya on the other hand looked absolutely angry.

He couldn't contain it, which was a rare occurrence for him.

While they had a casual conversation, Rukia was taken aback by what was happening.

"Takumi…"

Rukia called out to him, drawing his attention.

"Hey Rukia-chan, been a while since we've seen one another huh."

Rukia didn't know if she should yell or be happy that he was there.

Either one wouldn't express fully how she felt about anything that was happening.

She then settled on understanding something.

"What are you doing here Takumi!? Why did you come for me in the first place?! You should know, someone as smart as you...taking on the entire Soul Society...it can't happen Takumi! W-Why did you come here..."

Takumi was taken aback for a few moments by her words.

But, he understood they came from a place of wanting to protect, a desire to not have anyone killed because of her. In that sense, it made complete sense why she'd be angry at him, why she'd want to get him away from the area.

"I know, no one can take on the world alone Rukia-chan."

Takumi snapped his fingers, with lightning shooting out of the sky, and broke through her binds, as well as wrapping around her body, bringing her body towards his own.

Catching her in his arms, she peered into his eyes as he did her own.

"But, I couldn't leave you to die, Rukia-chan."

Rukia could feel her emotions bubbling inside of her.

The sadness, the pain.

But also the renewed hope.

She didn't think she had any of that left.

But now…

Maybe she could have some of it back again.

"Takumi...you're a dumb genius...you know that? Everything that's happened...I begged for him to let you go...to go back to the human world...I didn't...I came here to stop you from dying...I was alright with it...I was-"

"I wasn't alright with it Rukia-chan!"

Rukia gasped as she saw the disheartened expression on his face.

"Takumi..."

"You shouldn't die for anything you've done. Nothing you did was wrong. You wanted to live, you wanted to be a good Shinigami. I'm not going to let you die for doing your duties, doing what you did."

As he said it, Soi Fon looked for a blade on Takumi.

But she couldn't see it.

She couldn't see any kind of blade at all.

All she could see was the huge thunder clouds in the air, which responded to his commands.

Suddenly, the phoenix screeches, and rears back its head, ready to strike them a second time.

"This thing doesn't learn, does it!?"

Karin announces, pulling her Zanpakuto back.

"Wait, Karin! Everyone! You can't do this! That has the power of a Million Zanpakuto! You will be killed if you do it, you will die!"

Rukia warned, but Karin scoffs.

"I will not be beaten by a giant bird. Fire or otherwise."

Yuzu found it odd she stated it like that, but she pulled out her Quincy bow, rearing it back for a shot.

"Me too, we'll fight fire with energy!"

"Ooh, maybe I could turn it into a Zombie~"

Giselle sang out, as Orihime looked towards Rukia.

"Kuchiki-san, don't worry. You said it yourself, Taku-chan was smart. Did you think we'd come here without a plan?"

Rukia became puzzled as Takumi smiled down at the other Shinigami.

The giant fire bird went to strike them, when Takumi looked towards the right hand side.

"Oh, seems like we don't have to fight the giant fire bird. I'm so glad that I was able to take a look and modify the shield~"

Yamamoto didn't understand what he was saying.

Until a giant cable attached to a metal rod wraps itself around the neck of the phoenix.

Yamamoto and the others looked towards the cable, and saw that Ukitake was stood there, with a giant shield slammed into the ground. His two third seats were also beside him, Soi Fon's eyes went towards Takumi, and immediately yelled "This was your doing, wasn't it!?" causing Takumi to turn towards her.

"Hey Soi Fon-san, been a while."

"Don't "Been a while." crap with me! Tell me!"

Takumi grimaced as Shunsui moves forward. Getting to the rod, he grabs it tightly, and forces it deeper into the ground. His eyes went towards Ukitake and he said with a grin "You took your time, didn't you?" while Ukitake sighs slightly.

Soi Fon's eyes went towards the shield, and saw what was going on.

"That shield...it was Yoruichi-sam….her families crest on it." Her eyes landed upon Shunsui and Ukitake. "Are you going to be destroying the Sokyoku?" She growls, gaining no answer, then turns to her Lieutenant. "Go and stop them you oaf!"

He couldn't move, while Takumi flashed down before Soi Fon so fast that Flash Step masters such as Byakuya were stunned, he glanced back up to see Rukia standing beside Orihime just as bewildered as he was.

"Now, now Soi Fon-san. It isn't nice to call people oafs."

Soi Fon's eyes shot for him, and swung out her leg, but he disappeared in a flash of lightning, and appeared beside Yamamoto, perched on his shoulder, and staring into the eyes of the old man, giving off a light grin.

"Takumi Urahara!"

"Yes, Yamamoto-san?"

Takumi replied calmly to the aggressive ways that the man was showing towards him.

Yamamoto released a small growl as the cable from the shield around the neck of the bird, began to emit a strange energy.

Watching with shocked eyes, the giant flaming bird was beginning to be forced back towards the shield, with parts of its body coming clean off the giant bird. The flames rained down as if the sky itself was opening up the heavens.

From the rain clouds, and the flames from the giant bird.

The blade itself of the Sokyoku also began to be ripped apart, shredding into the shield, before being disappeared all together. The flaming embers of the giant bird disappear as do the rain clouds, Byakuya noticing that Takumi had received his Zanpakuto once more.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Yamamoto demanded from Takumi, who, still sat on Yamamoto's shoulder, looked between each of the members around.

"Did you think I'd simply not stop you all from doing this?" He jumped off his shoulder, and flashed towards the others, arriving back up with Orihime within moments. "You think that this is right? Murdering an innocent girl?"

"Even if you say that Takumi...it wont get through."

Rukia bleakly said it, Takumi nodded, knowing that she was saying the truth.

"I know, it seems hopeless to try and explain it to them. They think we're just a bunch of criminals. They believe that I killed people in horrible experiments." He turned towards Rukia kindly. "But, you know Rukia-chan? If people can't see the truth, isn't it our job to make them see what is truth and what isn't?"

"Even then...how are you going to do that? Even with all of you guys here...those Captains down there, they wont let us go quiet."

"Maybe they wouldn't. But we've come too far. I'm not going to surrender, I'm going to uncover the truth, and give us both freedom Rukia-chan. You shouldn't have to settle for dying. Everyone came to save you. Orihime-chan, Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan, Gigi-chan-" He grinned at Giselle who waved her hand excitedly. "-among others, we all came for you. And even if it is the entire Seireitei, it's not going to be a case where we die."

Rukia looks into the eyes of Takumi.

Seeing the strength that he had.

Seeing the resolve that he had.

She was dazzled.

But more than that, she could see the newfound power he had gained.

He was stronger than back in the human world.

His spiritual energy was shining gold.

Wrapping around her in a safe blanket.

Like she could be comforted in this power.

Still, she wasn't sure if it was going to be enough.

* * *

Takumi then saw the commotion back down in the group of Shinigami.

He smiled and simply said "Kenpachi-san! It's time!" Kenpachi's wild eye became even more wild as he began laughing maniacally, to the shock of Rukia, watching Kenpachi lift his blade, and swing it down into the ground, unleashing his spiritual pressure all in a single burst.

"W-What is the meaning of this Zaraki?!"

Soi Fon demanded as Kenpachi laughed.

"Haha! Come on little ninja! Do you want to fight me also?!"

"B-But, what's going on?!"

Soi Fon's yell didn't reach Kenpachi, as he came swinging for her.

But as he did, Komamura came to block the strike with his blade, and push against Kenpachi's own.

"Looks like I've got a fight right here, right now."

Kenpachi showed a maniacal grin, and looked to Takumi who confirmed it with a nod of his head.

"Yes! Then come on! Lets see what's under the mask!"

Kenpachi grabbed the man's mask, and with his incredible strength, launched him right off the hill, with Kenpachi laughing as he jumped after him.

His Lieutenant Iba attempted to jump after them, but Yachiru cheered "I am Lieutenant of Squad Eleven and Squad Taku! You wont get by me!" and delivered a double kick to the back of his head, his eyeballs popping out of his head.

"Yay! Have that!" Takumi watched as he shot off the cliff, with Yachiru turning to Takumi happily. "Taku-chan! I'm going with Ken-chan!"

"Okay, be careful!"

"Yup! Will do!"

Yachiru jumped off the cliff as well, following Kenpachi as fast as she could.

Yamamoto looked disgruntled by what happened, looking at Takumi who showed his smile.

"Takumi Urahara...it seems that you have been gathering allies."

"Seems so."

"Still, to tame Kenpachi Zaraki...what kind of Demon are you?"

Tosen spoke with hesitation in his voice, while Giselle leapt down.

"Honestly, Takumi-kun's no Demon~ I think he's an Angel really~"

Tosen's face contorted at the sound of the new voice.

She then landed on the ground, pulling the skin by her left eye down, her tongue sticking out in a cute manner.

"Hehehe it seems that my time to shine is on~"

"Gigi-chan, you got him?"

Giselle waved her hand, summoning her bow, and aimed it for Tosen.

"I'm fine with this kind of fight." Giselle moved forward, swaying her body side to side. "Don't worry about anything now, it's going to be fine."

"...You're the Quincy girl that I've heard about. The so-called Giselle-sama the Slayer." Takumi and the others wondered about what kind of rep Giselle had now in the Soul Society. "If it's alright, I'd like to be your opponent."

"Then follow me~"

Giselle bowed, and shot off at high speeds.

Moving through the area, Tosen chased after her, with Shuhei being stunned.

"My Captain...and that girl...the legendary Giselle-sama, the Slayer...n-no, he's going to be in danger! I have to-"

He went to move himself, when Karin jumped down, and announced "Don't worry about her, I'm the Slayer now!" swinging down her sword, she then announced "Getsuga Tensho!" unleashing a pure wave of energy for the man.

"Have that, 69 guy."

Shuhei paled at the sight, murmuring "Ooh shit..." and tried to dodge out of the way.

But the wave was fast, and moved right for him, catching him up in the power, blasting him off the hill in a single shot. His screams could be heard ringing out through the area, until a thud sound could be heard, hitting the ground down below.

Takumi and Orihime cringed at the sight.

"Damn...she's gotten stronger."

"She one shotted him Taku-chan."

"Scary huh. Don't piss off Karin-chan."

Orihime nodded at the wise words.

"Yes! That's my sister! Keep going Karin! You're great!"

Compared to Orihime and Takumi, Yuzu was cheering on Karin happily.

Rukia was astonished by what was happening, turning to Takumi with bewilderment.

"Takumi..."

"Been gathering some allies, Rukia-chan. Isn't that all apart of building a battle force to fight your enemies?"

"Still...Kenpachi Zaraki?"

Rukia said in disbelief, Takumi nodding strongly.

"I know, right? It's weird, but he's like my best friend sort of now I suppose, at least according to Yachiru-san." Takumi turns to Orihime with a light smile. "Ready Orihime-chan? I'm counting on you to take care of Rukia-chan for me."

"Okay Taku-chan, I'll take her with me. Just remember, be careful. With what happened before...with what was..."

"I know...don't worry, I'll be alright."

Orihime believed in Takumi, so she was ready to do what he needed her to do.

Running a hand across his reddened skin, she smiled gently.

"Okay then Taku-chan, I'll do my part here, and make sure that you stay alive as well as Kuchiki-san." Orihime grabs Rukia's hand, smiling gently. "Kuchiki-san, lets go, okay?"

"Eh..."

"Here we go!"

With that, Orihime jumps off the scaffold from a very high distance up with Rukia in arms who screamed "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" but Orihime brings out her shield after announcing the release command for them, allowing them to catch the pair, then glide gently down to the ground, leaving Takumi and Yuzu the only ones up high.

"Takumi-kun, it's going to get hectic now. But we'll go and find this Aizen, okay?"

"Right, I'll leave it to you Yuzu-chan, be careful."

Yuzu gave a grateful nod, as Orihime, and Rukia land on the ground safely.

Then together, Orihime and Rukia began to run away, with Nemu quietly slipping away as well, on the orders of Takumi to keep them safe and sound from whatever was going to happen next, the same with Nanao, and Renji.

Soi Fon, unable to understand what was happening, turned to Takumi once more, angrily announcing to her Lieutenant "Don't just stand there, go and fight them, right now! Get them!" to which he complied, jumping forward.

Chojiro looks towards Yamamoto who nods his head, so he sticks out his Zanpakuto, releasing it, as did Marechiyo, one turning into a rapier, the other turning into a giant ball with spikes coming out of it.

Turning towards Orihime and Rukia, they went to move forward as Karin snickered, closing the distance, getting before Marechiyo who looked down at the girl with an annoyed expression on his face.

"What are you doing girl?"

He demanded, and readied his sphere with spikes to strike her with it.

Karin though channelled her energy into the Zanpakuto she had, swinging it forward, and cleaved right through the sphere. The sphere shattered into many pieces, shocking Marechiyo, the fear being set in as he saw her smile.

"N-No! Stay away from me!"

Marechiyo demanded, readying to strike her down.

"Sorry, can't stay away. I've gotta finish you off!"

But she slipped into his personal space, embedding her Zanpakuto's hilt into his torso, releasing a stored up energy that she had in the blade, blasting Marechiyo across the battlefield, past Soi Fon who sighed "What an idiot." and then crashed into the remnants of the scaffold.

Chojiro gasped at the sight, readying his rapier, and came at Karin.

She smirked, as Takumi appeared with Yuzu, parrying Chojiro's blade with his own, then Yuzu pulled up her bow and arrow. Charging a very strong arrow, she aimed it right for the upper body of Chojiro, who winced at the sight before him.

"My names Yuzu, and I'm a Quincy~ Now, please don't be worried, I wont kill you~"

"Eh...o-okay, then I'll stop you..."

He meekly replied, but Yuzu shook her head with a strong look to her.

"Ooh no, I can't let you. So, please don't struggle, and I'm sorry about the pain you're about to receive."

Chojiro didn't like the sound of that.

All he could do was watch as the arrow shot out. The energy arrow however split into many different pieces, hitting all over Chojiro's body, leaving more and more wounds on his body. He was trying to move his Zanpakuto to intercept them, but the arrows were faster than he had anticipated, then Yuzu charged up a final arrow.

"Here we go! This is what I've been learning from Giselle-sensei!"

Yuzu cheered, unleashing a final arrow that exploded into a mass of energy in front of Chojiro, taking the Lieutenant of Squad One away with the heavy burst, flinging him past Yamamoto who caught him with a single hand, placing him down onto the ground.

Takumi could see that Yamamoto wasn't pleased with him at all.

His cloudy eyes erupted onto Takumi's form, and he began pulling his cane out.

While he was, Gin chuckled to Izuru "Come, lets get going." and moved away.

Toshiro glanced at Karin and Yuzu, who nod, so they begin to move away as well with Rangiku and Momo following on. Unohana and Isane look towards Takumi one last time, who was content with them going, so that's what they did.

* * *

Leaving Takumi the sole person in Yamamoto's sight, the older gentleman pulled forward, his aura beginning to ignite in fire. Takumi could see that even without releasing his Zanpakuto, his aura was being set alight.

More than that, Takumi could feel the nearly ungodly amount of power that he had.

While it was quite strong, he wasn't going to be taken off either.

"...Young Takumi Urahara, you doing this makes little sense to me. I remember you as a child, you moved with logic. What is logical about fighting the Seireitei? Are you intending to get away with fighting us all like this? Do you genuinely believe you can beat me in a fight?"

Takumi denied what he was saying.

"I never said that I could sir, and you're right. I move with logic, if I didn't have a chance then I'd not do anything this reckless. I'd come up with something else. But, if you claim to know me as much as you imply, then you must know that these 'crimes' that have happened to the Soul Society, weren't because of me. My Father is also innocent. And as for the Visored group...they were victims of circumstance, victims of the real person behind this."

Yamamoto drunk in the words Takumi said, attempting to make heads and tails out of his words.

"And who is the supposed real person behind this crime? It was a crime that makes me disgusted to remember. Those innocent people, being turned and twisted into horrible creatures. Am I supposed to simply believe you?"

"I can't make you believe me. All I can say is that you're about to find out who is the real person behind this. I'll make sure of that myself."

Yamamoto crossed his gaze at Takumi.

"So fledgling, do you perhaps have a way for me to learn these truths?"

"I do sir, yes. But, it's not ready yet."

"Then, until it is, you'll have to come with-"

"Sorry Old Man Yama!"

Shunsui came fast and hard at Yamamoto who simply deflected the swinging blades with his cane. Ukitake also took out his blade, and came from the left hand side, forcing the old man to move his free hand, blasting out some kind of energy towards him, Ukitake didn't have a choice but to jump back.

"It seems that two Captains have also joined a wanted criminal. Explain yourselves immediately!"

Yamamoto demanded, but Shunsui just says it clearly with his eyes set before him.

"That's the thing Old Man Yama. That boy over there, is the reason my eyes have been opened. I never liked the idea that Takumi was the reason for those unfortunate deaths. No matter what evidence was before my eyes. My heart was clear from the beginning."

"It's the same for me Sir." Ukitake added. "I couldn't accept it, and Rukia...she's my subordinate, and if she believed in him, then so did I. I have heard myself all I need to know to believe Takumi-kun. The evidence he's gathered, the understanding of my own heart. He is someone that I believe in and I shall follow beside him."

Yamamoto couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Even Soi Fon was stunned.

Byakuya's eyes settled upon Takumi who stared back with a strong expression on his face.

"It seems you've swayed people, Takumi."

"Seems so, Byakuya-kun. Couldn't sway you, could I?"

"I'll not be swayed by simple words."

"Heeeh, I thought that would be the case. Still, can't blame a guy for trying, can you?"

Byakuya simply stared on towards Takumi, who did the same thing.

Yamamoto looked between the two of the oldest Captain's, his eyes narrowing.

"If that's the case, then that makes you traitors also. I'll listen to your words, after you've been detained!"

Shunsui chortled while scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Alright then. But if you want a real fight, then come and fight Jushiro and I. Lets leave the kids to get out their feelings here."

"H-Hey Shunsui-"

"Come, we're going."

Ukitake was then forced off the cliff side, with Yamamoto sparing a glance at Takumi.

"You did act with reasons in the past, so I have to believe you're doing that now. I want an explanation in full when this is over."

"Trust me Sir, you'll have many questions for when the big reveal comes. As long as things go to plan, it will explain a lot if not nearly everything, and I'll fill in anything that it might not."

"It better. I do not want to lose good Shinigami to your lies if they are lies. I hope they are truth. And if that is the case, then I'll express my apologies. But, if they are lies...I wont hesitate to kill you, is that understood?"

"Understood."

With that, Yamamoto jumped off the cliff, flipping down the side of it.

Takumi exhaled, glancing at Byakuya.

"Intense guy huh."

"You don't have to worry about him."

"Oh? Why's that?"

Byakuya's hand reached for his blade.

"Because I'm going to be dealing with you myself."

While Byakuya threatened Takumi, both of Ukitake's third seats went to move, when Soi Fon held cold eyes.

"Whatever your reasons, you do not betray the Soul Society."

With a cold tone, Soi Fon dashed for Kiyone, and sends a kick in her direction which would be powerful enough to cause a good bit of damage to her, she thought that she'd be finished off.

But Takumi appeared beside Soi Fon, grabbing her foot just in time before it reached Kiyone who was shaking from the speed the pair had.

"Sorry Soi Fon-san, but you can't do it again!"

Takumi flipped his hand, sending Soi Fon flying a good distance.

As he did, Takumi turned to Kiyone and Sentaro.

"Please do as I ask, and go to the medical area of Squad Four. Hanataro-san is there, and is currently readying to deploy several medical units out to help the injured. Go and tell him who's fighting him, and in what general location please."

"EH? But why should we trust in you!?"

Sentaro snapped, but Kiyone simply nodded.

"Alright then..."

"What do you mean, alright Kiyone?!"

Sentaro snapped at her, but she looked directly into his eyes.

"Because our Captain believed in him. That's enough for me."

Sentaro grabbed his head, and sighed deeply.

"Grrr….you're only doing this to get on his good side...w-whatever! Come on then, lets go!"

"Heh, alright then."

With that, Sentaro and Kiyone rushed off together, leaving Takumi behind with two Captains.

Soi Fon and Byakuya.

No one else remained on the hill now.

"So, I get to dance with two Captains then? That's going to be difficult for me to do."

"The only fight you're having here, is with me."

Soi Fon's eyebrows twitched.

"No Kuchiki, I'm going to be fighting him."

"You had your chance, this is my time to fight him."

Soi Fon stomped on the ground.

"Kuchiki, don't involve yourself in matters that don't concern you."

"...Concerning matters, that's difficult for me to understand clearly. I have to involve myself like this. It's fine though, because I'm going to be fighting him while you stand there. In fact..." Byakuya turns his finger towards Soi Fon. "Bakudo-"

"Hado 4, Byakurai!"

Soi Fon announces, shooting off lightning towards Byakuya, forcing him to dodge.

Then they launched at each other, their sword swinging out and clashing violently together.

Takumi watches on as the pair fight for the 'right' to fight Takumi himself.

Pulling back, Takumi places a finger to his chin.

"_Great...two people fighting for the right to fight me...no, lets be real, it's for the right to kill me. Why can't it be two girls fighting for the right to hug me? That would be nice...Orihime-chan, Rukia-chan...that would be great...Gigi-chan would be awesome...Karin-chan would probably try and attack me so...but her sister would be kind to me...Yoruichi-chan even...Rangiku-san seems cuddly...maybe Hinamori-san, or Shiro-chan...Nemu-san would be good too...heeeh, if only~_"

As he sighed, the two Captain's continued their fight while Yoruichi landed beside Takumi.

"It seems that you've got two people fighting over you. Isn't it great?"

"Byakuya-kun is fighting for the right to kill me. Honestly, this is going to be difficult."

"Well, if it was two women then it would make it even better, right?"

Takumi had to wonder how she knew he was thinking something like that.

"H-How do you do that Yoruichi-chan?"

"Because I'm a mind reader." Takumi held back a laugh. "However, you seem to be calm right now. In your situation, I don't know if I'd be as calm. Still, this is risky Takumi, are you sure you still want to go through with this?"

"It's a little late now."

"I suppose, I just can't help but express my worries, can I?"

Takumi shrugged.

"Don't worry, if everything goes according to plan...and even if it doesn't, as my Dad would do, I've got backup plans upon backup plans. Always need to be prepared..." As he spoke, he felt a spike of pain in his chest, clutching onto his robes tightly. "Damn...I didn't think..."

Yoruichi showed concern, placing a hand on his back.

"Takumi, you alright to fight in your..."

"I'm fine...nothing I can't handle."

Takumi assured her through gritted teeth, so she sighed.

"Honestly, seems like you're determined. Go on then, I've got Soi Fon." Yoruichi flashed forward, getting between the two warring Captains, and kicked Byakuya away, while Soi Fon's upper body was grabbed. "Come on Soi Fon, no fighting Takumi today!"

"Y-Yoruichi! Is that you!?"

Yoruichi smirked as she revealed her face fully.

"Miss me Soi Fon?"

Soi Fon became angry as she was forced off the cliff side, leaving only Takumi and Byakuya alone together.

* * *

Takumi's eyes deeply peered at the man before him, Byakuya took his sword and made a stance with it.

Two warriors on the battlefield.

The wind swept between them, blowing their robes ever so slightly.

Eyes locking together.

Souls ready to do battle.

"It seems you're determined to fight me Byakuya-kun."

Byakuya didn't twitch at the smile that Takumi was showcasing.

"Yes, I have to fight you because...because I need to understand something."

Takumi found it odd that he was saying that now.

"Understand what? I have to understand what you're attempting to do with your own damn little sister! How could you let her die like that?! She needed you Byakuya, and you just left her! I don't care if she's not your biological sister, you took her into the household of Kuchiki, she should be your pride as a warrior!"

Byakuya was stunned by his words.

It felt...weird that he would say something like that.

"...Tell me one thing Takumi Urahara."

"What's that?"

"Rukia, do you love her?"

Takumi was taken aback by that.

Why would he even say something like that?

It didn't make sense to him at all.

"If I did or didn't, would that change how you view her? Is it because of me that you have turned your back on her?"

"...No, it wouldn't concern me whether you did or didn't love her."

That just confused Takumi a little bit.

Why was he asking about it...he just had to wonder about that.

"Then why do you want to know?"

"Because, I wish to understand, what possessed Rukia to give her powers to you. What possessed her to fall in love with you."

Takumi's eyes widened ever so slightly that Byakuya would even say that.

"W-What? Rukia-chan doesn't..."

"Even I, can see the truth." Byakuya drew his sword, pointing it at Takumi. "We fought back in the human world, the spiritual pressure around you has increased since then. Have you gotten stronger in skills? Or is it simply raw power?"

"I'd like to think I've improved in a number of different ways."

"Then, show me your power, Takumi Urahara."

Takumi and Byakuya stared one another down.

The intense pressure the pair were releasing.

The way that their auras bounced off one another's.

It was truly going to be a destructive battle.

The time to fight, was about to begin.

* * *

**End chapter!**

**So, we begin with the save. Spending a few moments with Orihime, and having a conversation with Renji, and rallying the others, they went to go and do what they needed to do. Rukia also was briefly shaken by Gin's words, but also showed her true feelings in the face of her death, making it even clear to someone like Byakuya.**

**Then Takumi and the others arrived, and he's seemingly done something to modify the shield that was used against the large fire bird.**

**Splitting off into different battles, Takumi vs Byakuya, Giselle vs Tosen, Kenpachi vs Komamura, Shunsui and Ukitake vs Yamamoto, Yoruichi vs Soi Fon, and Renji's taking care of Rukia with Orihime, and some others, finally Unohana's group is going after Gin and going to find Aizen.**

**Well, until next time, thanks for reading!**

**Takumi; Orihime, Rukia, Yuzu, Karin, Nemu, Giselle, Liltotto, Momo, Soi Fon, Yoruichi, Hiyori, Nelliel, Tier, Rangiku, Toshiro (fem), Nanao.**


End file.
